During the Bronze Age, the city of Ugarit developed an ingenious water management system. As part of the program “Water Policies in the Near East, from Sumer to the Present,” supported by Avenir Commun Durable , Valérie Matoïan and her team are comparing this ancient system with the region’s current characteristics.
The year is the 2nd millennium BCE. The city of Ugarit, located in present-day Ras Shamra, Syria, is the capital of a kingdom bearing the same name. Very early in human history, this society was remarkable for its organization. As part of the Hittite Empire, Ugarit was a medium-sized but highly structured political power with a king, a queen, a governor, and a central administration. The kingdom was a leading economic power: its trade relied on both land and sea routes, thanks to ports located not far from the capital. It boasted numerous professional guilds working in fields such as stone, wood, textiles, ceramics, and weaponry, among others. In this city, which had a population of between 7,000 and 10,000, according to estimates, there were several writing systems, a polytheistic religion, social classes, and traditions such as marriage, divorce, adoption, and inheritance… For nearly a century, the kingdom has fascinated members of the Syrian-French archaeological mission at Ras Shamra-Ugarit. Valérie Matoïan, who co-directs the mission with Khozama Al-Bahloul, is currently studying water management in this region. Over the course of three years, as part of the Avenir Commun Durable program , the CNRS research director (UMR 7192 Proclac) and her team will compare the landscape and water-related infrastructure of Ugarit’s time with those of today. This ambitious project is being carried out by cross-referencing numerous sources and combining several scientific disciplines.
Research Since 1929
In 1928, while plowing his field in the Ras Shamra region, a farmer made a curious discovery. “He stumbled upon a tomb built of cut stone, containing funerary objects , ” explains Valérie Matoïan. The objects were then examined by René Dussaud, curator of the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the Louvre Museum, who dated them to the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. They attest to relations between the Syrian coast and the island of Cyprus, making this a major discovery . ” René Dussaud therefore urged France to conduct excavations in this area, which began the following year under the direction of archaeologist Claude Schaeffer: two hundred or even three hundred workers were employed during these campaigns, enabling significant excavations. He led the excavations until the late 1960s, after which several archaeologists took over the mission—which became a Syrian-French joint effort in 1999. “The excavations have shown that the site was occupied as early as the Neolithic period and continuously until the end of the Bronze Age, around 1200 BCE , ” explains Valérie Matoïan. But the best-documented period corresponds to the years 1350–1180 BCE, that is, the end of Ugarit’s history, before its destruction. The archaeological and textual record is exceptionally rich, with tens of thousands of artifacts recovered.
Several Discoveries Related to Water
Among the many discoveries made at the site, several water management systems have been unearthed. In particular, numerous wells have been found within the city. Dug into the rock to access the water table and built above ground, their resemblance to the wells in our own societies is striking. “ “In some houses, there are also large stone basins,” adds the archaeologist. “They’re often found next to the wells. We can hypothesize that these basins were used to store water. Or perhaps for washing dishes…” The city also had an impressive network of pipes for draining rainwater and wastewater. “We found two types of pipes: some made of stone, which were often covered by the floors, and others made of terracotta. These were nested one inside the other, located, for example, along walls or in the corners of rooms, and were used to drain excess water from the terraces,” explains Valérie Matoïan. In addition, there was a main sewer as well as sump pits for wastewater, located either inside the houses or outside. Among the most exceptional discoveries was an ornamental pond inside the royal palace: shallow in depth, it was designed to receive water flowing from a well through a pipe, via a water supply system.
Outside the city, archaeologists discovered a dam-bridge built of cut stone, which is one of the oldest examples of its kind found anywhere in the world. By closing the gates, it allowed for the creation of a small reservoir. This water source was intended, in particular, to supply the city in times of need. A water conduit discovered near the dam has given rise to several theories. It may have been used to drain excess water when the dam was closed by the gates and to irrigate nearby fields. One thing is certain: all these elements attest to excellent water management within the city.
