Professor Ali Obeid Shilgam, the Director General of the Department of Archaeological Research in Iraq, announced the findings during archaeological survey work in the Diyala region, where three qanat systems dating from the 1st century BC to the 3rd century AD were uncovered.
Qanats, also known as underground aqueducts, are among the oldest irrigation systems known.
They consist of groups of wells dug in a straight line and interconnected underground through horizontal galleries 20 to 30 meters deep.
Thanks to this network of wells and galleries, rainwater filtered into the ground was captured and distributed to cultivation areas through small channels.
The first system found in Diyala consists of 24 wells connected by a 10-meter-deep gallery dug on one side. The second system also includes 24 wells connected by an underground channel 13 kilometers long.
Finally, the third discovered system comprises 9 wells associated with channels sunk on both sides.
Experts believe that these three qanats could have been built between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD by the Parthian and Sassanid empires, serving as examples of water management techniques applied in ancient Mesopotamia.
The discovery in Diyala provides new information about the complex irrigation system that facilitated the flourishing of agriculture and the development of important crops such as wheat and barley in the Mesopotamian region during the peak of the Parthian and Sassanid empires.
This is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries made in Iraq in recent years.
Sources
Iraq’s State Board of Antiquities and Heritage
- Share on:
Discover more from LBV Magazine English Edition
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Tomb of Amphipolis built by Alexander the Great for Hephaestion was found to be aligned with the winter solstice
In 2012, the largest funerary monument of ancient Greece was discovered in Amphipolis, in central Macedonia: the Kasta tumulus or Amphipolis Tomb. In 2015, researchers were able to confirm that…
Over 300 Solar Systems Are Forming in the Center of the Milky Way, Scientists Discover
Astronomers have been identifying protoplanetary disks for many decades—structures that evolve into solar systems like our own—and they have been found by the hundreds throughout the Milky Way, primarily in…
The longest prehistoric journey undertaken by humans lasted thousands of years and spanned several generations
An international team of scientists has managed to reconstruct the longest prehistoric journey ever undertaken by humans, carried out by the first Asians as they embarked on a journey of…
Small objects from 3300 years ago had only been found in the wreck of the Uluburun, now also in a tomb in Cyprus
Archaeologists found five curious lead boat-shaped objects dating back to the Bronze Age, over 3,000 years ago, at the site of the ancient city of Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus.…
Monumental Dam Near Elche in Spain Discovered to Be a Roman Imperial Hydraulic Engineering Work
A team of researchers from the University Institute for Research in Archaeology and Historical Heritage (INAPH) at the University of Alicante will publicly present on May 16 the results of…
Dark matter, the enigmatic force that shapes the universe, is born from particles that condense like steam into water
A team of researchers from Dartmouth College has proposed a new hypothesis that could verifiably explain the central enigma of cosmology: What is the dark matter that makes up 85…
Archaeopteryx, the Fossil That Explains Why All Birds Are Dinosaurs and Can Fly
Archaeopteryx is the fossil that proved Darwin right. It is the oldest known fossil bird and helps demonstrate that all birds, including modern ones, are dinosaurs. Although the first fossil…
The Great Fear: The Collective Panic Over Starvation That Sparked the French Revolution
On August 4, 1789, the National Constituent Assembly of France decreed the equality before the law of all French citizens and officially abolished feudal privileges. By the end of that…
The Earth’s Subsurface Holds an Clean Energy Source That Could Meet Human Energy Demand for 170,000 Years
In contrast to initiatives proposing energy solutions such as carbon storage or electrolysis powered by renewable energies—both still not commercially competitive—a study by the Universities of Oxford, Durham, and Toronto…
Surprising Behavior Among Chimpanzees in Uganda: They Use Medicinal Plants and Heal Each Other
Researchers have documented surprising behavior among chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest in Uganda: not only do they treat their own wounds, but they also help other members of their group—even…
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
