Ancient Water Technologies~DiBYA

Ancient Water Technologies
Author: L. Mays
Publisher: Springer, 2010
ISBN: 9048186315, 275 pages, PDF



There is no more fundamental resource than water. The basis of all life, water is fast becoming a key
issue in today’s world, as well as a source of conflict. This fascinating book, which sets out many of
the ingenious methods by which ancient societies gathered, transported and stored water, is a timely
publication as overextraction and profligacy threaten the existence of aquifers and watercourses that
have supplied our needs for millennia.

It provides an overview of the water technologies developed by a number of ancient civilizations, from
those of Mesopotamia and the Indus valley to later societies such as the Mycenaeans, Minoans, Persians,
and the ancient Egyptians. Of course, no book on ancient water technologies would be complete without
discussing the engineering feats of the Romans and Greeks, yet as well as covering these key
civilizations, it also examines how ancient American societies from the Hohokams to the Mayans and Incas
husbanded their water supplies. This unusually wide-ranging text could offer today’s parched world some
solutions to the impending crisis in our water supply.

"This book provides valuable insights into the water technologies developed in ancient civilizations
which are the underpinning of modern achievements in water engineering and management practices. It is
the best proof that "the past is the key for the future." Andreas N. Angelakis, Hellenic Water Supply
and Sewerage Systems Association, Greece


"This book makes a fundamental contribution to what will become the most important challenge of our
civilization facing the global crisis: the problem of water. Ancient Water Technologies provides a
complete panorama of how ancient societies confronted themselves with the management of water. The role
of this volume is to provide, for the first time on this issue, an extensive historical and scientific
reconstruction and an indication of how traditional knowledge may be employed to ensure a sustainable
future for all." Pietro Laureano, UNESCO expert for ecosystems at risk, Director of IPOGEA-Institute of
Traditional Knowledge, Italy