PLATEAU OF IRAN, THE CRADLE OF PRESENT CIVILIZATION

The Plateau of Iran, one of the huge plateaus of the Asian continent, extends from the Persian Gulf on the Oman Sea in the south, to the Caspian Sea in the north, to the western part of the Pamir Mountains and the Arvan Rud basin in the west and to the Dorya (Jeyhoon) basin in the east. The area of this plateau is about 2,600,000 km². Since ancient times, this vast territory has possessed its independent language and dialect and a unique and rich culture. Due to its favourable climate, its diligent inhabitants, and central geographical position in the ancient world, and coupled with its strong links both to the East and the west, it has always played a determining role in the culture and civilization of the world.

According to Will Durant (1885–1981) in his book titled “Our Oriental Heritage: The story of Civilization”since the beginning of recorded history, the Middle East has contributed to at least half of

1The goddesses of Water in the antiquity: Anahita in Iran, Ishtar and Melita in Assyria, Ishtar in Babylon, Estradote in Phoenicia, Draktor in Caledonia, Poseidon in Greece and Anahid and Estakhik in Armenia. They enjoyed a greater respect than other deities among the people, and their statues and temples were constructed in places where water was abounded.

all evolutions which have taken place in human society and its culture and affairs. He noted that one may move one’s finger over the map of Iran, from the river Shat in the eastern corner of the Persian Gulf to the city of al-Emaareh in contemporary Iran and then eastward to find the contemporary city of Shoosh at the site of an ancient land called“Eelaam”(Hashami, 2010). Prof. Ghirshman (1895–1979) said that the oldest urban settlement in the plains has been identified as Sialk, near the city of Kashan, just south of Tehran (Hashami, 2010). Prof. Iliffe says: ‘there is no other eastern nation with so much influence on the composition of the present day civilization and human thought’ (Hashami, 2010). Albert Von Le Coq (1860–1930) in his book, “The Buried Treasures in Chinese Turkistan”, also describes Iranians as the first civilized nation in Asia (Hashami, 2010). Prof. Ghirshman says (in Iran, from the Beginning to the Islamic Era): “Iranians were the first people who established the global sovereignty together with promotion and the expansion of courage in justice and freedom” (Hashami, 2010). A geographical map of modern day Iran is shown in Figure 5.1.

5.3 HISTORICAL ASPECTS OF WATER AND WATER SUPPLY IN IRAN 5.3.1 Water in ancient Iran

Iranians became monotheists after recognising the regular movements of the stars, and the rotation of days and nights and the sun and the moon, and, thus the concept of theology and monotheism took root for the first time in Iran. According to the German Franz Anne Tim,‘Iranians called God“Izad”and attributed the human fears of the surroundings, particularly the natural disasters to Ahriman. They did not worship fire but held light, brightness and fire in high esteem.’Six to seven thousand years have passed since the Iranians first began believing in God, while this belief was established much later in India and Egypt. Therefore, from this perspective the Iranians have been the trend setters for other nations.

Figure 5.1 Map of Iran

Thousands of years before the Roman civilization took shape, each Persian home had a well. Later on, when baths became common, in addition to offering a place for washing and swimming, they were equipped with eateries and bars as well as libraries.

In the ancient territory of Iran, water was the symbol of purity, because the Iranians had a great belief in maintaining the cleanliness of water. Before then, the Iranians used to discharge wastewater in wells. The French archaeologist Pierre Benoit (1906–1987) says,‘They had created sewers in coastal areas where they could not use wells’(Hashami, 2010).

Iranians pioneered in urbanisation, as the first cities were built in Iran. According to Herodotus the father of historians, Cyrus the Great began building cities in Iran, where grade 1 roads measured 80 Zera or 40 m in width. The first exemplary city was built by Cyrus the Great near a village called Mashhad Morghab. The name given to this city was Pazargades, which was changed later on to Pazargad or Passargadae. Currently the ruins of the imperial palace measuring 2500 m in length and 200 to 800 m in width are all that remain.

The Iranian engineers and architects created a city, which was quite similar to modern cities in design, including water supply and sewerage.