Connecting the Past and the Present
“For the Ugarit period, the goal will be to compile the most comprehensive inventory possible of all these water-related structures—something that has never been done before , ” explains Valérie Matoïan. The aim? To try to calculate the water needs of a Mediterranean city during the Bronze Age. “It will also involve understanding how the city functioned at a time when it was operating at peak efficiency. This will provide food for thought regarding other periods , ” she adds. Bridging the gap between past and present is indeed the project’s guiding principle. To this end, researchers are drawing on several types of sources: artifacts primarily housed in museums in Syria and France, as well as the Claude Schaeffer collection, entrusted to the Collège de France after his death in 1982. It includes a large collection of impressions and casts of objects, as well as excavation archives: notebooks, inventory logs, plans, sketches, photographs…
According to the researchers, studying the contemporary period can also be fruitful: “It offers much more data and may help us interpret the remains of the past, better understand them, or assess them,” explains Valérie Matoïan. The project therefore also focuses on a study of the region over the past hundred years. To understand recent changes in the landscape, geographers Nicolas Jacob-Rousseau and Bernard Geyer will study aerial photographs taken by the Army of the Levant in the 1930s, as well as satellite imagery for more recent periods. They will observe changes in vegetation cover and the hydrological network. To understand climate change, the team has enlisted climatologist Myriam Traboulsi, a specialist in the region. She is beginning her study, which may make it possible to develop projections for the future.
Has the region remained (almost) the same?
Although the project is just getting started, the work already completed provides us with interesting data. Regarding the territory’s characteristics, certain continuities have been observed since the Bronze Age. The site of Ugarit is surrounded by two rivers and three springs and has an accessible water table. Furthermore, the Ras Shamra region receives a great deal of rainfall. In Latakia, the city located a few kilometers from Ugarit, annual precipitation is approximately 700 millimeters. This is due to its geographical location: the mountains situated slightly further inland block the clouds. “Unlike other regions of the Near East, crop irrigation is not essential. These favorable conditions made—and continue to make—it easy to grow tree crops, including olive groves, orchards, vineyards, and grains,” emphasizes Valérie Matoïan . “The Mediterranean trilogy—vines, olive trees, and wheat—that existed in the Ugarit era can still be found in this region today.” There has thus been a certain continuity over the millennia. But according to the archaeologist, several notable changes have taken place along the Syrian coast. The area is much more densely populated and has more buildings. There has been an expansion of orchards, particularly for orange and lemon trees, which did not occupy such a large area in the past. This has been accompanied by deforestation. While forests were already being exploited in antiquity, they were far more abundant than they are today. And the water sources used by farmers during the Ugarit period are still in use today, but on a completely different scale: the use of electric pumps results in much greater water extraction, leading to overexploitation of the groundwater! The construction of numerous dams has also altered the landscape.
The Climate Over the Millennia
The region’s Mediterranean climate, however, seems to have remained consistent over the ages. Characterized by wet winters and dry summers, it is generally the same today as it was in the time of Ugarit. “The religious and mythological texts of Ugarit refer to this climate. While it is very favorable to humans, there are still periods of irregularity and drought. One text, for example, describes seven years without rain, leading to aridity and damaging crops. This irregularity is still evident today,” explains Valérie Matoïan. Some sediment cores taken from the region also indicate a period of drought at the end of the Bronze Age. According to the archaeologist, this period was marked by the collapse of several civilizations: Hittite, Mycenaean, Ugaritic... “We’ve been searching for decades for the causes of these collapses. One of them could be this drought, which may have crippled these societies by possibly causing famines…” These are still just hypotheses.
As for the present day, the initial findings of climatologist Myriam Traboulsi seem to point to a trend toward decreasing precipitation. “But we need to see if this trend toward greater drought persists, if it can be observed over the long term,” explains Valérie Matoïan. “This research over the long—very long—term is just beginning. Avenir Commun Durable provides tremendous support for this stage of our research. It also allows us to welcome and train young researchers, which is very important to us.”
Article by Salomé Tissolong
