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.