How did shadufs and sakias lift water from the Nile River?

To lift water from the Nile River for irrigation, farmers historically utilized traditional manual and animal-powered devices, including the shaduf and the sakia.1

• Shaduf: This is a hand-operated, counterbalanced lever device. It consists of a long, tapering pole mounted like a seesaw, with a bucket or skin hung from the long end and a counterweight on the short end. The operator pulls down on the long end to submerge the bucket in the water; the counterweight then assists in lifting the filled bucket to the desired level. To reach higher elevations, multiple shadufs can be mounted in a series.21

• Sakia: Also known as a Persian waterwheel, this is a mechanical device powered by animals such as horses, oxen, or asses. It features a vertical wheel equipped with buckets, either attached directly to its periphery or to a rope belt. This wheel is connected by a shaft to a horizontal wheel, which is turned by the animals to rotate the vertical wheel and continuously lift water from the river or wells.134