In the ancient world of Mesopotamia, what was the original purpose of a crane called a ‘shadouf?

Today, a crane is a device for lifting heavy loads of various material. It is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains and sheaves (pulleys) that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally.

The first known crane machine was the ‘shadoof’, ‘shadouf’ or ‘shaduf’ (Arabic word), also called a sweep in English. It was a water-lifting device with a a lever mechanism that was invented in a part of ancient Mesopotamia (modern country of Iraq) for irrigation. Watering crops using basins, dikes, ditches, walls, canals and waterways, the sweep was used to lift water from a river or lake onto land. The mechanism comprised a long pole with a bucket attached to the end of it.

It was invented around 3000 BCE. The ‘shadouf’ or sweep subsequently appeared in ancient Egyptian technology around 2000 BCE. Construction cranes later appeared in Ancient Greece, where they were powered by men or animals such as donkeys, and used for construction of buildings.

Larger cranes were later developed in the Roman empire, employing the use of human tread wheels, permitting the lifting of heavier weights.

Cranes were so called from the resemblance to the long neck of the bird.