Sunday, June 15, 2008

Roman Dams

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Wherever we drove in Libya, we found the remains of Roman dams across wadis (seasonal rivers). It was partly their mastery of irrigation techniques that enabled the Romans to settle and cultivate the generally inhospitable terrain of northern Tripolitania.
Some of the dams were so large that they must have been built by or with the help of the regional authorities and perhaps the Roman military.


Dam at Bir es Senema

Others, like this one south of Daun, were much smaller and may have been constructed by local settlers.


The dams in the photos below crossed the Wadi Megenin.


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Parts of the dam below, on the Homs road, were still in good condition.





The first photo below shows the downstream face of a dam on the Cussbat-Tarhuna Road. The second photo shows the dam's upstream face.


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