1982, Ellen T. Ismail, Social Environment and Daily Routine of Sudanese Women: A Case Study of Urban Middle Class Housewives, page 196:
The zir is porous so that the water slowly seeps through. Every day it is filled with fresh water which has a pleasant cool temperature in the zir.
1993, F. El-Gohary, International Association on Water Quality, Water supply and sanitation for rural areas: proceedings of the IAWPRC First Middle East Conference held in Cairo, Egypt, 23-25 February, 1992:
In addition, zirs were also sampled in the same selection of households. Zirs are extensively used in rural Egypt for the storage of drinking water, particularly in summer.
1986, William Yewdale Adams, Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia, University Press of Kentucky (→ISBN), page 576:
It seems likely that these vessels were zirs, the large water storage jars that are still common in Egypt. However, available material is far too scanty to permit the identification of any specific form. The thick early sherds very often show evidence ...
1988, Susan Forbes Martin, Emily Copeland, Refugee Policy Group, Making ends meet?: refugee women and income generation:
In addition to making zirs. some of the projects are providing fuel efficient stoves and dokas (cooking sheets) made out of the clay material. Three zir projects were examined during the site visit to the Sudan. They were being implemented by ...
2007, Tristan J. Barako, Tel Mor: The Moshe Dothan Excavations, 1959-1960:
Zirs are very large storage jars with a rounded base, bag-shaped body and thick, everted rim. They are made of either Marl C or F fabric and take their name from the large water containers still used in parts of Egypt today. ...
