Lake of Homs

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Lake of Homs
Satellite image of the lake
Satellite image of the lake
Location: Homs ( Syria )
Tributaries: Orontes
Drain: Orontes
Lake of Homs (Syria)
Lake of Homs
Coordinates 34 ° 39 '45 "  N , 36 ° 37' 4"  E Coordinates: 34 ° 39 '45 "  N , 36 ° 37' 4"  E
Data on the structure
Lock type: Gravity dam
Construction time: 284 ad
Height of the barrier structure : 7 m
Crown length: 2000 m
Base width: 20 m
Data on the reservoir
Storage space 90 million m³
Particularities:

Largest Roman reservoir in the Middle East

All values ​​refer to the ancient structure.

The Lake of Homs is a Roman dam near the Syrian city of Homs , which is still in use.

The two kilometer long and seven meter high gravity dam consists of a Roman concrete core with a basalt stone cladding . The slightly pointed curvature of the dam is explained by the efforts of the builder to use the course of a natural basalt elevation in the terrain; the similarity to an arch dam is therefore of a purely superficial nature, functionally the dam works according to the weight principle.

Contrary to an older assumption, which brings the building in connection with the Egyptian New Kingdom , the lake was not created for irrigation purposes until 284 AD by the Roman Emperor Diocletian (284–305). With a storage capacity of 90 million m³, it is considered to be the largest reservoir built by the Romans in the Middle East and, at the time of its completion, could even have been the largest reservoir ever built.

Since the dam was raised in 1938, the storage capacity of the artificial lake has increased to 200 million m³. Despite its long operating time, the reservoir is noticeably silted up.

See also

literature

  • A. Trevor Hodge: Roman Aqueducts & Water Supply. Duckworth, London 1992, ISBN 0-7156-2194-7 , p. 91.
  • A. Trevor Hodge: Reservoirs and Dams. In: Örjan Wikander (Ed.): Handbook of Ancient Water Technology. (Technology and Change in History, Volume 2) Brill, Leiden 2000, ISBN 90-04-11123-9 , p. 338.
  • Niklaus Schnitter: Roman dams. In: Ancient World . Volume 8, No. 2, 1978, pp. 25-32.
  • Norman Smith: A History of Dams. Peter Davies, London 1971, ISBN 432-151090-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hodge (1992), p. 91.
  2. ↑ Smith (1971), p. 39 f .; Schnitter (1978), p. 31.
  3. ↑ Hodge (1992), p. 91; Hodge (2000), p. 338.
  4. ^ Smith (1971), p. 42.
  5. ↑ Schnitter (1978), p. 31; Hodge (1992), p. 91.
  6. ↑ Smith (1971), pp. 42 f .; Hodge (1992), p. 91.