Nimrod's dam
Coordinates: 34 ° 0 ′ 0 ″ N , 44 ° 10 ′ 0 ″ E
Nimrod's dam was a historic dam on the Tigris and was built around 2000 BC. Built in Mesopotamia under the rule of King Nimrod . It was south of Samarra and north of Baghdad .
Nimrod is a legendary figure, is mentioned in the Bible and associated with various historical rulers in Mesopotamia.
The dam
The dam is said to have been an earth dam with wood and reeds and had a height of 40 feet, which corresponds to 12 m. The Tigris was dammed by 8 m. The dam diverted the Tigris to a new bed for irrigation (seen in the direction of flow to the left, see map by Smith) and also served as flood protection. Because the entire Tigris was diverted, the dam did not need any extraction structures or flood relief .
A canal (the Nahrawan Canal ) approx. 300 km long and 100 m wide began at the dam and carried the water for irrigation. According to Wölfel, the canal was built in the 3rd millennium BC. Built around the same time as the Nimrod Dam, according to other sources in the 3rd century AD. The dam is archaeologically undetectable, but the canal is historically documented and remains are still present today.
According to Wölfel, the Nimrod Dam fell into disrepair in the 7th century. According to Jansen, Nimrod's dam was not destroyed until after 1258 in Mongolian times and is known as Marduk Dam. Marduk is possibly identical to Nimrod. The Tigris returned to its old bed. According to Smith, the dam existed until around 1200.
See also
literature
- Norman Smith: A History of Dams. P. Davies, London 1971, ISBN 0-432-15090-0 .
- Wilhelm Wölfel: Hydraulic engineering in the old empires. Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-345-00332-5 .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Norman Smith: A History of Dams. 1971.
- ^ A b c Wilhelm Wölfel: Hydraulic engineering in the old empires. 1990, ISBN 3-345-00332-5 .
- ^ Robert B. Jansen: Dams from the beginning. ( Memento of the original from October 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 1980. (DOC file 3490 kB)
