Water wheel in Egypt. 19th-century artwork of a water wheel being used to raise water and irrigate crops in Egypt. At top, an ox is turning the wheel. The diagrams below show how water is scooped up by the wheel from a lower level, and deposited into a system of irrigation canals. Scales in feet (bottom left) and metres (bottom right) are provided. Artwork published in volume II (1817) of the journal 'Arts et metiers'. This artwork forms part of a description of Egypt from collections of observations and research made there during the expedition of the French Army.