Iris Publishers-Open Access Journal of Archaeology & Anthropology | Greek, Hellenistic and Roman-Byzantine Water Management Technology: Overview from Jordan

Authored by Mansour A Shqiarat

Because of the widespread effects of Greece and Rome, and the characteristic and easily recognized styles of their monumental architecture and material culture, the issue of their water-management technology is treated here in a separate research. What is agreed upon to be either Hellenistic or Roman-Byzantine in Jordan and the theoretical and classificatory problems of interpretation are discussed in the subsequent research – has a critical effect on how the ‘indigenous’ or Nabataean water-management regime is identified and understood. It is fair to say that there is, at present, considerable confusion over the chronological and typological development of water management structures in Jordan between the middle of the first millennium BC and the middle of the first millennium AD which is the main thing this paper aims to begin to clarify. This paper, therefore, discusses what is known in general about the development of water management in what can be loosely termed the ‘Classical World’, based on both archaeological and historical sources.

The Greeks were the first to use the basic water supply elements collectively to serve the needs of the entire urban community, including obvious display and aesthetic uses. They were also the first to divide water into the three categories of potable, sub-potable and non-potable on the basis of source and use [1]. The Greeks preferred to obtain potable water, that is., drinking and cooking water, from a flowing source such as a spring or fountain. This accounted for less than six percent of their total water supply [1]. Cisterns primarily supplied water for the sub-potable category. It is interesting that the Greeks also generally reused their water [1], what is today referred to as grey water. Non-potable wastewater, runoff, was used for irrigation, baths and sacrificial basins [1].

It has been suggested that several water components, such as gravity-fed conduits and pressure pipelines, were developed in the distant past and forgotten, only to be rediscovered at a later time [1]. It is also probable that some general concepts of water conveyance were shared by cultures as they came into contact with one another. One such possibility is the idea of subterranean water conduits. Several scholars believe that the idea was transferred from the Armenians to the Persians, then on to the Greeks and then to the Romans [1-4]. Each group, however, adapted the concept to fit its own situation and needs.

Household courtyards provided the primary location for domestic cisterns, supplying water for home-oriented and light industrial tasks, which took place in the open surroundings. From here the cistern accommodated the water needs of the nearby kitchen, as well as the laundry and washing needs of the household [1].

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