🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Subeihi Dam
Sabaean Kingdom 800 BCE - 570 CE · Sabaean (Saba) kingdom
800 BCE Sabaean gorge regulator dam (90 m) 2.8 km upstream of Marib, desilting weir for oasis triad.
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🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Sabaean Kingdom 800 BCE - 570 CE · Sabaean (Saba) kingdom
800 BCE Sabaean gorge regulator dam (90 m) 2.8 km upstream of Marib, desilting weir for oasis triad.
🇲🇦 Morocco · Hydraulic works
Almoravid to Almohad 1080–1170 CE High Atlas mountain · High Atlas Berber Hagoun (Almoravid mountain oasis)
High mountain khettara 1.8 km 38 shafts to 22 m deep: Almoravid 1080 snowmelt schist 6 L/s to walnut terraces 8 ha 2200 m.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Hydraulic works
Middle Iron Age Atlantic (vitrified forte) · Minch Hebridean islanders
Summit vitrified dun (28×18 m) with plastered rock-cut rain cistern (5.5 m³) on Garbh Eilean, Shiants.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Ilkhanid to Qajar (Mongol to Qajar) · Mongol–Persian Ilkhanid hydraulic engineers (maybe Ghiyath al-Din?)
1350 Mongol thin arch 64 m with 1.05 m crest over 5-m gorge, world's tallest for 540 years (1350–1902).
🇵🇸 Palestine · Hydraulic works
Hasmonean to Herodian–Early Roman (100 BCE–70 CE) · Hasmonean / Herodian Judean (Hellenistic–Roman desert court)
20-km Wadi Qelt cliff aqueducts (c.20 BCE) cascading 400 m to irrigate Herod's Jericho oasis palaces and balsam plantations.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Hydraulic works
Late Bronze to Indo-Greek (Gandhara) 1400 BCE - 200 CE · Gandhara Grave Culture to Indo-Greek
Late Bronze rock-cut canal (3 km, 4 m wide, 1390 BCE) diverting Swat River to Bir-Kot Ghundai Indo-Greek city.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Hydraulic works
Angkor early (Yasovarman) 9th–10th c · Khmer devaraja hydraulicians
Eastern Baray cascade satellite 4 km east of Angkor East Baray: 3 linked laterite reservoirs buffering monsoon overflow.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Hydraulic works
Roman 180 to Artuqid 1150 CE (Hasankeyf Upper Tigris) · Roman mesopotamia then Artuqid Hasankeyf (Tigris gorge town)
Artuqid 1150/Roman 180 side canal 1.4 km rock-cut 1.2×1.8 m vaulted 700 m with 6 intakes and 5 shaft aqueducts — orchard 12 ha.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Hydraulic works
Old Kingdom to modern (4th Dyn–Aswan High Dam 1970) · Memphite–Fayum basin engineers; Islamic fellahin maintenance
Delta apex basin system 58 km NW Cairo: 22-km Bahr Shibin canal + 9 dykes forming 14 flood basins (18 km²).
🇮🇱 Israel · Hydraulic works
Middle Bronze II to Iron Age IIA–B (1800–580 BCE) · Canaanite (Middle Bronze) → Jebusite / Israelite–Judite
Jerusalem's 1800 BCE–701 BCE fortified perennial spring and karst shaft — 1,500-year water-security evolution.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Sassanian 6th c. to Ilkhanid 1226 CE to present · Sassanian then Islamic Yazd hydraulic community
12th century high-discharge qanat (14 km, 320 shafts, 190 L/s) feeding Ghasemabad bagh and Yazd mills.
🇴🇲 Oman · Hydraulic works
Iron Age II to Islamic (1000 BCE–present; active) · Iron Age Oman (Lizq–Rumaylah) → Sasanian → Islamic Ya'aribah
3.5-km Iron Age daudi qanat (c.1000 BCE, 8 shafts) delivering 70 l/s — UNESCO aflaj flagship at Birkat al-Mouz.
🇮🇳 India · Hydraulic works
Harappan (Early to Late Harappan 3000–1800 BCE) · Harappan (Indus Valley Civilization Kotada Timba)
Harappan desert city 16 rock-cut reservoirs and dam-fed canals 3000–1800 BCE on Kutch island.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Hydraulic works
Iron Age (Urartian Kingdom) · Urartian
Urartian masterpiece (1,720 m, 38°30′37″N 43°21′58″E 38.5103,43.3661; also 38°29′39″N 43°22′48″E Van city) 56 km (35 mi) gravity canal plus aqueducts built by King Menua (r.
🇴🇲 Oman · Hydraulic works
Sasanid 600 CE to Ya'rubi 1680 CE Rustaq Batinah · Omani Rustaq Batinah (Sasanid to Ya'rubi Imamate)
Rustaq West Branch falaj 6.0 km (4.2 daudi +1.8 ghailli) 56 shafts 18 m mother 14 L/s with birka 12 m: Ya'rubi 1680 on Sasanid 600.
🇫🇷 France · Hydraulic works
Roman Imperial (Hadrian to Severan, 2nd–3rd c CE) · Roman Gallo-Roman (Arelate)
Hadrianic 16-wheel industrial mills (early 2nd c CE) on 9 km aqueducts — Roman factory producing 4.5 t flour/day for Arles.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Spring & Autumn to Sui to Qing continuous operation · Wu State, Sui, Yuan engineers plus successive dynasties
1,797 km artificial river (5th c. BCE–609 CE)—world's longest canal, feeding capitals for 1,400 years.
🇧🇴 Bolivia · Ancient city
Late Pre-Columbian (500 – 1400 CE) · Casarabe (Llanos de Moxos)
Casarabe Cedro West forest island 12 m high 300 m with causeway 800 m to lagoon 200 m and field ridges 2 km; Llanos de Moxos hydraulic.
🇧🇴 Bolivia · Ancient city
Late Pre-Columbian (500 – 1400 CE) · Casarabe (Llanos de Moxos)
Casarabe Cedro West forest island 12 m high 300 m with causeway 800 m to lagoon 200 m and field ridges 2 km; Llanos de Moxos hydraulic.
🇮🇳 India · Hydraulic works
Early to Mature Harappan to Late Harappan · Harappan (Sindhu–Sarasvati)
16 Harappan rock-cut reservoirs (2600–1900 BCE) — 250,000 m³ desert catchment, Dholavira.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Sasanian (Shapur I–II) – UNESCO 1315 ensemble · Sasanian with Roman engineer captives
Sasanian Gargar diversion dam (210 m, 9 slots) feeding 47-km handmade canal watering Mianab plain.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qajar (1812) · Persian Qajar (Qazvin city governors Sardar)
Qajar brick 5-dome ab-anbar 45×12×8 m with 6 badgirs and 51-step access 1812, largest in Iran.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Warring States (Qin to Han) · Qin Sichuan, Bashu
Min River Fish-Mouth levee splitting Waijiang north flood vs Neijiang south irrigation with Lidui cut, 256 BCE Li Bing.
🇩🇪 Germany · Hydraulic works
Roman Imperial (Flavian to Late Roman, 1st–3rd c CE) · Roman Gallo–German (Colonia Agrippina)
95-km Flavian Roman concrete aqueduct (c.80 CE) delivering 20,000 m³/day from Eifel springs to Cologne.