A dredging project has started at parts of
Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System, a UNESCO-registered ensemble in southwest Iran, which is known globally as a ‘masterpiece of creative genius’.
Last April, the prehistorical ensemble was slightly affected by flash floods and heavy rainfall that stroke almost all of the country.
“A budget of 10 billion rials (some $240,000 based on the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been ratified for the project that will take some two months to be completed,” a local official said on Monday.
The ensemble comprises bridges, weirs, tunnels, canals, and a series of ancient watermills powered by human-made waterfalls. It is named after an ancient city of the same name with its history dating back to the time of Darius the Great, the
Achaemenid king.
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2009,
the Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System may testify to the heritage and the synthesis of earlier Elamite and Mesopotamian knowhow. According to UNESCO, the ensemble was probably influenced by the Petra dam and tunnel and by Roman civil engineering.
Loading... Please wait
Please wait