The Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System ( fa, سازه‌های آبی شوشتر) is a complex irrigation system of the island city

Shushtar Shushtar ( fa, شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city and capital of Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province. ...

from the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

era. It consists of 13 dams, bridges, canals and structures which work together as a hydraulic system. Located in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

's Khuzestan Province.Shushtar
, world heritage sites, retrieved on 1 May 2010. It was registered on

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

's list of World Heritage Sites in 2009 and is Iran's 10th cultural heritage site to be registered on the United Nations' list. This engineering masterpiece is unique both in Iran and in the world.The Sassanids, whose economy was mainly dependent on agriculture, developed extensive irrigation systems in this region. infrastructure included water mills, dams, tunnels, and canals. Gargar Bridge-Dam was built on the watermills and waterfalls. Bolayti canal is situated on the eastern side of the water mills and water falls and functions to supply water from behind the GarGar bridge to the east side of water mills and channel the water to prevent damage to the water mills. Dahaneye shahr tunnel (city orifice) is one of the three main tunnels which channeled the water from behind the Gargar Bridge-Dam into the water mill and then run several water mills. Seh kooreh canal channels the water from behind the GarGar bridge into the western side. In the water mills and water falls, we can see a perfect model of haltering to run mills. The

Band-e Kaisar The Band-e Kaisar (), Pol-e Kaisar ("Caesar's bridge"), Bridge of Valerian or Shadirwan was an ancient arch bridge in Shushtar, Iran, and the first in the country to combine it with a dam. Built by the Sassanids, using Roman prisoners of war as ...

(" Caesar's dam"), an approximately long

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

across the Karun, was the key structure of the complex which, along with the

Mizan Dam Mizan Dam or Band-e-Mizan, ( fa, بند میزان) is a historic dam from the Sassanid era and a part of Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, located in the island city Shushtar, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Mizan Dam was registered on UNESCO's ...

(Band-e Mizan), retained and diverted river water into the irrigation canals in the area. Built by a

workforce in the 3rd century AD on Sassanid order, it was the most eastern Roman bridge and

Roman dam This is a list of Roman dams and reservoirs. The study of Roman dam-building has received little scholarly attention in comparison to their other civil engineering activities, even though their contributions in this field have been ranked alon ...

and the first structure in Iran to combine a bridge with a dam. Parts of the irrigation system are said to originally date to the time of

Darius the Great Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...

, an

Achaemenian The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

king of

. It partly consists of a pair of primary diversion canals in the Karun river, one of which is still in use today. It delivers water to the

city via a route of supplying tunnels. The area includes

Salasel Castle Salasel Castle, ( fa, قلعه سلاسل) is a historical fortress and world heritage site. It's part of Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, located in the island city Shushtar, Khouzestan, Iran from the achaemenid era. Salasel Castle was reg ...

, which is the axis for operation of the hydraulic system. It also consists of a tower for water level measurement, along with bridges, dams, mills, and basins. Then it enters the plain south of the city, where its impact includes enabling the possibility of farming over the area called Mianâb and planting

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of larg ...

s.Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System

, Retrieved on 1 May 2010. In fact the whole area between the two diversion canals (Shutayt and Gargar) on Karun river is called Mianâb, an island having the

city at its northern end. The site has been referred to as "a masterpiece of creative genius" by

Sites

Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System is a complex of dams, bridges, canals and structures which consists of 13 sites which work together as a hydraulic system.https://whc.unesco.org/document/152341 1.

2. Kolah-Farangi Tower 3. Gargar Canal 4. Gargar Bridge-Dam 5. Watermills and Waterfalls area 6. Borj Ayar Bridge-Dam and Sabein Sanctuary 7. Khoda-Afrain Bridge-Dam 8.

9. Dariun Canal 10. Shadorvan Bridge-Dam 11. Band-e Khak Dam 12.

Lashkar Bridge Lashkar Bridge-Dam, ( fa, پل بند لشکر) is a world heritage site, a part of Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, located in the island city Shushtar, Khouzestan, Iran from the Achaemenid era. Lashkar Bridge was registered on UNESCO's ...

-Dam 13. Sharabdar Dam

Gallery

Panoroma of the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System 02.jpg File:Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System Panorama.jpg File:Electrical Biuld 03.jpg File:A asiyab.jpg File:Sazehaye Abi (3).jpg File:Sazehaye Abi (5).jpg File:شوشتر۱.jpg File:Sushtar Bridge.jpg File:Shoshtar 1.jpg File:Shushtar Waster Structure1.jpg File:Shushtar Abshar.JPG Kolah Faranghi Tower-Shooshtar- Khozestan-ID2611- برج کلاه‌فرنگی شوشتر.jpg

References

Sources

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External links

* Livius.org
Shushtar
* UNESCO
World heritage site
{{Khuzestan Province History of Khuzestan Province Sasanian architecture Science and technology in Iran Buildings and structures in Iran Water supply and sanitation in Iran World Heritage Sites in Iran Buildings and structures in Khuzestan Province Tourist attractions in Khuzestan Province