Timing Water Shares in Wādī Banī Kharūs, Sultanate of Oman

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259872666 Timing water shares in Wādī Banī Kharūs, Sultanate of Oman ARTICLE · JANUARY 2013 READS 35 3 AUTHORS, INCLUDING: Abdullah Al-Ghafri University of Nizwa 38 PUBLICATIONS 132 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Available from: Abdullah Al-Ghafri Retrieved on: 24 March 2016 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SEMINAR FOR ARABIAN STUDIES VOLUME 43 2013 Papers from the forty-sixth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 13 to 15 July 2012 SEMINAR FOR ARABIAN STUDIES ARCHAEOPRESS OXFORD Orders for copies of this volume of the Proceedings and all back numbers should be sent to Archaeopress, Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED, UK. 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ISSN 0308-8421 ISBN 978-1-905739-65-3 Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 43 (2013): 1–10 Timing water shares in Wādī Banī KharūΒ, Sultanate of Oman ABDULLAH AL-GHAFRI, HARRIET NASH & MOHAMMED AL-SARMI Summary The falaj irrigation system of Oman once provided settlements with all their water needs, but their main use, then and now, is for the cultivation of crops. In most places, the water is shared among farmers such that it is necessary to time the allocation of water. Before wristwatches became widely available, farmers used sundials in the daytime and stars at night to know when to divert the falaj flow to their fields. These traditional practices are still followed, with many villages using the sundial, but only a few using stars. This paper presents the methods of traditional timing in two such villages, Stāll and Hajīr, located a few kilometres apart in Wādī Banī KharūΒ, on the northern flanks of the Jabal AkhΡar, with a focus on the rapidly dying art of star use. The stars were identified in the field; the method of watching stars is the same, rising above the horizon, but there are several differences between the two villages in the stars used and their names. These differences are explored in light of previous findings in other villages in Oman. Comparisons are also made with traditional irrigation water timing in Iran, which has been considered the source of the technique of falaj irrigation. Keywords: falaj, traditional irrigation timing, Oman, star use, sundials Introduction a more complete picture of current star use for irrigation purposes in Oman. The falaj (pl. aflāj) irrigation systems of Oman date back to at least 1000 BC (al-Tikriti 2002). They are widespread The settlements and their falaj systems in and around the mountains in the north of the country, where rainfall is sufficient to provide ephemeral Stāll is located at 23º 13’ N, 57º 33’ E; the falaj is of the wadi flow and groundwater recharge. They distribute dāūdī1 type, with groundwater collected and transported groundwater or wadi flow to the land to cultivate crops, underground to meet the surface close to the irrigated the most important of which is the date palm, but they are area. Hajīr is located at 23º 12’ N, 57º 30’ E; the falaj also used for many other purposes, including domestic is of the Κainī type, literally from a spring. The layout of water and — formerly — for drinking. The falaj systems the two villages is shown in Figures 2 and 3. The basic belong to and are run by the community. components of the settlement are dwellings, the falaj, and Before wristwatches became widely available, cultivated land. Abandoned land that was cultivated in the farmers used sundials in the daytime and stars at night past can be seen close to Hajīr: such land is frequently to know when to divert the falaj flow to their fields. The found in villages where falaj flow has decreased, often sundial is still used in many places, but the stars are only due to the introduction of pumped wells since the 1980s. used in a few of the c.3000 active falaj systems. Five In common with many other settlements in Oman, the of these were investigated by Nash between 2005 and affairs of the aflāj are run by various officials on behalf 2008 (Nash 2011); she recorded the methods of timing of the community. The main permanent crop is the date and identified many of the stars for the first time. The palm, and the palm groves have priority with regard to other settlements since identified where stars are still used irrigation; areas of seasonal crops such as vegetables, for this purpose comprise Stāll and Hajīr, in Wādī Banī KharūΒ on the northern flanks of the Jabal AkhΡar (Fig. 1), 1 Meaning ‘of David’ and referring to the Omani legend that Solomon, and three villages inland of the coastal town of Sur. The son of David, ordered his genies to construct hundreds of such irrigation results of this study therefore contribute significantly to systems when he was visiting Oman. 2 Abdullah al-Ghafri, Harriet Nash & Mohammed al-Sarmi FIGURE 1. The location of Stāll and Hajīr, Wādī Banī KharūΒ, Oman. FIGURE 2. The layout of Stāll. Timing water shares in Wādī Banī KharūΒ, Sultanate of Oman 3 FIGURE 3. The layout of Hajīr. legumes, and grain receive water only after the demand There are many ways of compensating for this apparent from the permanent crops is satisfied. Farmers generally unfairness in the system: longer āthār may have a higher own both water and land, but some water shares are monetary value for sale or mortgage; the time that a usually put aside to raise money for such purposes as particular share is used may vary, often alternating from falaj repairs, mosques, and traditional schools. day to night every week or so. An example of this for Hajīr is shown in Figure 5, which illustrates the four- Timing water shares week cycle that applies to Saturdays; other days have even more complex rotations. The main falaj channels in the two villages flow continuously, so the water is used by day and by night, The use of the sundial each of which is one badda (in the singular this term is variable and bāda is also frequently used; the plural is The sundial at Stāll (Fig. 6) is typical of the majority of rarely used, but one form is buwād). In principle, each sundials used for water division in Oman. It comprises badda is divided into twenty-four equal time spaces called a vertical stick, 8 cm in diameter and 2 m long, in a flat āthār (sg. athar), which vary in the time they represent rectangular area with time divisions marked by stones depending on the length of day or night, but average 30 oriented east–west. The time it takes the shadow of the minutes over the course of a year (Fig. 4). The amount tip of the pole to move from one stone to the next is one of water received by farmers thus varies according to the athar. This sundial has three lines of stones: one for number of āthār owned, their length, and the flow rate of summer, one for winter, and one for spring and autumn, the falaj. to adjust for the angle of the sun in different seasons. In practice, athar lengths are more variable than In Hajīr, the sundial is located in the compound of the the theoretical division described above. For example, village mosque, and the shadow of the mosque wall is particularly long āthār are often found at dusk and dawn. used in place of a separate pole. 4 Abdullah al-Ghafri, Harriet Nash & Mohammed al-Sarmi FIGURE 4. Divisions of time. Nash to obtain this information in 2008–2009, following her research on star use in other villages. In Stāll, Nash was assisted by Mohammed al-Sarmi. The stars were pointed out by Khalifa bin Khalfan al- Hattali (Fig. 7). He and the few others still using stars to time their allocation of water are all over 80 years old, and although Khalifa is teaching his 15-year-old son the system, in general young people in the village are not interested either to learn about or to use them.

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