Esdras, the Jewish priest and scientist who lived in the fifth century BC, wrote that Susa had 10 neighbourhoods, and each neighbourhood had five north-southerly and five east-westerly streets. The city’s structure had been engineered in a manner that allowed one to see the end of the opposite street from any road. There were three- and five-storey buildings in the city. He further writes, ‘Susa has sewers and water is taken to upper floors of buildings by conduits²(Hashami, 2010).

5.3.2 The establishment of water administration during the Achaemenid era One of the greatest deeds of Darius the Great was the creation of“Water Organisation”. The head of the organisation was called“Ao-Tar”or“Water Master”and he controlled the qanats, dams, rivers, etc. This great Achaemenid King initiated the construction of dams to prevent drought in India. Moreover, excavation of a canal to connect the Red Sea to the Mediterranean in Egypt figures among his inventions. In gratitude towards Darius’s actions, the Egyptians called him a Pharaoh, since by digging qanats and other initiatives he had supplied the south of Egypt with irrigation water.

To be able to pass the river Sind, Darius dispatched Estilakis and a delegation to India to report on the regional facilities for construction of a dam. The latter presented a report, equal in quality to those prepared by modern day geography and hydrology experts. Mandorcles, another engineer of the Darius period, constructed a bridge over Begas Bosporus to allow the army to pass over. Bolts and nuts were used to fix the boards in its construction.

Darius ordered the reconstruction of the city of Sarod destroyed by the Greeks. Mendrokles presented to Darius a plan of the city, which was to be built over an area of 50×50 Ostad³. Piped water and sewers were considered in the plan.

Tridot or Tirdad, whose foresight rivalled that of Cyrus or Darius built a large city called Dara or Darium or Darius in the year 211 BC near the present day Abivard, to preserve the name of Darius the Great for prosperity. In this city water flowed in closed conduits and there were provisions for sewers. All houses

2Susa was an Achaemenid capital city during the rein of Cyrus. Before then and during the third millennium BC the Burnt City, which expanded over an area of 150 hectares and which is to be found at a distance of 56 km from Zabol, had a wastewater system. Quoting Iran Daily (January 2003), the city had streets 3 m in width and houses with gardens measuring 150 m². Units consisted of 6 to 10 chambers and there were even two-storey buildings. The large terracotta pipes found in the city are indications of the existence of a sewerage system in the city.

3Each Ostad is equivalent to 200 m.

were equipped with heaters and central heating, which brought steam from a hot water tank to the rooms via a piping system.

In the year 326 AD when the city of Susa was destroyed during an earthquake, Shapur ordered it to be rebuilt with all the urban facilities, including water flowing in every house, a sewer system and a laundry in each neighbourhood (Hashami, 2010). Advanced irrigation systems existed during Anushirvan’s era. He facilitated the progress and development of these systems as well as the construction of dams, barriers and other relevant facilities, thereby taking effective steps to increase agricultural production.

Dam construction and qanat or tunnel excavation are among the inventions of Iranians. It is written of Shapur I in the Necropolis tabloid that Shapur constructed dams over rivers using funds from his treasury to save farmers from drought. Shapur has said,‘In Susa (modern day Khuzestan) I built so many dams to relieve farmers of a need for water.’

The Sassanid kings took loans from Bankehs (Banks) and built dams on rivers, even class 2 ones. One must not consider the multi-purpose dams built in recent centuries as the outcome of modern engineers’ inventions. Two-thousand years ago in Iran, dams were built that had dual and sometimes even triple purposes. A number of bridges built during Shapur I’s reign had dual utility, meaning that the bridge’s foundations were constructed in such a manner as to enable collection of water, while the main structure joined the two banks of the river. There were also triple-purpose water structures in Iran. The most outstanding example in subsequent eras is the Amir Barrier in Fars, since in addition to joining the two river banks together; it also used the two streams on either side of the rivers for water supply and irrigation. The third purpose of this water monument was to tap into water energy to turn the wheels of a millstone.

