Editing Hydraulics (section)

=== Persian Empire and Urartu ===

In the [[Persian Empire]] or previous entities in Persia, the [[Persians]] constructed an intricate system of water mills, canals and dams known as the [[Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System]]. The project, commenced by [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] king [[Darius I|Darius the Great]] and finished by a group of Roman engineers captured by Sassanian king [[Shapur I]],<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1315|title=Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System|last=Centre|first=UNESCO World Heritage|website=Whc.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-01}}</ref> has been referred to by [[UNESCO]] as "a masterpiece of creative genius".<ref name="auto"/> They were also the inventors<ref>{{Cite book|title=The qanats of Iran|last=Goldsmith|first=Edward|year=2012}}</ref> of the [[Qanat]], an underground aqueduct, around the 9th century BC.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Lombard |first=Pierre |date=1991 |title=Du rythme naturel au rythme humain : vie et mort d'une technique traditionnelle, le qanat |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/mom_0766-0510_1991_sem_20_1_1776 |journal=MOM Éditions |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=69–86}}</ref> Several of Iran's large, ancient gardens were irrigated thanks to Qanats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.edwardgoldsmith.org/1031/the-qanats-of-iran/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414210607/http://www.edwardgoldsmith.org/1031/the-qanats-of-iran/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-04-14|title=The qanats of Iran · Edward Goldsmith|date=2013-04-14|work=archive.is|access-date=2018-09-01}}</ref>

The Qanat spread to neighboring areas, including the [[Armenian highlands]]. There, starting in the early 8th century BC, the [[Urartu|Kingdom of Urartu]] undertook significant hydraulic works, such as the [[Menua Canal|Menua canal]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Viollet |first=Pierre-Louis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5xTES80ExIC |title=L'hydraulique dans les civilisations anciennes: 5000 ans d'histoire |date=2004 |publisher=Presses des Ponts |isbn=978-2-85978-397-6 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Burney |first=Charles |date=1972 |title=Urartian Irrigation Works. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0066154600003422/type/journal_article |journal=Anatolian Studies |language=en |volume=22 |pages=179–186 |doi=10.2307/3642562 |jstor=3642562 |s2cid=131657710 |issn=0066-1546}}</ref>

The earliest evidence of [[water wheel]]s and [[watermill]]s date back to the [[ancient Near East]] in the 4th century BC,<ref>Terry S. Reynolds, ''Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel'', JHU Press, 2002 {{ISBN|978-0-8018-7248-8}}, p. 14</ref> specifically in the Persian Empire before 350&nbsp;BCE, in the regions of [[Iraq]], [[Iran]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Selin |first1=Helaine |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |date=2013 |publisher=[[Springer Science & Business Media]] |isbn=978-94-017-1416-7 |page=282 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzjpCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282}}</ref> and [[Egypt]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Evolution of Water Lifting Devices (Pumps) over the Centuries Worldwide|author1=Stavros I. Yannopoulos|author2=Gerasimos Lyberatos|author3=Nicolaos Theodossiou|author4=Wang Li|author5=Mohammad Valipour|author6=Aldo Tamburrino|author7=Andreas N. Angelakis|author7-link=Andreas N. Angelakis|journal=Water|year=2015|volume=7|issue=9|pages=5031–5060|publisher=[[MDPI]]|doi=10.3390/w7095031|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015Water...7.5031Y }}</ref>