|
CAIS
The
Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies
[
Home ]
[
About CAIS ]
[
Articles ]
[
Daily News ]
[
News Archive ]
[
Announcements
]
[ CAIS
Seminars ]
[ Image
Library ]
[
Copyright ]
[
Disclaimer ]
[
Submission ]
[
Search ]
[
Contact Us ]
[
Links ]
| |
|
.
|
|
CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL
& CULTURAL NEWS©
|
|
Remains
of Ancient Qanats
Discovered Near Bam
|
|
01
May 2004
|
|
Landslides occurring after the recent earthquake
in Bam have unveiled remains of an elaborate network of ancient
villages and qanats around the city. They were discovered one km
east of Bam, having escaped the watchful eyes of archeologists
so far.
Shahryar adl, an expert and member of the Bam citadel recovery
committee who came across the evidence said aerial photography
and archeological explorations led to the discovery of a highly
organized system of qanat irrigation and ancient villages near
Bam. Describing the discovery as significant, Adl remarked his
findings suggest a population concentration east of what is now
bam.
“They had to leave the villages and move inside the citadel in
the face of attacks by the Ezz tribe and then the Mongols,” he
explained.
Adl pointed out the qanat network was unique in that they drew
on a difference in ground level. Bam residents dug pools near
faults that water would gather in, creating aqueducts to lead
water to farms.
The system was destroyed as sediments piled up and no dredging
was carried out. The historical Bam town is among the old cities
in the country, which according to archeologists was founded in
the Sasanid era or even earlier in the Achaemenid era.
In addition to the citadel, the city used to be surrounded by
numerous villages, where a major part of agricultural,
manufacturing and economic activities were concentrated. As the
qanats dried up and villages were abandoned, the residents had
to move to near the 2,000 year old citadel, triggering a rise in
construction in the citadel since some 800 years ago, which
reached its height in the Qajar era.
The Bam citadel was leveled to the ground in an earthquake,
which shook the area last December.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
"History
is the Light on the Path to Future"
|
|
Encyclopaedia
Iranica
The
British Institute of Persian Studies
"Persepolis
Reconstructed"
The
British Museum
The
Royal
Asiatic
Society
|
|
