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Saqiya: An Ancient Technology Revised |
| Section: CULTURE / PEOPLES |
| Author: Randall Fegley |
| Publication: The world & I online |
| Issue Date: 4/1/1990 |
| Size: 1,894 Words, 10,743 Characters |
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Until quite recently, one of the perennial problems of life in the Middle East was the lifting of water from rivers and wells for irrigation. Near the Nile and other large rivers, annual floods naturally watered a thin strip of land along sloping banks. Using a seed drill known as a seluka, the inhabitants of the Nile valley were able to farm the inundated areas. But these narrow bands of fertility, often only a few yards wide, could not sustain even a sparse population. Hence, in ancient times, numerous irrigation methods were developed to extend cultivation.
No doubt one of the first of these practices was the carrying of earthen jars or animal skins, filled with water, from the source to the place of use. But even with draft animals and slave labor, such a method could hardly...
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... line the banks of the Nile. Clearly, new developments in saqiya irrigation will be forthcoming. The wheel that has served its masters so well for over two thousand years will not be retired as a curiosity, of interest only to historians, archaeologists, and museum goers. In a world conscious of the expense and limitations of fossil fuels, the future of the saqiya seems brighter than ever.
(806 of 10,743 characters)
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