Petra: The archaeologist examines the ancient system of water storage
Petra is buried deep in the Middle East in Jordan, surrounded by harsh desert canyons and mountains. It was once a bustling center of politics, culture and economics and was one of, if not the most important ancient points in the region, where traders will stop during their travels. The area has been inhabited since at least 7,000 BC, with remnants of its bygone era scattered across its dusty plains.
It was not until the Nabataeans moved to Petra in the 4th century BC that the city reached its full potential.
They made it the capital of their kingdom and soon faced great challenges from surrounding powers such as the Greek and Roman empires, which both tried to invade Petra.
The Romans eventually succeeded in 106 AD. and settled in the city for hundreds of years, until a huge earthquake tore the metropolis in the fourth century AD.
Despite the Byzantine Empire’s efforts to revive the city later, Petra eventually fell into disrepair and became a place to shelter local shepherds from extreme weather conditions.
Archeology: The engineering works discovered in Petra stunned researchers (Image: Youtube / Smithsonian Channel)
Petra: The ancient city is located deep in the southwestern desert of Jordan (Image: Google Maps)
For researchers, this is a sad story, as Petra was home to some of the greatest minds in the world, as explored in the Smithsonian Channel documentary “Secrets: The Mystery of Petra”.
The city’s water and drainage system has amazed archaeologists for years, with the program’s narrator noting: “Petra seems to be thriving on the Nabataeans’ ability to manage scarce water resources.
“The Nabataean storage and irrigation system was an incredible marvel of engineering, a complex network of cisterns, dams and canals using water from desert springs and four inches of annual rainfall to maintain a year-round water supply.
Petra is located in a climatically hostile place for the city: carved into a narrow canyon called Al Siq, a desert landscape surrounds buildings with temperatures often reaching 42 ° C (107 ° F) or more, with no nearby water source.
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Engineering: The city’s structures are carved into the rock wall (Image: GETTY)
But it is estimated that in its heyday, Petra was home to 30,000 people, although local water resources are only enough for two to three thousand people.
Dr Thomas Paradise, a geoscientist at the University of Arkansas, said: “We will be under a lot of pressure in the 21st century to be able to create a city that is sustainable and living very well.
Dr Christopher Tuttle, Council of the American Overseas Research Centers, said: “This is a testament to the resilience of the Nabataeans and their ingenuity that they can change the landscape to meet their needs.”
The system created by the Nabateans starts from the tops of the hills, where dozens of reservoirs located around the city’s landscape capture and store every drop of winter rain.
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Irrigation: Where irrigation systems are located in and around Petra (Image: Youtube / Smithsonian Channel)
Terracotta: Some of the ancient trumpets can still be found around the city (Image: Youtube / Smithsonian Channel)
Dr Paradise explained: “[At] the highest place in the valley, we have a cistern that can collect water from the entire area at the top.
“He was so successful at retaining water that we can see how high and rich the water that collects is.”
The water flowed into Petra through a huge cross-channel.
There were broken terracotta pipes in the places where the water would flow, and Dr. Paradise notes: “They would be covered, with pipes and connected all the way down.
“They are very similar to the same terracotta pipes we use all over the planet two thousand years later.
“And we have more than a hundred miles of these canals in Petra, where the water would flow into the city very slowly, stored again in a series of cisterns.
“They’re not a very steep angle, it’s a very slight angle: if it was too steep, the water would rush in too fast and back, and if it was too flat, the water supply to the different tanks would be too slow.”
Research on the water system has concluded that it provides Petra with 12 million gallons of water a day – enough to meet all the domestic and agricultural needs of the city.
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“They are very similar to the same terracotta pipes we use all over the planet two thousand years later.
“And we have more than a hundred miles of these canals in Petra, where the water would flow into the city very slowly, stored again in a series of cisterns.
“They’re not a very steep angle, it’s a very slight angle: if it was too steep, the water would rush in too fast and back, and if it was too flat, the water supply to the different tanks would be too slow.”
Research on the water system has concluded that it provides Petra with 12 million gallons of water a day – enough to meet all the domestic and agricultural needs of the city.
Study: Dr. Thomas Paradise reaches the high point above Petra, where the system begins (Image: Youtube / Smithsonian Channel)
The system was so efficient that there was enough water even for a 140-foot public swimming pool in the royal gardens.
The narrator describes it as “incomparable luxury in the middle of the desert.”
Dr Paradise added: “We are looking at a 2,000-year-old engineering feat that is nothing short of brilliant.”
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