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The
Neolithic ditch of Murgia Timone (Matera). The thicker vegetation
makes the ditch visible. On the right the double ring mausoleum
of the Bronze Age is evident.
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Petra
(Jordan). The carved sandstone rock contains hypogeal rooms
arranged throughout the whole height of the rock. The different
levels are connected with each other by means of external stairs
carved out of the wall.
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Lalibela
(Ethiopia). A complex network of underground tunnels, most of
them yet unknown, connect the different ditches and contribute
to the preservation of the hypogeal monuments during the rainy
season and to the conservation of the water resources during the
dry seasons.
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Cappadocia
(Turkey). The troglodyte settlement is dug out of the rock. Water
harvesting and the collection of guano produced by the pigeons
enable productive gardens to be arranged at the foot of the built-up
area on the protected valley floor that is free of buildings.
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| Village
on the Ethiopian highland. Above, the general view shows the elliptic
ditch like that of the Neolithic villages (see fig. 33). Below,
detail of the ditch whose multipurpose function still now enables
the built-up area to be kept dry and drained, creating a water
reservoir and a sewage collection system for soil fertilisation.
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The
large reservoirs for water conservation on the acropolis of
Thula (Yemen) had sufficient dimensions to supply water to the
fields and the surrounding houses and to withstand sieges.
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Aden
(Yemen), the so-called cisterns of the Queen of Sheba. An impressive
system of reservoirs is placed at the outlet of the crater of
Aden, which in the past was made watertight and acted as a huge
moisture catchment device to fill the pools.
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Beyt
Bows (Yemen). Stone settlement on the upland with an open-air
cistern for harvesting water.
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Wadi
Saoura (Algeria). The long rocker arms placed on tall adobe
uprights, here called khottara and very similar to the ancient
Egyptian and Arabian shaduf, enable water to be drawn from the
wells dug out of the wadi's sediments.
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Oasis
of Timimoun (Algerian Sahara), the interior of the drainage tunnel
called foggara. The tunnel is dug out of the limestone rock and
thanks to its linear development it is able to catch the quantity
of water contained in the porous ground.
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Oasis
of Timimoun (Algerian Sahara). The water sharing system at the
surface outlet of the foggara.
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Gravina
in Puglia. The underground tunnel of the water system, very similar
to the Saharan drainage tunnels, supplies the fountains in the
historical centre of the town, situated on the opposite side of
the canyon, by means of an aqueduct-bridge which is, in its turn,
supplied with water tapped on the hill of Botromagno.
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| Left)
The foggara network of an Algerian Saharan oasis. (p. ) (Right)
Graphical representation of the water distribution in the oasis.
The three families (A, B, C) in the village (1) shared the water
supply of the foggara (2) by means of the kesria (3). As time went
by water was distributed to the generations (I-VII) by creating
an intricate layout of channels, water sharing devices and tilled
parcels. |
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The technique of the bisse consists of carrying water from the glaciers to the valleys of the region of Sion (Switzerland)
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Location
of the bisse of Sion.
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1.
Natural course of the torrent Sionne
2. Water intake and path of the
bisse of Lentine and Mont d'Orge
3. Slopes irrigated by the bisse
4. Built-up area of Sion
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The
sun's height through the seasons determines the inclination
of the excavation. A double objective is pursued: in winter,
when the sun reaches a certain height, sunbeams strike the bottom
of the cave; in summer, sunbeams are only allowed to reach the
entrance of the cave, because of the heat and to help moisture
condense in the cistern.
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In
Shibam the habitat is important for the fertilisation of the
fields with which it interacts in an indissoluble cycle of
careful use of the resources. The town is able to meet the
need of collecting human excrements, thanks to the kind of
closet, the fabric of the houses and the whole planimetry.
Excrement, essential in order to cultivate the desert , is
dried in the sun. Thanks to the supply of flood waters impounded
by deviation dams, the excrement turns into humus and colloidal
material, which is dug out and used for building and periodically
renovating the tall adobe houses of the town. Depressions
are made, surrounded by embankments and channels and shaded
by the palm-grove. Their function is that of providing agricultural
foodstuffs and protecting the habitat from the floods by absorbing
and storing quantities of water.
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In
the Sassi of Matera the digging of caves drains the slope
and the inside of the rock thus making the cavities useful
and providing water storage for the inhabitants and the terrace
crops. The digging material is used for building the cave-dwellings
by extending forward the lateral caves of each terrace and
for building the protected courtyards. The rainwater off the
roofs is harvested in the well inside the courtyard. In order
to accomplish this task the pitches of the roofs do not protrude
from the houses but they are rather built within the walls,
where the community life of the neighbourhood takes place.
The hypogeums, whose temperature is constantly 15° C, provide
heat in winter time and cool in summer time. The layout of
small streets and stairs is useful to channel rainwater for
farming the terraces, which because of the urban development
become saturated with houses or turn into hanging gardens.
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