Grot Van Roken has reported the existence of a stream branching out of the Karoon River to the west of Shushtar, which flows in parallel to the Shahteiteh River. These types of special purpose qanats are called Safteh (Hashami, 2010). In its height of splendour and power, Rome lacked even latrines, whereas during the Sassanid era, wastewater systems were quite common. After the Sassanids, this trend was forgotten except in a number of urban areas such as Esfahan, a number of cities in the provinces of Guilan and Mazandaran and in Astarabad. Instead latrine wells were dug for this purpose.

This is quite significant when one considers that not so long ago Versailles, the symbol of the French royal glory, did not have a single well. The French learnt the method of using toilet wells and bath tubs from Mohammad Reza Beg, the Iranian Ambassador to the court of Louis XIV (Hashami, 2010).

In any case, latrine wells existed in Iran well before. Such wells dating back to seven thousand and six thousand years ago were respectively found in Sialk Tepeh of Kashan and Hessar Tepeh of Damghan.

Iranians, whose monotheism dates back to over six thousand year ago, believed that earth and water must be kept clean. They discharged water used in washing the body in wells. According to Kensias, the Achaemenids used to wash dead bodies, but not in a flowing water body as they held that it would be a profanity to pollute it (Hashami, 2010).

5.3.3 Water flow measurement in ancient Iran

Due to the expanse of the country and the variety of the water resources, different methods were developed in various regions to measure water flow. The smaller the volume of water, the more accurate was the measuring method. The “water distribution measurement device” consisted of a flat copper tub, a perforated cup and the stone (an old measuring scale). At periods when water was in abundance and there were no conflicts between the farmers, these devices, which were also known as water distributors, were used on rivers to measure and calibrate the flow.

An ancient Iranian scientist, Sheikhbahayee, designed the best way to measure water drawn from the Zayandeheroud River to be distributed for agriculture. The written process called the Sheikhbahayee’s roll (Toumar-e- Sheikh Bahayee) was used for ending conflicts among farmers who lived close to the Zayanderoud River. Moreover, Amirkabir, the renowned Qajjar period’s Prime Minister transferred water from the Karaj River (Karaj being a city located near Tehran) to Tehran (capital of Iran) and established a roll to distribute it among farmers. This roll is shown in Figure 5.2 (Garoosi, 2003).

5.3.4 Water from the point of view of Islam

“And we created from water all things living”

The monotheist religions, the heavenly books and the adages, citations and traditions of people all underlined the importance, value and the status of water. Each religion has considered water as the source of life and originator of existence. The Koran, the religious book of Islam, pays special attention to this divine creation. The Heavenly book of Islam mentions water under different headings. In addition to Koran verses, numerous adages are left behind from the Holy Prophet and the prominent religious figures, stressing the importance of water and the need to respect it. The Holy book of Islam mentions water 63 times, pointing either to the purity of water or to its life giving powers for plants and animals.

The Koran describes in detail how water first appeared on earth and the volume of waters available for use. It considers water as the vehicle for cleansing body and soul, and therefore, bans any extravagance and wastage. The religious leaders have also stressed the need to protect water from all pollutions.

Figure 5.2 Picture of a roll to distribute water from Karaj River drawn by Amirkabir

Although water bodies have a faculty for self treatment and the components of a flowing water body have self cleaning effects, nonetheless, all recommendations stress the need to maintain the purity of water.

Unfortunately, through scientific advances and industrialisation and the increased rate of discharges in rivers and seas, mankind has upset the order and cycle of nature and has brought the world to the brink of crisis (cf. the Koran, which says‘You shall bring upon your demise with your own hand’) (Hashami, 2010).

5.3.5 Water knowledge

Ancient nations had some knowledge of hydrology. In their studies Homer, Plato, Aristotle and centuries later the French Pierre Perole reached a conclusion that snow and rainfall were not enough to ensure the replenishment of rivers and their flows. Consequently, other resources were required to sustain the supply of water from rivers and springs.

Four thousand years ago the Assyrian kings built artificial lakes to transform arid lands around the Tigris and the Euphrates into lush gardens and conduits for irrigation. During the reign of the Assyrian king Senakhrib (705–681 AD) water was drawn from the well by a spool. Iranians were the inventors of qanats and after conquering Iran, the Arabs took Iranian diggers and specialists to North Africa to build similar systems. In his book on Iran, Professor Ghirshman announces that in pre-historical times, irrigation was a manual process. However, during the Achaemenid era there appeared an extensive system of underground networks known as qanats (Hashami, 2010).

