AGRICULTURE IN THE NILE VALLEY 



71 



rected; but in default of such power, various devices were adopted 

 to lengthen the growing season by an adequate suppl}^ of water. 



Two such in^•entions, the shaduf and the sakiyah, both dating 

 probably from almost the dawn of civilization in Egypt, are still 

 in use by the fellahin, or native farmers. 



The sakiyah utilizes the energ}'- of beasts; oxen, buffaloes, 

 donkeys or even camels, and the shaduf pits the dorsal and 

 shoulder muscles of mankind against the threatened desiccation. 



The sakiyah, being the more elaborate and expensive of the two 

 machines, is built for permanency upon a firm and solid site close 

 to the edge of the river or other source of water supply. It may be 

 indi\'iduall3" owned or be a community affair, and is capable of 



Fig. 1. A sakiyah in operation near 

 Khartoum 



Fig. 2. A pair of shadufs arranged for 

 double lift 



watering from a few square rods up to an acre or two of ground, 

 according to the character and needs of the crop. There are many 

 points along the Nile abo\'e the first cataract, where a small iso- 

 lated bench of tillable land, perched between the ri\'er bank and 

 the rocky rampart of the desert represents the whole cultivated 

 breadth of Eg3^pt and is watered by means of a single sakiyah. 

 This ^•enerable and interesting contrivance varies more or less in 

 material and method of construction, but consists essentially of an 

 upright revolving shaft, turned by the pole or sweep, to the end of 

 which the patient moti\'e power is attached, and actuating 

 through the medium of wooden spur and crown wheels, a hori- 

 zontal tumbling rod. This in turn carries between suitable 



