DOI article:
Barański, Marek: The western aqueduct in Palmyra
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26420#0020
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MAREK BARANSKI
aqueduct was altered: several right angle turns were introduced to slow down the water
flow and the channel was made larger.
Further west the channel disappears under the wind-blown soil. The search in the bed of
the wadi revealed an underground terracotta pipeline running in the middle of the valley
some 70 m south of the aqueduct. This find confirmed our identification of a second, inde-
pendent water supply system in the Valley of Tombs. Unlike the open channel, it probably
functioned under pressure in order to overcome the differences of altitude.
At the western end of the valley the aqueduct trough is visible again. At this point the
open channel, however, was wider (0.4 m) and rectangular in section, unlike the one in the
Valley, which was semi-circular and only 0.3 m wide. The channel blocks were also larger.
The place where the wider part is joined with the narrower one can be seen at one of the
turns. A 65 m long section of the wider channel is visible. Alongside it, at the distance of
0.46 m, there runs a wall, 0.53 m wide, made of 0.55 m high stone slabs. Both the wall and
the channel rest on a foundation made of stone slabs. The wall was probably meant to pro-
tect the water conduit from sliding soil and rainwater flowing down the slope. The channel
was joined by a branch, which went across the wall. It was made of stone blocks and its
trough was semi-circular (0.33 m in diameter). A short section of the channel was cleared.
The gradient indicates that this was probably added to the earlier conduit with the rectan-
gular trough. Similar side-channels were found near the principia. Until the whole channel is
cleared, however, it is impossible to determine whether it brought water from a smaller
spring discovered later in the area or from rainwater collecting in the wide area of the rela-
tively flat slope. At the last stage this system was probably out of use as the mouth of the
channel was blocked with mortar. The wider channel with the rectangular gully runs for the
next 165 m towards the underground corridor enabling reduction of altitude difference of
the pass at the valley end. It is difficult to establish where the corridor begins as it is partly
ruined and covered with soil. The visible and accessible part is 7 m long and 1.75 m wide
and is covered with a barrel vault. The vault is made of stone voussoires overlapping and
interlocked. A similar form of arch is known from the 1st and the Ilnd century arches and
vaults in Palmyra (Baranski 1996: 371, fig. 2). Such a complex construction for a simple
structure may indicate that it is relatively early (e.g. dated to the late Ilnd century) or that
there were some other reasons to use an old and well tested solution in the Illrd century.
Every 2 metres the vault has small openings illuminating the underground corridor. Clear-
ing of the corridor would allow to state what type of canal was running there. Field survey
of the western part of the valley did not yield any finds connected with the underground
terracotta pipeline.
Beyond the pass closing the Valley there is a flatland extending for some 5 km, closed to
the west by the Rueisat hills where the aqueduct began. At the V5 of the distance, the ruins
known as Abu el-Fawares can be seen. The survey conducted all the way up to there
yielded very few elements which could be connected with the aqueduct, such as traces of
foundations and a wall slightly above the ground level. It seems that this section of the con-
duit was running underground. Near Abu el-Fawares there are two rectangular basins, 15 x
20 m and 8 x 11 m, both recently restored. The larger one was connected with a stone chan-
nel, 0.45 m in diameter and 1 m height at its mouth, coming from west. After ca 0.5 m, the
canal becomes underground and is course is indicated only by an embankment and regular
inspection openings. About 1 km from there it is possible to enter the underground corri-
dor. It is probably the place which was documented by Wood during his vo) age to Palmyra
(Wood, Dawkins 1753: pi. XXVII). The staircase is 0.9 m wide. It leads 4.5 m underground to
a corridor along which the aqueduct channel runs, 0.45 m wide and 0.5 m deep. The corri-
MAREK BARANSKI
aqueduct was altered: several right angle turns were introduced to slow down the water
flow and the channel was made larger.
Further west the channel disappears under the wind-blown soil. The search in the bed of
the wadi revealed an underground terracotta pipeline running in the middle of the valley
some 70 m south of the aqueduct. This find confirmed our identification of a second, inde-
pendent water supply system in the Valley of Tombs. Unlike the open channel, it probably
functioned under pressure in order to overcome the differences of altitude.
At the western end of the valley the aqueduct trough is visible again. At this point the
open channel, however, was wider (0.4 m) and rectangular in section, unlike the one in the
Valley, which was semi-circular and only 0.3 m wide. The channel blocks were also larger.
The place where the wider part is joined with the narrower one can be seen at one of the
turns. A 65 m long section of the wider channel is visible. Alongside it, at the distance of
0.46 m, there runs a wall, 0.53 m wide, made of 0.55 m high stone slabs. Both the wall and
the channel rest on a foundation made of stone slabs. The wall was probably meant to pro-
tect the water conduit from sliding soil and rainwater flowing down the slope. The channel
was joined by a branch, which went across the wall. It was made of stone blocks and its
trough was semi-circular (0.33 m in diameter). A short section of the channel was cleared.
The gradient indicates that this was probably added to the earlier conduit with the rectan-
gular trough. Similar side-channels were found near the principia. Until the whole channel is
cleared, however, it is impossible to determine whether it brought water from a smaller
spring discovered later in the area or from rainwater collecting in the wide area of the rela-
tively flat slope. At the last stage this system was probably out of use as the mouth of the
channel was blocked with mortar. The wider channel with the rectangular gully runs for the
next 165 m towards the underground corridor enabling reduction of altitude difference of
the pass at the valley end. It is difficult to establish where the corridor begins as it is partly
ruined and covered with soil. The visible and accessible part is 7 m long and 1.75 m wide
and is covered with a barrel vault. The vault is made of stone voussoires overlapping and
interlocked. A similar form of arch is known from the 1st and the Ilnd century arches and
vaults in Palmyra (Baranski 1996: 371, fig. 2). Such a complex construction for a simple
structure may indicate that it is relatively early (e.g. dated to the late Ilnd century) or that
there were some other reasons to use an old and well tested solution in the Illrd century.
Every 2 metres the vault has small openings illuminating the underground corridor. Clear-
ing of the corridor would allow to state what type of canal was running there. Field survey
of the western part of the valley did not yield any finds connected with the underground
terracotta pipeline.
Beyond the pass closing the Valley there is a flatland extending for some 5 km, closed to
the west by the Rueisat hills where the aqueduct began. At the V5 of the distance, the ruins
known as Abu el-Fawares can be seen. The survey conducted all the way up to there
yielded very few elements which could be connected with the aqueduct, such as traces of
foundations and a wall slightly above the ground level. It seems that this section of the con-
duit was running underground. Near Abu el-Fawares there are two rectangular basins, 15 x
20 m and 8 x 11 m, both recently restored. The larger one was connected with a stone chan-
nel, 0.45 m in diameter and 1 m height at its mouth, coming from west. After ca 0.5 m, the
canal becomes underground and is course is indicated only by an embankment and regular
inspection openings. About 1 km from there it is possible to enter the underground corri-
dor. It is probably the place which was documented by Wood during his vo) age to Palmyra
(Wood, Dawkins 1753: pi. XXVII). The staircase is 0.9 m wide. It leads 4.5 m underground to
a corridor along which the aqueduct channel runs, 0.45 m wide and 0.5 m deep. The corri-