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The supply of water for irrigation, drinking, domestic and industrial purposes have always been a vital consideration in Muslim land, considering the climatic and topographical conditions [1]. Even though water is available, another problem would be to find ways to raise water from various sources for the needs of men, thus leading to the development of various water-raising devices for this purpose [2]. Subsequently, the question of which water raising machine to use is affected by various factors, such as the nature of the source of the water, the height of the lift, the type of constructional materials available and the quantity of water required [3].

In addition, the rise of Islam triggered the agriculture revolution to meet the needs of the growing Muslim population [4]. An important aspect of this revolution was that it was accompanied by a complete review of the whole irrigation system, since the pre-Islamic irrigation systems were deemed inadequate to meet the needs of the new agriculture revolution. Therefore leading onto the another phase in the development of technology for canal, water-raising devices and methods for storing, conveying and distributing water [5].

It had been said "So great was the progress made that it would only be a slight exaggeration to claim that by the eleventh century AD, there was hardly a river, stream, oasis, spring, known aquifer or predictable flood that went unused [6]."

The most ancient water-raising device is the shaduf, illustrated as early as 2500 BCE in Akkadian relief and about 2000 BC in Egypt [8], is still in use today in many parts of the Middle East. Its success is due to its simplicity and its efficiency whereby, a bucket of water is raised from a well or stream by means of a counterweighted lever (see Fig. 4).

When it is necessary to raise water to a considerable/greater height, then a series of shadufs is erected in a line on a gradient leading from the source to the discharge point. The device nearest to the source discharges water into a tank, whence it is extracted by the second, and so on [9].

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Figure 4: Two shadufs used to raise water from a river in Egypt.

The Archimedean Screw or Water-Snail was probably invented by Archimedes, its origin are datable to about 250 B.C. and by Roman times it was widely used [10]. It consists of a helical wooden blade rotating within a barrel-like wooden cylinder with the lower end of the screw dipping into the water source while the upper end discharges into an irrigation ditch. The angle of the screw therefore determines its water output (see Fig. 5).

However, unlike the Shaduf, the device has not retained its popularity although it was still in common use in Upper Egypt and other parts of the Arab world in 1965, but had since disappeared from the Delta region [11].

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Figure 5: An Archimedean Screw being used to raise water in Egypt's Nile delta to irrigate a field. Photograph by Helen and Frank Schreider of the National Geographic. (Source)

The Noria, which is driven by waterpower, was probably originated in Syria or al-Jazira about 200 BC [12], with description by Vitruvius (100 BCE) and by Roman times it was widely used. The Noria is self-acting, therefore its operation does not require the presence of either man or animal. It is considered the most facile and advantageous way of raising water in great quantity to any altitude within the diameter of the wheel, wherever there is any current of water to continue its motion [13]. However it could be made quite large, therefore it is expensive to build and maintain.

It consists of a large wheel; fitted with a series of compartments that dip into the water and scoops up water, as the wheel rotates as it is driven by the velocity of the current. The water is then discharged into a head tank or an aqueduct at the top of the wheel.

The well-known wheels at Hama on the river Orontes in Syria have a diameter of about 20 meters (see Fig 6).

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Figure 6: A giant Noria Wheel at Hama, Syria.

The Saqiya, which is driven by animal power, was almost certainly invented in Egypt in the third century BC [14], and was known by Roman times, from about the start of the Christian era. It is probably the most widespread and useful of all the water-raising machines that medieval Islam inherited and improved (see Fig 7).

It consists of a chain-of-pots or potgarland, driven through a pair of gears by an animal moving in a circle. The animal pushes a drawbar through the circle, turning an axle whose pinion meshes with a cogwheel gear. This gear then turns the chain-of-pots, which consists of suspended earthenware pots between two ropes, carrying water. The chain-of-pots is optimal for raising comparatively small amounts of water from comparatively deep wells [15].

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Figure 7: A Saqiya at Babraki, Pakistan. Water is being discharged from the pot-garland into a trough leading to a channel on the left.

[3] D. R. Hill, A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times. London/New York: Routledge, 1984, p. 145.

[5] A. Y. al-Hassan & D. R. Hill, Islamic Technology, op. cit., pp. 206-207. See also Appendix 7.

[7] Detailed explanations of the parts and working principles of the ancient water-raising devices are given in Appendix 8.

[10] Norman Smith, Man And Water: A. History of Hydro-Technology. London: Peter Davies, 1976, p. 12.

[12] D. R. Hill, Studies In Medieval Islamic Technology, op. cit., Category I, p. 13.

[13] Jal Dastur Cursetji Pavry (editor), Oriental Studies in Honour of Cursetji Erachji Pavry. London: Oxford University Press, 1933, p. 238.

[14] D. R. Hill, Studies In Medieval Islamic Technology, op. cit., Category I, p. 13.

[15] D. R. Hill, A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times, op. cit., pp. 138-139.

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