Posted on 09/20/2006 11:11:24 AM PDT by blam
Ancient Hittite dam inaugurated after 32 centuries
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
A Hittite-era dam located in the central Anatolian province of Çorum and believed to be one of the oldest in the world to have survived to date has been restored and is once again serving as a source of irrigation for local residents.
The dam, located at the Alacahöyük archaeological site, was built by the Hittites in 1240 B.C. The dam's inauguration was marked with a ceremony over the weekend attended by Professor Aykut Çýnaroðlu, who heads the team excavating Alacahöyük, Ankara University Rector Professor Nusret Aras, Emin Sazak, director of the construction firm sponsoring the excavations and archaeologists working in the area.
Çýnaroðlu said excavations in the area, launched in 1936 at the order of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, had revealed the dam in a swampy area.The dam was found to be functional, prompting further excavation in its vicinity.
The dam was ordered by Hittite King Tudhaliya IV in the name of goddess Hepat, according to ancient Hittite tablets, he said. “After a drought Anatolia suffered in 1200 B.C., Tudhaliya IV imported wheat from Egypt so that his subjects would not suffer a famine. Following this, the king ordered numerous dams to be built in central Anatolia, in 1240 B.C. All but one of them became dysfunctional over time. The one in Alacahöyük has survived because the water source is located inside the dam's reservoir,” he explained.
Çýnaroðlu said the construction technique used in building the dam was similar to those of today but that the stone blocks forming the dam were joined with clay instead of cement.
The Hittites used the dam to provide both irrigation and tap water, said Çýnaroðlu, adding: “In ancient times, tap water from this dam was collected in a separate pool, and after filtering, the water was carried to the city center two kilometers away. Canals built based on the water's flow astonished us.”
Capable of holding approximately 15,000 cubic meters of water, the dam is now being used by locals for irrigation. “An ancient dam is re-inaugurated 3,240 years after it was built. It is now serving the 2,300 residents of Alacahöyük village as an irrigation source," Çýnaroðlu said. He noted that the width of the reservoir would become clear after excavation was complete.
The base of a statue of Hepat as well as a golden necklace decorated with rubies were also unearthed during the excavations.
Following the ceremony guitarist Ahmet Kanneci and clarinetist Ekrem Öztan performed a recital in front of the Hittite temple in Alacahöyük, where the oldest known guitar relief is found.
GGG Ping.
That is pretty cool!
BTTT
Some of my best friends are Hittites! Really.
It obviously wasn't built by the same people as built the Boston Tunnel.............
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2200 years old? Damn!
whoops, 3200 years old, double damn!
Thats a damn old dam.
You just know that thing's got to be out of warranty by now...
Or the ones in charge of Louisiana levee upkeep for the last 30 years.
Uriah hit the crapper. --- the Pixies
Capable of holding approximately 15,000 cubic meters of water...The virtual calculator sez that's about 38 x 38 x 10, and the cube root is 24.6621207433.
thanks.
Maybe we should hire Hittites instead of Army Corps of Injineers?........
My pleasure.
It ain't the Corps, I'm thinking of. It's the "Levee Board" political appointees.
I've seen some highway projects in Texas that have taken longer.
What were the Hittite's famous for doing in biblical times? Didn't they have some kind of sacrifices or something?
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