The shadoof was a very useful device that the Egyptians built to help
them with their water, and the Nile River. It was operated by hand and was used
to lift water from the river onto land in buckets. It has a long pole and there
are two objects at each end of it. On one side, there is a bucket. On the other,
there is a weight. The Egyptians would lower the bucket, and allowed the water
to flow into the bucket. Then they would drop it, causing the weight to lift it
back up so they could retrieve it. This was a very nifty
device.