He uses a donkey pump, also known as an Egyptian Shaduf, which is simply a hand pump that uses an old tractor tire to pump the water. |
There was also the shaduf, in use in several areas along the Saharan fringe, which used the lever principle as a device for drawing water. |
It is believed that the zajarah is somewhat similar to shaduf, one of the oldest known tools used to raise water from a well, river or lake. |
Initially, this irrigation relied probably on a combination of artesian springs and shaduf wells, a water lifting technology that was likely obtained from Egypt. |
There is hardly a shaduf to be seen and very little cultivation, it is either desert or stony hills on each side. |