LA CONDUCCIÓN DEL AGUA EN EL SUR DE SIRIA DURANTE LOS PERIODOS ROMANO Y BIZANTINO (SIGLOS II-VII)

Abstract

In the area of Hauran (Southern Syria), where the control and management of the water supply is a condition to settlement, proto-historic societies developed water-supply systems which were technically simple but very effective at collecting rainwater. In the year 106 AD,the Roman Empire annexed Hauran and a long period of prosperity began, which enabled agriculture to be developed in the area and the population to increase. At the beginning of the second century AD, some important water-supply systems were built in order to organize military control of the territory and to ensure a water supply to the forts, military outposts and the travelling army. During the second century AD, the construction of several cities in the place of Hellenistic and Nabataean Tells and the development of a Roman way of life lead to the construction of aqueducts, thermal baths and sewage networks. This work studies these hydraulic plants in accordance with Hauran’s geography and climate.