Shadufs (thats sha-doof) are a leaver used by tieing long wooden pole to a mount to enable the pole to piviot up and down, kinda like a catapult only your not flinging rocks thousands of feet at an attacking army! A bucket was then tied onto the end facing the Nile. On the other end a net of rocks or a bag of sand would be tied to to be used as a counterbalance to make the bucket of water seem light and it is easier to raise the bucket out of the rushing water. This method of irrigation is still used along the banks of the Nile and along other rivers across the world. The water from shadufs woulldnt be used for the fields as much as for the farmers and the animals being raised there. It would take a lot of buckets to water probably 6 decent sized fields!
why did they use those if the could just go in the river and scope it out?
ReplyDeleteBecause of the steep banks of the Nile made it hard to move to and from the adjacent land
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