Egyptian water wheel. Historical artwork of a water-power scoop wheel and aqueduct in Egypt. This type of water wheel is known as a Noria, and surviving examples include the largest water wheel in the world, which measures 27 metres in diameter, and the oldest at approximately 1000 years old. Noria were build by the Romans as early as 1 BC, in northern Africa, along fast moving rivers, accompanied with aqueducts to provide water for crop irrigation. The buckets around its circumference are filled by the river's water and turned round by its current. When they reach the top, the water is carried away on an aqueduct.