Academic Article
The south-east Arabian origin of the falaj system
- Title
- The south-east Arabian origin of the falaj system
- Creator(s)
- Tikriti, Walid Yasin Al
- Date
- 2002
- Is Part Of
- Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
- Volume
- 32
- Pages
- 117-138
- Language
- eng
- ISSN
- 0308-8421
- Abstract
- The falaj system of south-east Arabia has been described as a network of tunnels for tapping underground water from higher ground and is generally considered to have derived from the qanāt of Iran. R. Boucharlat has recently divided the falaj system into three categories and considers the installations so far discovered in the Oman Peninsula to be of the type he describes as 'underground water galleries' fed with water from a surface source. In his view, aflāj fed from a subterranean water-source are of a much later date than the Iron Age. However, recent excavations in and around the city of al Ain, UAE, have now demonstrated that the standard falaj, which taps water from a mother well dug deep into the ground, has been in use in southeast Arabia since the beginning of the first millennium BC. The paper will show that the standard falaj originated in south-east Arabia where it has been known since at least the Iron Age.
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