This is a painting that dates back thousands of years to Ancient Egypt.
Artworks like this tell us a lot about the time and place that they come from. This painting shows a farmworker using a shaduf.
It's a very simple machine that can move large amounts of water.
It works like a simple crane. The invention of the shaduf was very important in the story of Ancient Egypt.
It helped people to easily access the water from the River Nile. They built a system of canals to bring the water to the crops a process that's called irrigation.
So it's no accident that one of the greatest and longest-lasting civilisations in history, grew up along the banks of one the world's
longest rivers.
The River Nile is more than six thousand five hundred kilometres in length and it passes through a whopping eleven modern day countries. Of course, back when the pharaohs were in charge the lands around The Nile were totally different.
Without the River Nile, Egypt would be a desert because very little rain falls there.
Luckily, lots of rain does fall upstream, near the sources of the river.
Every year, a very heavy rainfall in the east caused the river levels to rise downstream.
In Ancient Egyptian times, most years, the river then flooded onto the land surrounding it. When the flood water drained away again, the soil that was left behind was rich in nutrients, making it perfect for farming.
The Ancient Egyptians called The Nile 'Ar' which meant black, because that was the colour of the soil and silt left behind after the
flooding.
Some years though the river didn't flood properly, causing a drought, when there was not enough water to go round.
Crops failed and famine followed with thousands of Ancient Egyptian people starving to death.
In good times though the river was home to many different species of animals and birds, lots of which made a good meal for an
Ancient Egyptian.
But not all the animals made a good meal, some were more interested in making a meal out of the hunters.
Crocodiles and hippos were a common sight on The Nile during the Ancient Egyptian period. Hippos are not meat eaters but they can still be very dangerous to humans.
In fact, some people think it was a hippo attack that caused the death of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The Nile was Ancient Egypt's superhighway and was always busy with boats carrying people and goods back and forth to all the
settlements along the banks of the river.
The reeds that lined the sides of the river were also put to good use. It was from these that the Ancient Egyptians created the first form of paper, papyrus.
Reeds were also woven together to make things like baskets and even boats.
With so much of life depending on the river it's no wonder that the Ancient Egyptians gave The Nile its very own god to look after it.
He was called Hapi and the people gave thanks to him for the floodwaters.
So you see? The River Nile really was crucial to the long success of Ancient Egypt.
