Water management in Jordan’s historic periods: Insights from southern Jordan Valley, Zarqa Triangle

AMMAN — Most water-related structures in the southern Jordan Valley and Zarqa Triangle originate from the Roman (63 BC-324 AD), Byzantine (324 AD-650 AD) and Umayyad (650 AD-750 AD) periods. 

Traces of such structures from the Abbasid (750 AD-969 AD) and Fatimid (969 AD-1171 AD) periods are scarce.

In the Zarqa Triangle the survey has recovered several dense artefact concentrations dating from the Roman to Umayyad periods while several tell settlements contained a significant quantity of Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad pottery. 

"In the area between tells and surface concentrations, a high amount of mainly Byzantine off-site material was discovered. This is usually interpreted as stemming from domestic refuse and manure collected or stored in villages and spread out over the fields as fertiliser," said Eva Kaptijn, a post-doctoral researcher from Leiden University.

The artefact concentrations from these periods together with the evidence for manuring suggest the presence of considerable agricultural estates. No direct evidence of ancient water management has been detected at these sites in the Zarqa Triangle, but it is interesting to note that they were found at the same locations as the mamluk sugar production sites, where the watermills were connected to the early modern main irrigation canals, Kaptijn explained.

The researcher added that this suggests that an irrigation system was in place and that it was potentially quite similar in layout to the early modern and Ayyubid / Mamluk systems.

According to Kaptijn, the southern Jordan Valley bordering the Dead Sea shows a similar prevalence of remains from these periods. Contrary to the Zarqa Triangle there is ample evidence for Roman to Umayyad water management in this area. As already mentioned, American archaeologist Nelson Glueck discovered Roman and Byzantine sherds in the vicinity of the. 

"Combined with the evidence from other qanat systems, all authors assume a Roman construction date of these structures. The qanat remains seem to focus on a water reservoir, referred to as BessetAl Resas," Kaptijn underlined, adding that reservoirs are primarily used to store rainwater, collected via runoff irrigation systems, and / or to control fluctuating flow in canals. 

Several reservoirs have been found in the area and could be dated to the periods under discussion. At a site called Tell ed-Dabakiyeh a long reservoir (with a circular pool (ca. 29 m in diameter) at its eastern end was uncovered, the scholar elaborated, noting that Glueck reports the discovery of tesserae from a mosaic floor as well as Byzantine pottery. 

Given its location in the middle of the Ghor, water was most likely directed to the reservoir by canals. In 1995, a stone-lined feeder channel with a width of ca. 30 cm (60 cm including the stone sides) could be traced for ca. 2 km eastwards along the northern side of Wadi Ayun Musa. 

"Sherds embedded in the plaster lining were dated to the Byzantine, Umayyad and Abbasid period. This reservoir is probably identical with the basin described by Glueck as RujmAl Azeimeh, which contained painted and glazed mediaeval Arabic sherds 3 as well as the architectural remains of what was interpreted as a Byzantine farmhouse by Alexis Mallon,"Kaptijn highlighted.

The researcher added that another reservoir located on the edge of the Ghor between Wadi Shu’eib and Wadi Al Kafrein was reported by Muheisen and might also date to the Byzantine period.

Moreover, a cistern and aqueduct from the Umayyad / Abbasid period were uncovered in the rescue excavations at Sahl Al Sarabit. The cistern measured 2.5 m in diameter and was fed by channels coming from both the eastern and the western side. 

"Cisterns and traces of aqueducts have also been excavated at the fortress sites of Habbasa and Barakat located above the Wadi Al Kafrein. These fortresses have been dated to the Late Hellenistic / Roman periods and were abandoned sometime during the Byzantine period, "Kaptijn said, adding that at both sites, the cisterns probably functioned as storage of drinking water for the garrisons. 

Just outside a Byzantine caravanserai, a system of clay pipes was found leading water from the Gharabeh Valley, located 2 km away, to settling basins, whereall silt and slip sank to the bottom, and a 7 m deep tank, from where it eventually entered two large pools (30 × 34.5 m and 24 × 24 m, Kaptijn said.

The researcher noted that in all, it is clear that there are many more traces of Roman to Umayyad water infrastructure in the southern Jordan Valley than in the Zarqa Triangle. 

"This is not to say that the Zarqa Triangle witnessed less water management during these periods. Instead, later intensive agricultural exploitation of the Zarqa Triangle has obliterated most of the remains. In both regions, the archaeological evidence points to relative dense occupation and intensive crop cultivation, as indicated by, e. g., the remains of ancient manuring throughout most of the area in the Zarqa Triangle," Kaptijn underscored.