Shaduf

Jenna A.

Image 1: An illustration of the shaduf being used.

Why was the shaduf needed

The agricultural tool called the Shaduf was needed in ancient Egypt in order to help irrigation. The Shaduf was developed to further develop irrigation, it is used as a water passage and a barrier to stop overflowing water throughout soil. The annual flooding from the Nile created many barriers, one being the soil being destroyed causing their crops to be destroyed. To solve this issue, ancient Egyptians created a water system that is used as a base model for many systems today. It allowed for the Egyptians to plant crops without them being destroyed by the flooding. The Egyptians needed an invention that could help with the difficulties that the annual flooding from the Nile was causing. As quoted from an article “The height of the flood effectively prevented them from passing forward” (Rolfe Deette 68-157).

How the Shaduf worked

This invention worked as a bucket and sweep model. A bucket is placed by a clif or higher ground area, once placed into the water someone tugs on a rope pulling the bucket up. The bucket goes up into a canal and spreads throughout the soil evenly. This canal also acts as a barrier to stop the flooding. This invention was important to civilization at the time because it stabilized the crops produced and helped advance techniques already in use like irrigation. This water system is one of the earliest systems we know today. It is the side by side use of the Shaduf and irrigation that allowed Egypt to become what it is today. The Shaduf played a major role in agriculture and how Egyptians farmed and lived. Without this irrigation system in place the civilization would be negatively affected completely. Egypt had many beneficial impacts from the Shaduf system being put in use. It allowed for civilization to do so much more than what it originally could.

Image 2: A diagram showing the parts of the water system

Impacts of the Shaduf in Egypt

Image 3: Overall civilization of Egypt, farmlands and buildings being shown.

Agriculture development

The shaduf advanced agriculture methods including irrigation. A necessary tool to lift water up and allow it to flow throughout the land without flooding it. Leading to the developments of water systems based on the pulley that the Shaduf had originally. Many basic water systems came from the Shadufs model in Egypt.

Image 4: A picture depicting The Nile River in Egypt.

Reducing Flooding

Flooding was an annual thing for ancient Egypt due to the Nile constantly overflowing into land. The shaduf reduced this issue greatly, It has a canal that acts as a barrier to water that is not directly placed into it. Allowing the water from the rising system to fully spread the water out so the soil is not over-watered. The flooding is reduced from the Shaduf system acting as a wall to it.

Image 5: Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphics showing the civilization at the time.

Stabilizing Egypt

By stabilizing the crops being grown the Shaduf in turn stabilized all of Egypt. With the crops being produced at a stable rate and the profit from that in turn also being a stable income, Egypt's economy was thriving. This allowed Egyptians to carry on life and eventually stop farming as much due to the surplus of crops being farmed. Trading also was extremely beneficial to Egypt from the resources they had available due to the profit from crops.

This video will show you how to make a quick and easy model of the Shaduf. It serves as a great visual representation to understand the process of how the invention works.

In this video it tells you how farming in Ancient Egypt was like. It goes through the agriculture used in Ancient Egypt and shows how geographical barriers impacted it.

Other interesting sources to look at!

Egypt For Kids - Provides a great simplified explanation for a complex tool.
ANCIENT EGYPT past, present, future - A Timeline for the Shaduf and how it works.
Quatr.Us - This source can be used a long side the video to make a Shaduf and understand the mechanisms that go into the irrigation tool.

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