User:Epichippo/Shadoof (1)

Known by its Egyptian name, a shadoof or shaduf is an irrigation tool that is used to lift water from a water source onto land or into another waterway or basin. Created as early as 3000 BCE, it was the first crane that inhabitants used in the Nile Valley by ancient Mesopotamians.

Shadoof in Egypt, 1904

Varying culture to culture, many ancient civilizations would use their own version of this wooden device. Comprised of a long counterbalanced pole on a pivot with a bucket attached to the end of it, the shadoof would have similar functions across the board. Like a seesaw, this device would have one side weighted down in order for the bucket to rest on the opposite side, being able to move freely. Usually put near some type of waterway or stream, the shadoof would hold a bucket and once it was filled, it would lift the bucket where it needed to be poured. This device is used to help move water around and is generally used in a crop irrigation system using basins, dikes, ditches, walls, canals, and similar waterways.

The development of the shadoof impacted future irrigation systems and water technologies that improved Egyptian culture and life as well as other civilizations. To this day, the impact of the shadoof has left an everlasting mark on technological solutions to irrigation and water transportation that has been continued to be seen in modern day cultures.

History

Being so widely spread around ancient civilizations, the shadoof's origin is highly contested because of its distribution across cultures. It is said that the device's creation was created in Mesopotamia during the reign of Sargon of Akkad (around 24th and 23rd centuries BCE). This is argued because the earliest evidence of the shadoof was depicted on an Akkadian cylindrical seal from Mesopotamia around 2200 BCE.

An Egyptian man using a Shaduf.  From the Tomb of Ipuy at Deir el Medina, Egypt, 13th century BC.

Ancient Eyptian shadoof on the Nile River

Some historians believe the Egyptians were the original inventors of the shadoof. The theory states that it originated along the Nile, using tomb drawings illustrating shadoofs at the Tomb of Apy in Thebes dating from 1250 BCE as evidence. Eventually spreading to Egypt circa 1570 BCE, during the time of the 18th Dynasty , there is also hieroglyphic evidence in Egyptian tombs that revealed people using shadoofs in daily living.

Other alternative origins place the shadoof in other cultural backgrounds. It is believed that the Minoans adopted this technology; evidence suggests the use of shadoofs as early as around 2100-1600 BCE. Around the same time, the shadoof reached China. An alternative origin theory states that shadoof originated from India around the same time as in Mesopotamia. This theory owes to the fact that the shadoof was well spread in India; however, there is little to no other evidence that makes this theory any stronger.

The origin and continuing evolution of the shadoof across time remains to be a convoluted one. With evidence spanning over thousands of years, the shadoof would be used as one of the most ancient, traditional and practical systems of water irrigation. The shadoof would be seen in various forms over civilizations including, Ancient Persia (1200-200 BC), the Shang Dynasty in Ancient China, the Classical and Hellenistic periods of Greece (480-67 BC), the late Chinese dynasties, the Byzantine Period and Venetian Rule (ca. 330–1600 AD), and pre-Columbian America. Since then, new inventions would eventually replace the shadoof, as newer, innovative technologies would come to fruition.

However to this modern day, the shadoof is still used and seen in many areas, especially in Egypt 5000 years later. It is also seen in some parts of Africa and Asia and is very common in rural areas of India and Pakistan. They are also seen throughout Eastern Europe in countries like Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states.

Design and Function

Egyptian shadoof being used right above the Nile River.

The shadoof is easy to construct and is highly efficient in use, due to its practicality. Making it easier for the irrigation of crops for farmers and slaves in Ancient Egypt, the contraption would be placed near river banks, wells, rivers, cisterns or canals to move water into fields. Consisting of an upright frame which is suspended with a long pole or branch attached with a bag and rope on one side, with a counterbalance on the short end side, this device has a seesaw-like build.

While the shadoof has its usual components that makes it what it is, its style can vary from region to region. The main stick that holds the contraption together can either have a single pole or two; and the bucket can also vary in style by its base. At the long end of this pole hangs a bucket, skin bag, or bitumen-coated reed basket. The bucket itself can also be placed in various ways such as being tied to a rope or being tacked on to the thinner stick. The weight that is placed on the short end of the shadoof can be made of anything from clay, mud, stone, as well as other materials that can be used as a balance.

