World Heritage Identification Number: 1207
World Heritage since: 2006
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇴🇲 Oman
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Arab States
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Ancient Water Management: The Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman
The Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, showcase an ingenious and sustainable approach to water management that has been in use since at least AD 500. These systems are found in the regions of Dakhiliyah, Sharqiyah, and Batinah, although their roots may extend back even further, with archaeological evidence suggesting irrigation systems existed in this arid region as early as 2500 BC.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The property includes five aflaj irrigation systems and is representative of some 3,000 such systems still in use in Oman. The origins of this system of irrigation may date back to AD 500, but archaeological evidence suggests that irrigation systems existed in this extremely arid area as early as 2500 BC. Using gravity, water is channelled from underground sources or springs to support agriculture and domestic use. The fair and effective management and sharing of water in villages and towns is still underpinned by mutual dependence and communal values and guided by astronomical observations. Numerous watchtowers built to defend the water systems form part of the site reflecting the historic dependence of communities on the aflaj system. Threatened by falling level of the underground water table, the aflaj represent an exceptionally well-preserved form of land use.
Encyclopedia Record: Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman
The Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman are ancient water harvesting, transportation, storage and distribution systems from AD 500 located in the Omani regions of Dakhiliyah, Sharqiyah and Batinah. They do however represent a type of irrigation system with a history going back 5,000 years in the Middle East, one type being known from Persia under the name qanat or kariz. Aflaj systems may include an underground horizontal section accessed by vertical shafts, which collects water from the aquifer by using the same technology as the Iranian qanat systems, and always include surface channels for transport and distributiin.Additional Site Details
Area: 1,455.949 hectares
Coordinates: 22.9988888889 , 57.5360555555
Image
© Paolotacchi, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
