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The Aghlabids Basins
by Meam Wye
The Aghlabids Basins are huge water reservoirs built in the 9th century by Ahmed ibn muhammed of the Aghlabid dynasty outside the city walls of Al-Qayrawan. Al-Qayrawan (also known as Kairouan), the capital of Tunisia, North Africa, was one of the leading center of culture and learning during medieval period that attracted people from different parts of the world.
In Al-Qayrawan, alone, there were hundreds of water reservoirs to supply water to the towns, the many gardens and for irrigation purposes. One of the most famous water reservoirs were the the Aghlabids Basins - the remains of which are a tourist attraction today. These were basically two large basins; the smaller one 37.4m in diameter and the larger one having 128m diameter. Water was delivered from mountains located 36km west of the city, by an aqueduct, into the smaller seventeen-sided settling basin that had a capacity of 4000 cubic meters. This smaller basin filtered the water from debris before decanting it into the larger basin. The larger basin was the main reservoir with a holding capacity of 57000 cubic meters that was connected to a vaulted cistern for pumping purposes. More than 180 buttresses were used in these water basins.
References:
Islamic gardens and landscapes By D. Fairchild Ruggles
Museum with No Frontiers: http://www.museumwnf.org
Tunisia By Anthony Ham, Abigail Hole
Muqarnas, Volume 3: An Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture By Oleg Grabar
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December 8, 2009 7:59 PM
Interesting! That picture holds quite a refreshing scene and I can imagine the history that surrounds this beautiful basin.
December 10, 2009 12:05 AM
Nice to learn something behind that beautiful basin. And I love that photo.
XO
December 10, 2009 3:42 AM
Extraordinary engineering,not seen since the Roman Empire.The resources required to build such a system would have been extensive,but since the Arabs valued water above all else,except their faith,not the least bit surprising.
December 12, 2009 8:27 AM
Great photos and oh engineering is so important to our lifestyle we live and use everyday necessities water,heat and air and never understand or even think about what it took to make it happen.
Fascinating...
Dorothy from grammology
December 13, 2009 8:03 PM
very nice sharing...
December 14, 2009 7:05 PM
Great job done with this blog. I'm very happy to inform you that I have finished my review of "Shining History" and that your blog will appear on the Blogging Women directory.
Thanks for sharing your blog and for making our women's blog directory that much stronger!
February 23, 2010 2:50 AM
Sometimes I can't help to wonder how smart people from the ancient times. They have built so great things without machineries which is a far cry from today as our generations now depend on machine for everything.