An irrigation tool invented in ancient times, consisting of a long wooden pole with a receptacle at one end and a counterbalancing weight at the other, for transferring water out of a river or canal. This hand-operated device is still used in India, Egypt, and some other countries to irrigate land. The pole is mounted like a seesaw, a skin or bucket hung on a rope from one end, and a counterweight hung on the other. The operator pulls down on a rope 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.