🇮🇳 India · Hydraulic works
Kallur Chola Tank (Kallur Eri) – Thanjavur Outlier
Chola Middle (Rajaraja I) · Tamil Chola (Muvendar)
95-ha Chola eri tank (c.1010 CE) at Kallur — Brihadeeswarar temple hydraulic outlier.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Marib South Sluice & Southern Oasis Canal (Jannat al-Janub)
Sabaean to Himyarite (7th c BCE–6th c CE) · Sabaean / Himyarite
South sluice of Great Dam of Ma'rib (7th c BCE–575 CE) — 18-m limestone control for the grand southern oasis.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Sui Xingjin (Xing Jin) Canal — Zhengzhou Segment
Sui to Song (605–1080) · Sui–Tang Imperial (Yang Guang–Li Shimin)
Sui Grand Canal western 40-m prism 605 CE with Tongji wharf and Huiluo Barn harbour, Grand Canal type section.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Lingqu Canal – Magic Canal (Xing'an, Guangxi)
Qin to Tang to Qing continuous use · Qin imperial engineers under Shi Lu
214 BCE Qin contour canal—36 km linking Yangtze to Pearl via watershed split and 1,400-year-earlier pound locks.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Hydraulic works
Sennacherib's Canal System & Jerwan Aqueduct
Iron Age Neo-Assyrian Empire (705–681 BCE Sennacherib) · Neo-Assyrian imperial engineers under Sennacherib
690 BCE Assyrian 300-m stone arch aqueduct—world's oldest bridge-aqueduct carrying Nineveh's 80-km canal.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Hydraulic works
Aswan Old (Low) Dam North Spur — First Cataract Gravity Buttress
British colonial (Anglo-Egyptian) · Anglo-Egyptian, French engineers
1902 610-m gravity masonry 180-sluice Low Dam north spur 6 km above High Dam, world's largest masonry then.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Qanat-e Gonabad South Gallery (Ghasemabad South Branch Qanat)
Achaemenid to present (520 BCE–ongoing) · Achaemenid Gonabad oasis (Khorasan piedmont)
South Gonabad gallery 4.1 km with 62 shafts 42 m mother well: Achaemenid 520 BCE saruj, 12 L/s to Ghasemabad saffron.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Kaisar (Valerian Bridge-Dam, Shushtar — Pol-e Kaisar)
Sassanid Early (Shapur I, 241–270 CE) built by Roman captives · Sassanid Persian with Roman engineering corps (Legio)
500-m Roman-Sassanid arch bridge/dam (260 CE) raising Karun for Shushtar's 10-km Gargar canal — easternmost Roman dam.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Gar and Dariun Aqueduct Extension (Greater Shushtar)
Sassanian (Shapur I) on Achaemenid · Sassanian Persian with Roman POW labour
Northern Shushtar (65 m, 32°03′N 48°51′E 32.05,48.85) hydraulic extension of UNESCO 1315 Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System (1315): Band-e Gar (Gar Dam) and Dariun Great Weir interconnect canal…
🇬🇷 Greece · Hydraulic works
Tunnel of Eupalinos (Efpalinos) — Samos Aqueduct
Archaic (600–500 BCE) · Ionian Greek (Samian) — engineer Eupalinos of Megara
Herodotean 1,036-m tunnel 550 BCE dug from both ends with 60 cm meet error.
🇸🇾 Syria · Hydraulic works
Qasr al-Hayr East Canal Extension (Harbaqa Reservoir East Canal to Palmyra Steppe Palace)
Byzantine to Umayyad (580–728 CE) Palmyra steppe · Byzantine–Umayyad steppe palace (Hisham)
East Harbaqa canal 8.2 km rock-cut 2.2×1.4 m with 12 evaporation covers 180 m to Hayr East hayr 2.8 km wall.
🇮🇱 Israel · Hydraulic works
Ma'agan Michael Byzantine Reservoir & Aqueduct
Byzantine (Justinianic) · Byzantine Palestina Prima
Byzantine 6.5-ha reservoir (c.530 CE) on Nahal Taninim — Caesarea hinterland water buffer.