The French Albert Chandour points to the fact that in the ancient fertile lands of Medes, Khuzestan and Pars irrigation and drainage systems were common features with an overwhelming number of qanats (Hashami, 2010).

There is a deep well of 4.20 m in diameter on Rahmat (Blessing) Hill⁴. It served as a reservoir, which was filled by floodwater in winter and spring and used in other seasons. Three other wells were also discovered in the year 1940 in the region. The remnants of clay and rocky gable roofs found in the Persepolis indicate that they were installed in the middle of the walls to conduct water from roofs to the underground conduits.

Furthermore, there was a large pool measuring 55 m in length and 23 m in width with a depth of 2.15 m discovered in the south-west wing of the Persepolis complex, which was built out of rocks with lead and tar mortar.

Water purification in clay jugs, pots and copper tubs was common practice and these vessels were used to fetch water from spring, qanats, and so on. Some nomadic tribes in our country still maintain this tradition.

However, these utensils have gradually left the scene, in favour of their plastic counterpart, to seek a position in museums. Boiling water and keeping it in silver vessels were two treatment processes practised during the Achaemenid period. This was also the method used to treat water in adequate volume for the king’s use during his travels (Hashami, 2010).

5.3.6 An overview of water supply methods in ancient Iran

Water has always played a key role in the long history of Iran. Iranians are credited for creation of qanats and the invention of the Persian Wheel, two ancient water supply systems, which are well known in the world.

According to Herodotus, the Greek historian, the technique for digging qanats was well documented and practised in the Achaemenid era (550–330 BC), some 2500 years ago. Ruins of reservoirs have been discovered along with water intakes, spillways and outlets and even the sewerage systems dating as far back as the Pre-Achaemenid and Assyrian (1500–600 BC) periods. The archaeological surveys suggest

4Rahmat was the hill on the levelled side of which Persepolis was built.

that Iranians enjoyed advanced culture and civilization some 7000 years ago. The civilization in the western part of the Iranian plateau flourished 5000 years ago with the invention of cuneiform writing. Discoveries prove that Iranians were peaceful and ingenious people in the third millennium BC who cultivated land and raised livestock. In general, there have been four methods of water supply in Iran. These were cisterns or water reservoirs, channels, canals, and weirs and dams.

Conventional wells were drilled vertically by means of manual tools and equipment and water was extracted for humans or farm animals. Ancient Iranians are attributed with processes, which resulted in artesian wells, and the means of bringing them under subjugation.

However, they still were unable to fully explore the above mentioned wells. Furthermore, excess precipitation was stored at certain locations known as cisterns or water reservoirs. Examples of these monuments, designed in the form of covered structures filled with water, are abundant in the vicinity of the salt deserts and the hot arid plains in the south of Iran. These were used to meet the water demands of villages and passing caravans.

The underground water channel, the so-called“qanat”, was by far the most important method of water supply in many parts of Iran. In view of the scarcity of rivers in many parts of the country and given the scant number of perpetual rivers, approximately 3000 years ago, the ancient Iranians achieved an admirable invention known as “qanat” or “kareez”. This highly important and incomparable initiative was later transferred from the Middle East to North Africa, Spain and Sicily for further exploitation. The records on the Iranian qanats in the Achaemenid era can be found in the writings of the Greek historians.

Consequently, it can be asserted that this irrigation technique dates back to the Pre-Achaemenid period.

There are also historical records of qanats during the Parthian and the Sassanid dynasties.

Water supply and irrigation by means of canals was achieved by erecting canals on the banks of rivers in order to draw certain quantities of water. In ancient Iran a multitude of canals branched off from large rivers such as the Tigris and the Hirmand to be diverted to the arid deserts. The ancient Iranians exerted their utmost

Water supply and irrigation by means of canals was achieved by erecting canals on the banks of rivers in order to draw certain quantities of water. In ancient Iran a multitude of canals branched off from large rivers such as the Tigris and the Hirmand to be diverted to the arid deserts. The ancient Iranians exerted their utmost