Conquest of new lands and water systems in the western Fertile Crescent (Central and Southern Syria)
Abstract
Apart from hydraulic systems linked to major perennial rivers (Orontes, Wadi Barada, Yarmuk, Wadi Zarqa), the control of water in the Near East passes by the exploitation of complementary seasonal resources: springs, water table, river floods, flash floods. It is particularly the case in the areas of contact between plains and mountains and in steppe transition zones. The water is managed through technical installations (springs capture, diversion dams, canals, cisterns, qanats, ...) which need to be understood within historically contingent situations. The results of three French fields research programs covering the area spreading from the Aleppo plateau to the Wadi Zarqa, Arid margins of central Syria survey (B. Geyer dir.), Hawran survey (F. Braemer dir.) and Water systems strategies around the Arabic desert from the antiquity (M. Mouton dir.) will be synthesised.