Aqueducts of water

Under the soil of Iran there are about 350 thousand kilometers of underground water tunnels dug in 3500 years. It’s like the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The excavation is at a depth of 300 meters underground and at distances of up to 50 km from the mountains to the desired settlement

It is an ancient water system that began in the region of Iran and spread throughout the ancient world from Indochina, through Europe and Africa to distant South America.

3000 years ago in Iran, instead of bringing the water in buckets from the rivers, the people brought the rivers or the groundwater to the door of the house.

In 500 BC, a call went out in the kingdom of Iran, that any person who succeeds in bringing water to dry areas with the help of aqueducts will receive a tax exemption for himself and five generations of his children after him.

This is an ancient and prestigious profession called ‘muqannis’ where the professional goes to the mountains to look for signs of groundwater. From there they dig a hole and discover the depth of the water. Sometimes it reaches hundreds of meters. The next step is to transfer the water to a settlement that is up to 50 km away – they start digging a trench above the settlement, and every few meters a shaft is dug into the ground for ventilation. This way the water does not evaporate and remains good for drinking.

Until 70 years ago, drinking water in Iran was provided through this water system.

The aqueducts passed through only a few places and houses, and the houses that passed were more expensive than other houses, because the homeowners could get the water they needed with less effort.

Public cisterns were actually large ponds built underground, and people could reach these underground reservoirs to take water through designated steps.

This water reservoir was in a cylindrical structure that was hidden underground, these tanks had a cone-shaped roof, on which a fan was installed. The fans were very large and worked well, because the water cooled enough in the extreme heat of the summer.

The longest and deepest canal is called “kaikhusrau kareez” and is 70 km long, the depth of its wells reaches up to about 350 meters. To this day, it supplies water to 40 thousand people in the city of Gonabad in Iran, at a rate of 150 liters per second. Its age is estimated to be over 2500 years.