Using the actual shadoof comprises of a swift, lifting motion that can move and fill water into the attached bucket to spread it wherever it needs to be. Doing this, an operator would pull down on the rope that is attached to the long end, which then places the bucket into the water to fill the container, while the counterweight eventually raises the said vessel. Once this process is finished, the water is pushed into its respective irrigation ditches as its emptied from the bucket. This process would massively assist Egyptian farmers during dry summers because it would open up more irrigation and water access.

The function of the shadoof was advanced for its time, however it had its limits. A typical water lifting rate of the shadoof was said to be about 2.5 m3/d and 1 to 6 m (3-20 ft), and it could irrigate 0.1 ha of land in 12 h. Being dependent on solely human power, the shadoof would age out of its utility. It would be eventually replaced by other various water technologies such as the water wheel, water pumps, and other progressive instruments throughout civilizations. Shadoofs are still seen today across today as a way to provide drinking water as well as still being used as a traditional form of irrigation.

Social Effects and Impact

Traditional shadoof in Anatolia, Turkey.

Across numerous cultures, shadoofs have symbolized collective effort. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, for instance, the multi-tiered shadoof systems allowed the movement of water to higher levels through teamwork. Together with other irrigation technologies such as the Zhuji shadoof irrigation system, shadoofs not only helped establish reliable methods of agriculture for growing civilizations but also influenced cultural elements that intrinsically tied their daily life to the device.

For its time, shadoofs were highly efficient and remained essential for those with limited resources to support their livelihoods on large-scale farms around the Nile which contributed to the overall sustenance of Egypt. During the Egyptian Middle Empire and the New Kingdom, pleasure gardens featuring shadoof irrigation became a hallmark of luxury residences and consequently a status symbol as well as the prospering of fruits and vegetables. With the development of this irrigation system also helped control flooding in the Nile.

Outside of ancient Egypt, the geographic spread of the shadoof is impressive. In regions where irrigation is imperative, such as India, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa, they have played a crucial role in enabling agriculture to thrive in water-scarce areas. In places such as ancient Greece and Rome, Mesopotamia, Ancient Persia, early Chinese dynasties, shadoofs have gone hand in hand with cultural and technological evolution that have improved daily living conditions, involving food security, advancement of machinery and better sustainability.

With these cultural developments, this would lead to further innovative mechanisms that progressed multiple societies that led to the lessened use of the shadoof because of its double-edged simplicity. While easing the physical demands of water retrieval, the shadoof requires manual labor, posing a barrier for individuals with certain physical disabilities. It also could only move the bucket so far inland to a certain degree because of the beam's height, as well as only being able to lift a certain amount of water.

Due to these issues, the inventions of the water wheel, water pump, noria, hydraulic screws, vacuum pumps, piston pumps, steam and engine technologies, from various cultures would be brought to the forefront from Ancient Persia, Ancient China, Ancient Greece and Rome that would evolve into modern society that stemmed from the creation of the shadoof.

Though it would slowly disappear over the ages (but is still seen in some places around the world), a shadoof's influence continued the creation of further irrigation developments that advanced water technologies.

Names

• Shadoof or shaduf comes from the Arabic word شادوف, šādūf.
• It is also called a lift, well pole, well sweep, or simply a sweep in the US. A less common English translation is swape.
• Picotah (or picota) is a Portuguese loan word.
• It is also called a jiégāo (桔槹) in Chinese.
• The Tamil name is thulla (துலா), while the Telugu name is ethaamu (ఏతాము) or ethamu (ఏతము).
• It was also known by the Ancient Greek name kēlōn (κήλων) or kēlōneion (κηλώνειον); this term (קילון) is also borrowed in Mishnaic Hebrew.
• In Ukrainian, it is called krynychnyi zhuravel (криничний журавель, "well crane") for its shape; it is also known as zvid (звід).
• In Hungarian, is known as gémeskút (literally, "heron wells").

Gallery of Shadoofs around the World

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  Shadoof in Egypt
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  Shadoof in Pyrohiv Museum, Ukraine
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  Shadoof in Belarus
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  Shadoof in Turkey
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  Shadoof in Germany

In Heraldry

The use of shadoofs in certain areas influenced heraldry. Below are some examples of heraldic elements of various subdivisions.

• 
  Dobropilsky raion, Donetsk oblast
• 
  Börnsen, Germany
• 
  Born, Germany
• 
  Holice, Czechia