Ancient Irrigation Project: Due THURSDAY, 9/24
Your Task:
Decide which method of irrigation would work best for either Mesopotamia or
ancient Egypt. You must consider SPECIFIC aspects of each society.
1. Choose which civilization you are going to consider.
2. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of each technology for each aspect of PERSIA. BE SPECIFIC!
3. After considering all of the options, come to a conclusion about which irrigation method would be the best
for your chosen civilization.
4. After making your decision, defend your choice by writing at least two paragraphs (write more if you think
you need to in order to explain yourself) with specific evidence from the chart and drawings/photographs.
POSSIBLE IRRIGATION METHODS: (see images on back of page)
Shaduf
Saqiya
Noria
Archimedes Screw
Square-Pallet Chain Pump
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
TECHNICAL ISSUES:
LEGAL ISSUES:
How complicated is the machine to build?
Does the machine raise so much water the laws about
How complicated is the machine to operate?
distribution would become necessary?
Does it have many moving parts that must be in good
How would such laws or regulations be implemented?
repair?
How much water can it lift?
How high can it lift the water?
Can it work with both flowing and stationary water?
How sturdy is the machine?
ECONOMIC ISSUES:
Does the machine require a person to operate it thus
taking that person away from other kinds of labor?
Does it require a strong adult, or can it be operated by a
child?
Does it require an animal which must be fed or cared for?
Is the power source readily available?
How much water can it move per period of time?
POLITICAL/ECONOMIC ISSUES:
Does it require any raw materials, like metal, that would
have to be imported? Are they readily available?—
expensive?
How would a sudden drop in population affect the
operation of each?
What level of organization does each require?
YOUR GRADE:
1. Completion of the chart—most of the “Questions for Consideration” were incorporated into your
advantages/disadvantages chart.
2. Creation of a well-reasoned and constructed written justification that includes all of the following:
-an introductory statement taking a position
-several reasons for taking your position, each with evidence from the picture and/or drawing
-reasons other methods would not be as good (the best paragraphs will weave together reasons for the choice
with reasons for not choosing other methods.)
-a concluding statement that does more than repeat your introductory statement
Category
5:
4:
Excellent Good
3:
Average
2: Below
Average
1: Needs
Improvement
Chart:
It is complete.
It shows careful consideration of “Questions to Consider.”
Introductory Statement-is well written, makes a clear
choice to stated task.
Support/Reasons:
Several specific reasons for your choice are given.
The reasons incorporate a variety of topics from chart.
Comparison:
The paragraph includes several areas of comparison as to
why you chose or did not choose a specific system.
Conclusion:
The concluding sentences are well written and thoughtful.
DIRECTIONS: Create this chart as many times as needed on a separate page to assess advantages and disadvantages of
each irrigation method. Fill out this chart for the one you choose so you can hand it in for a grade.
ADVANTAGES
Political
Economic
Religious
Social
Interaction with
the Environment
Achievements
DISADVANTAGES
IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS:
Saqiya (Sakleah)
Shaduf
Shaduf, also spelled Shadoof, hand-operated device for
lifting water, invented in ancient times and still used in
India, Egypt, and some other countries to irrigate land.
Typically it consists of a long, tapering, nearly horizontal
pole mounted like a seesaw. A skin or bucket is hung on
a rope from the long end, and a counterweight is hung
on the short end. The operator pulls down on a rope
attached to the long end to fill the bucket and allows the
counterweight to raise the bucket. To raise water to
higher levels, a series of shadufs are sometimes mounted
one above the other. In India the device is called a denkli,
or paecottah.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/537571/shaduf
Sakia, also spelled sakieh, Arabic sāqīyah, also called
Persian wheel, mechanical device used to raise water
from wells or pits. A sakia consists of buckets fastened to
a vertical wheel or to a rope belt about the wheel, which
is itself attached by a shaft to a horizontal wheel turned
by horses, oxen, or asses. Sakias made of metal, wood,
and stone are found throughout the Middle East,
especially in Egypt, where they provide the steady
streams of water required for irrigation. Historically, they
have also been used in palaces and gardens to fill
fountains. Earthen pots used as sakia buckets, identified
by fastening knobs and by marks from rubbing against
the wheels, guard rods, or walls of wells, have been
dated to the 2nd century ad.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/518730/sakia
Archimedes Screw
Archimedes screw, machine for raising water, allegedly
invented by the ancient Greek scientist Archimedes for
removing water from the hold of a large ship. One form
consists of a circular pipe enclosing a helix and inclined
at an angle of about 45 degrees to the horizontal with its
lower end dipped in the water; rotation of the device
causes the water to rise in the pipe. Other forms consist
of a helix revolving in a fixed cylinder or a helical tube
wound around a shaft. Modern screw pumps, consisting
of helices rotating in open inclined troughs, are effective
for pumping sewage in wastewater treatment plants.
The open troughs and the design of the screws permit
the passage of debris without clogging.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32831/Archimedesscrew
Square-Pallet Chain Pump
The chain pump is type of a water pump in which several
circular discs are positioned on an endless chain. One
part of the chain dips in to the water, and the chain runs
through a tube, slightly bigger than the diameter of the
discs. As the chain is drawn up the tube, water becomes
trapped between the discs and is lifted to and discharged
at the top. Chain pumps were used for centuries in the
ancient Middle East, Europe, China, and ancient Egypt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_pump
Noria
Noria, undershot waterwheel used to raise water in
primitive irrigation systems. It was described by the
Roman architect Vitruvius (c. 1st century bce). As the
noria turns, pots or hollow chambers on the rim fill when
submerged and empty automatically into a trough when
they reach or exceed the level of the centre of the
wheel. In antiquity the wheels may have been as much
as 12 metres (40 feet) in diameter. Norias of the
medieval period were even larger; the largest noria at
Hamah, Syria, dates from 1000 ce and is 20 metres (66
feet) in diameter. The wheel-turning force of the stream
was sometimes augmented by humans or animals on a
connected treadmill.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/418175/noria