Flag of water distribution for the Pharaohs

To make sure their crops had enough water, the Ancient Egyptians came up with ways to deal with the seasonal flooding of the Nile, which lasted about six months. During this time the farmlands were under water, so the farmers dug irrigation canals and built catch-basins, created by building small dikes, to bring water to lands not reached by the flooding. Water was also carried in pails that hung from a yoke carried across the back. The shaduf was invented in the New Kingdom. It was made up of a long pole either balanced on an upright pillar or post or suspended from a timber framework. The pole could pivot from side to side and up and down. At one end was a bucket, while a counterweight was on the other. A worker would pull the pole down to fill the bucket with water, then the counterweight would raise the water to where it could be emptied into an irrigation channel. This helped irrigate higher land and increased the quantity of the grain harvest. Another tool used since ancient times is the saqiyya. It consists of a many small pots along a wheel, which is attached to a branch. A cow tied to the branch turns the branch which turns the wheel. The Greco-Romans continued to use it and it was improved by the Muslims. During his stay in Alexandria, the Greek scholar Archimedes invented the tambour, also known as the "Archimedes screw." The tambour consists of wooden screw surrounded by a slotted disk. When the bottom part is placed in water and rotated, it causes the water to rise to higher levels. In Ptolemaic times, the rulers collected taxes on crops based on flood levels. To determine these levels, officials used a portable tool called a nilometer, probably a long reed stick on which different levels were marked. Temples with nilometers installed in them were built at several locations along the Nile. Later Roman rulers were interested in these monuments, but did not build any themselves. After the Islamic conquest of Egypt, kings and sultans undertook many projects to build canals, channels, and dams to bring water from the Nile for agriculture and drinking water. When Sultan Salah al-Din built the walls around Cairo, the roofs were used as channels for water. Pottery pipes led from these channels into private residences, distributing water to kitchens, bathrooms, and basins. Sultan Al-Nasir Mohammad Ibn Qala'un built an aqueduct, a structure for carrying a large quantity of flowing water, and four water wheels. A highly regarded occupation in Islamic Egypt was that of the Saqqa. The Saqqa was a person responsible for bringing water from cisterns to mosques, schools, and public drinking fountains. Like the Greco-Roman rulers before them, Islamic rulers used the level of the Nile's flooding to determine the amount of taxes to collect from farmers. They also used nilometers and had an employee at Roda Island who recorded the level of the nilometer daily.

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