2,700-Year-Old Irrigation System Studied in Armenia

YEREVAN, ARMENIA—More than 600 miles of water-management features have been identified in Armenia at the site of the Urartian city of Argishtikhinili using satellite imagery and digital terrain models, according to a Science in Poland report. Nazarij Buławka and Krzysztof Jakubiak of the University of Warsaw and Inessa Karapetyan of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia determined that the construction of the irrigation system some 2,700 years ago had made farming possible in the dry Ararat Basin. Inscriptions on steles from the Kingdom of Urartu document five main canals that supplied water to the city of Argishtikhinili, and the surrounding fields, orchards, and vineyards, to support the Urartian state. The system would have been engineered and built to control the flow of water over long distances without pumps. “Knowledge of artificial irrigation and the benefits it brings were not surprising when it comes to the Urartians,” Jukubiak said. All of the canals spotted during the study may not have been built by the Urartians, however, he added. “Dating irrigation canals is extremely difficult due to their constant silting during use,” Jakubiak explained. “To attempt to date the canals’ formation, it is necessary to drill holes and collect samples from the canal bottom, hoping that the sediments will contain organic remains that can be subjected to radiocarbon dating,” he concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity. For more on Urartu, go to "The Price of Plunder."