Increasing archaeological interest in Bahrain’s ancient irrigation systems, a section of which is being integrated as the centrepiece of a new public park in Hamad Town, could help the kingdom tackle climate change and meet its UN Sustainable Development Goals commitments.
This is among the key findings of a recently published book titled The Archaeology of Irrigation Technology and Water Management in the Islamic World edited by Timothy Insoll, Rachel MacLean and Salman Almahari.
The book compiles the proceedings of a 2024 conference on the topic, co-organised by Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (Baca) and the Arab and Islamic Studies Institute at the University of Exeter in the UK.
“The way past civilisations managed water reflects skilfulness and adaptability,” Baca president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa wrote in the foreword to the book. “In environments where water was scarce or unpredictable, they developed sustainable systems that supported entire communities for centuries.
The primary site locations of traditional canals in Bahrain
“As we face modern challenges of water scarcity and climate change, these historical approaches offer valuable lessons in resilience, efficiency and sustainability – principles that remain as relevant today as they were in the past.”
The book includes 14 academic papers covering the gamut of irrigation across the Islamic World, including one focused on Bahrain.
‘The Archaeology of Water in Bahrain in the Islamic Period’ paper highlights the first excavation of a traditional canal system, called ‘qanat’, which took place between 2022 and 2024 in Hamad Town.
Angles of a maintenance shaft uncovered in Saar
Although now dry, it had been fed by the Um Jrai spring and eight vertical maintenance shafts were uncovered in the north qanat field. “A second section of qanat survives in Saar and we would draw particular attention to it as it appears to have been built using similar construction methods,” researchers added. “However, it awaits further research and has been listed as a protected archaeological site.
“Another much shorter section of qanat, which may or may not have linked to the latter, was discovered in 2017, when it was accidentally unearthed during groundworks for the erection of a three-storey building. Fortunately, the landowner recognised its historical significance, and it has been preserved in the underground carpark of the building and he has plans to present the qanat to the public, to showcase the importance of irrigation canals in the region.”
Although most of the uncovered sites have not been archaeologically surveyed, a recent exception is the excavation of a ‘kawkab’ or offshore spring on the man-made Al Sayah island near Muharraq.
Carbon dating indicates that it was used between the mid-sixth and early eighth centuries to load water onto pearling boats and ships.
Researchers have recommended that a full inventory of the remaining hydraulic infrastructure be compiled, along with a strategy to safeguard and present examples of the system, as part of the kingdom’s water heritage and tourism initiatives.
“The past does hold lessons for the present and certainly for the climatically more challenging future,” researchers added. “The storm that Bahrain experienced in late October 2023 provides such an example for unlike in the past there was no infrastructure to capture and store or manage and drain the rainwater that fell.
“Instead, it either ran into the sea, was absorbed into the sand, or evaporated, giving a few cooler days and some new plant growth, but nothing tangible, and that precious resource was, essentially, wasted.”
Other chapters in the book look at water management in a number of regions and time-periods, including Saudi Arabia, the Levant, Islamic Sicily, Andalusian-era Spain, Istanbul and East Africa.
naman@gdnmedia.bh
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