13169 Amin Saeidian/ Elixir Sustain. Arc. 55A (2013) 13169-13178 Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal) Sustainable Architecture Elixir Sustain. Arc. 55A (2013) 13169-13178 The sustainable methods of producing, managing, preserving, and maintaining the water sources in the historical water monuments in ancient Iran Amin Saeidian Department of Architecture, Mahshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahshahr, Iran. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: This article aims to make a better understanding of the effective construction techniques in Received: 10 June 2012; Iranian sustainable and historical water monuments and to present their efficient functions, Received in revised form: which utilizes natural resources without the consumption of additional power. This is indeed 13 February 2013; important as energy saving and sustainability concealed in such constructions are significant Accepted: 25 February 2013; issues in contemporary architecture. The present article targets at studying the Iranian artisanship involved in the construction of the structures which utilize the power of water as Keywords well as the cultural aspects of a traditional architecture that incorporates an understanding of Iran, constructions that date back centuries. Expanding the existing knowledge of these heritage Ab anbar, properties and explaining their current condition in order to express the need for the Watermill, preservation of ancient artisanship as part of a sustainable conservation future are the other Water Monuments, prominent concerns of this work. Iran is located in an arid, semi-arid region. Due to the Dam, unfavorable distribution of surface water, to full water demands and fluctuation of yearly Yakh-Chl, seasonal streams, Iranian people have tried to provide a better condition for utilization of Qanat. water as a vital matter. This paper intends to acquaint the readers with some of the famous Iranian historical water monuments. © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved. Introduction inefficient, and damaging tendency. They concerned about of All the ancient cultures were formed near the big rivers such the benefits of their own next generations not their pockets and as Nile, Dejle, Forat, Ganges, Huanghu, Yangtze, etc. The only welfare. Hence, they dropped out dam building as a technique of culture which was not formed near any river was the qanat preserving water and continued to make use of sustainable culture of Iran. The impressive development of Persian culture techniques of preserving water such as digging qanats and weir was due to its qanats and kareezes and the knowledge of mills as well as thoughtful water network [1]. hydraulics. In Acheamenian dynasty, the person who dug qanat Iran is located in an arid, semi-arid region. Due to the in a barren land and water that land was exempted from paying unfavorable distribution of surface water, to full water demands taxes for 5 years. According to the historical documents and fluctuation of yearly seasonal streams, Iranian people have remained, king Yasalar Parsi Skilasis Acheamenian, at the time tried to provide a better condition for utilization of water as a of staying in Egypt, taught the techniques of digging qanats to vital matter. Iran is located in the south of Asia between 44º 02 ` Egyptian. At the time of the government of Sasanid dynasty, and 63 20 eastern longitude and 25 03 to 39 46 northern latitude. Hezar Dastan Madigan document described the way to construct The country covers an area of about 1.648 million km 2.Iran is qanat and its special techniques intelligently. Since, from the bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea and beginning of its history, Iran encountered several discontinuity Turkmenistan; on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan; on the of rainfall and the problem of supplying enough money to water south by Oman Sea, Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf; and on the fields and to drink, constructing dams and water networks as the west by Iraq and Turkey. Climatologically, Iran is situated in well as qanats and kareezes was a normal and regular task to do. the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Of the total area, Thus, Iranian were the first to gain the knowledge of digging 13% has a cold and mountainous weather, 14% has a moderate qanats and Iran was the first culture to use water agriculture and climate and the remaining 73% is covered by dry weather. The its techniques [5]. Also, they invented the most sustainable and findings of archaeological surveys indicate that human being useful way of using qanats. Then, the Iranian masters taught lived in various part of Iran as long as 15,000 years ago. Persia these techniques to the people of north of India, Africa, and was a Cradle of Science in earlier times. The civilization