Categories: Interesting

An Ancient Irrigation Canal in Urartu

At the end of the 9th century BC, a 72-kilometer irrigation canal was built in the Ararat Kingdom (Urartu), which was quite complicated for its time.

Moreover, this 4.5-meter wide and 1.5-meter deep canal is so well-built that it still supplies water to the area of Van.

Urartian kings could have watched Van from the same angle as in the image below.

The small creek on the left has been a part of the irrigation system used in Urartu.

Vigen Avetisyan

Recent Posts

Tork Angegh: Storm, Stone, and the Oldest Face of the Armenian Pantheon

Long before Armenia's kings raised churches over pagan sanctuaries, before Hellenism folded Vahagn into Herakles…

1 day ago

The Goat on the Armenian Highland: A Symbol Older Than Writing

Introduction Long before Urartian kings inscribed their names in cuneiform on the cliffs of Van,…

4 days ago

“Summon Against Her the Kingdoms of Ararat”: Urartu-Armenia in the Prophecy Against Babylon

A Coalition Beneath the Mountain Among the oracles of judgment collected in the Book of…

5 days ago

The Tower That Never Left Us: From the Susi Shrine of Ancient Van to the Obelisk Above the Yerevan Cascade

If you have ever climbed the Cascade in Yerevan and looked up at the tall,…

1 week ago

Hayravank Monastery: The “Father Monastery” of Lake Sevan and the Legend of the Doves

On a rocky promontory above the southwestern shore of Lake Sevan, at an elevation of…

1 week ago

Scythian Ceremonial Swords and the Art of the Van Kingdom (Urartu)

Among the most arresting objects to survive from the Early Iron Age Near East are…

2 weeks ago