🇮🇱 Israel · Hydraulic works
High-Level Aqueduct of Caesarea Maritima
Herodian to Byzantine (22 BCE – 640 CE) · Herodian Jewish-Roman and Roman Imperial
Herodian-Hadrianic 10-km dune arcade twin aqueducts feeding Sebastos harbour 7 km.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Hydraulic works
Aswan Old Dam South Spillway
British-Egyptian Modern with Pharaonic quarry context · British-Egyptian engineers (Willcocks, Benetti) on Pharaonic Nile
South spillway 350 m south of Aswan Low Dam with 58 buttress sluices on granite outcrop.
🇺🇸 United States · Earthwork
Ortona Indian Mounds
Late Woodland – Glades I–II (300 BCE–1150 CE) · Glades / Calusa tradition (Okeechobee Basin)
Late Woodland–Glades/Calusa affiliated town (300 BCE–1150 CE, peak 550–850) spread 5 sq mi along Caloosahatchee River north bank: 3 sand mounds (Mound A Plaza 3.5 m, Mound B and borrow mound), 2…
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Zhengguo Canal – Jingyang Irrigation Canal (Zheng Guo Qu)
Warring States to Han continuous · Qin with Han engineer Zheng Guo (鄭國)
246 BCE 'sabotage' canal that irrigated 27,000 ha and enabled Qin to unify China.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Firuzabad (Ardashir Dam) — Firuzabad Plain reservoir dam, Fars
Early Sassanid (Ardashir I–Shapur I, 224–260 CE) · Sassanid Persian (early Sasanian court)
210-m Sassanid reservoir dam (224 CE) retaining Firuzabad circular capital plain — Ardashir's desert hydraulic foundation.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Hydraulic works
Wadi Hanifah Dams (Diriyah Dam System)
Najdi Emirate to First Saudi State · Najdi oasis (Diriyah Amirship)
Wadi Hanifah: 6 Najdi 15th-18th c. wadi dams at Diriyah UNESCO site, Riyadh 24.73N 46.57E.
🇹🇳 Tunisia · Hydraulic works
Zaghouan Aqueduct — Carthage Water Supply
Roman Imperial (Hadrianic, 2nd c. CE) · Roman Africa Proconsularis (Latin-Tunisian)
Hadrianic 132-km aqueduct Zaghouan to Carthage with 17-km arcade, Rome's longest.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Bir Aliqua Qanat – Ma'an Plateau (Wadi Araba fringe)
Nabataean to Late Roman · Nabataean / Roman Arabia
3.2-km Nabataean–Roman rock-cut qanat (100 BCE–400 CE) with 28 shafts — Ma'an plateau.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Jawa Dam East Reservoir System
Early Bronze Age IA · Ghassulian–Early Bronze IA (Proto-Jawa)
Eastern 72-m basalt dam and canal feeding Jawa proto-city — earliest desert irrigation.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Sadd Al-Rahwah Dam (Hadramawt Highland Dam)
Himyarite–Hadrami to Rasulid · Hadrami kingdom to Rasulid dynasty
Hadramawt highland: 45-m crescent dam at Shibam hinterland, Himyarite 500 BCE–Rasulid 12th c.
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Bishapur — Sassanid City and Anahita Temple
Sassanian Early (Shapur I–II, 241–379 CE) · Sassanian Persian with Roman–Palmyrene craftsmen (prisoners)
Shapur I 260 CE grid city by Roman POWs after Valerian capture — Anahita water temple, mosaics, Chogan gorge 6 reliefs.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Bir Alikhan East Qanat (Maan East Desert Qanat)
Nabataean to Roman (120 BCE–180 CE) · Nabataean Ma'an desert oasis then Roman Arabia Petraea
East Alikhan qanat 2.8 km 44 shafts 18 m mother: Nabataean 120 BCE vaulted subterranean with Roman 180 repair 8 L/s.