in the Spain. In Iran, there were some very skillful dam builders who western part of the Iranian plateau flourished 5000 years ago and constructed the first arch dams like Izadkhast dam and Kerrit they invented cuneiform writing. Discoveries prove that Iranians dam in Tabas Town which, with 60 meters height, was the tallest were peaceful and ingenious people in the second and third dam in the world before Hour Dam in the United States [4]. millennium BC who cultivated land and raised crops (Fig.1). Iranian ancestors made many dams and hundreds of weir mills. The first Iranian lived in meadows to feed their livestock. They knew the evaporation of river flow in hot lands is high and, Some of them became familiar with techniques of irrigation and thus, the water loss is high. They, in addition, knew that if the chose to be farmers. The importance of irrigation is pronounced river sediment is high in the river, the dam will be full of in Iranian ceremonies, traditions and religious beliefs. Water has sediment and become useless. They knew that building been depicted in many Zoroastrians and Anahit was believed as excessive dams is a useless job, as it is an unsustainable, the Goddess of water. Lack of water in Iran affected the Iranian Tele: E-mail addresses: [email protected] © 2013 Elixir All rights reserved 13170 Amin Saeidian/ Elixir Sustain. Arc. 55A (2013) 13169-13178 history and culture (Fig.2). Dam construction in Iran dates back that country, providing water not only for irrigation but also for to the ancient times. Iranians are credited for invention house-hold consumption. Until recently (before the building of subterranean canals (Qanats) which is well-known in the world the Karaj Dam) the million inhabitants of the city of Tehran [2]. depended on a qanat system tapping the foothills of the Elburz Mountains for their entire water supply. In particular, the oldest and largest known qanat is located in the Iranian city of Gonabad which after 2700 years still provides drinking and agricultural water. Its main well depth is more than 360 meters and its length is 45 kilometers. Yazd and Kerman are also known zones for their dependence with an extensive system of qanats (Fig.3). The main idea to construct the qanat was to access and transfer of groundwater by sinking a series of wells and linking them underground. Qanat or kareez is a technical method used to provide a reliable supply of water to human settlements or for irrigation in hot, arid and semi-arid climates [2]. The origin of this technology dates back to the ancient Persian Empire (Fig. 4). Fig.1. A historic picture remained from 1921 A.D of the watering network of Shah Abdo Al-Azim and Rey Town, between Tehran City and Rey Town. Fig.3. A historic picture of a qanat in 1971 A.D . Fig.2. Drawing watering from the hole in Isfahan City in about 1921 A.D. Qanat (Kareez) A traveler flying over Iran can see plainly that the country has an arid climate. The Iranian plateau is largely desert. Most of Iran (excepting areas in the northwestern provinces and along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea) receives only six to 10 inches of rainfall a year. Other regions of the world with so little rainfall (for example the dry heart of Australia) are barren of attempts at agriculture. Yet, Iran is a farming country that not only grows its own food but also manages to produce crops for Fig.4. Qanat Construction. export, such as cotton, dried fruits, oil seeds and so on. It has achieved this remarkable accomplishment by developing an ingenious system for tapping underground water. The system, called qanat (from a Semitic word meaning "to dig"), was invented in Iran thousands of years ago, and it is so simple and effective that it was adopted in many other and regions of the Middle East and around the Mediterranean [6]. The qanat system consists of underground channels that convey water from aquifers in highlands to the surface at lower levels by gravity. The qanat works of Iran were built on a scale that rivaled the great aqueducts of the Roman Empire. Whereas the Roman aqueducts now are only a historical curiosity, the Iranian system is still in use after 3,000 years and has continually been expanded. There are some 22,000 qanat units in Fig.5. A view of qanats in Yazd Province Iran, comprising more than 170,000 miles of underground Persia is currently benefiting from 31000 active qanats channels. The system supplies 75 percent of all the water used in (Fig.5) producing some 9 billion cubic meters of the ground 13171 Amin Saeidian/ Elixir Sustain. Arc. 55A (2013) 13169-13178 water and forming some 15% of the aquifer discharge which is annually mined across the country. This huge amount of water is amazingly conveyed just by means of gravity. Since no electric or fossil energy is employed, this system is pollution free and bears no environmental contaminants.