Watering land with Pots.
83
Chap. 11.]
splendor of agriculture and as Osiris made his own plough, both kingsand priests wore sceptres of thp form of that implement. So sensiblewere they of the blessings derived from agriculture, that they not only en-forced the worship of Osiris and Isis for its discovery and introduction,but caused even the animals (oxen) that assisted in the cultivation oftheir lands to be honored with religious rites. It cannot therefore be sup-posed, that a people, who thus consecrated almost every thing connec-ted with husbandry, should neglect that in which it chiefly consisted, viz :Irrigation ; for this was the real cause of the amazing fruitfulness oftheir soil, and of their individual and national prosperity. Thus Isis isoften found represented with a bücket, as an emblem of irrigation, and ofthe fecundity of the Nile. a
From the foregoing remarks the great antiquity of machines for raisingwater may be inferred ; for artificial irrigation certainly gave birth to themost valuable of our hydraulic engines, if it be not indeed the great pa-rent of tliem all.
The ancient practiee of constructing large tanks, to collect water for ir-rigation, is still followed in various parts of the east, and their dimensionsrender our reservoirs comparatively insignificant. In the Carnatic , someare eight miles in length, and three in breadth. In Bengal, they frequentlycover a hundred acres, and are lined with stone. Knox, in his HistoricalRelation of Ceylon, (Lon. 1681,) says, the natives formed them of twoand three fathoms deep, some of which were in length ‘above a mile.’ (p.9.) To these reservoirs, and the difficulty of making them sufficientlytight to hold the water, there is an allusion in Jeremiah ii, 13. Le Comte,mentions them. When limited quantities of water were required at adistance, at places situated higher than its source, it was often carried invessels suspended from a yoke, and borne across the shoulders. Thismode is still practised. In the plains of Damar in Arabia, water is drawnfrom deep wells, and thus carried to the fields. Dr. Shaw observes ofthe country of the Benni Mezzah, (in ancient Mauritania ) it has no rivu-lets, “but is supplied altogether with well water.” “ Persia, ” says!Fryer, “is chiefly beholden to wholesome springs öf living water toquench the thirst of plants as well as living creatures.” This method ispursued by the Hindoos, Japanese, Chinese, Javanese, Tartars , &c. inwatering those terraees which they construct and cultivate on the sides ofmountains.
No. 27. Egyptians watering land with Pots and Yoke.
“ The Chinese, ” says LeComte, “ have everywhere inXensi and Xansi, for want ofräin, certain pits from twentyto a hundred and twenty feetdeep, from which they drawwater by an incredible toil toirrigate their land.” That themode of carrying water to thefields by the yoke, was prac-tised in-Egypt in ancient times,appears from the figures, No.27, copied from sculptures atBeni Hassan, the oldest monu-
tnents extant in that country. One of these wood'en yokes, was found at