Editing Dam (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Shah Abbas Arch Dam.jpg|thumb|14th c. Shāh Abbās arch dam]]
Shāh Abbās Arch (Persian: طاق شاه عباس), also known as [[Kurit Dam]], is the thinnest arch dam in the world and one of the oldest arch dams in Asia. It was constructed some 700 years ago in [[Tabas County|Tabas county]], South [[Khorasan province|Khorasan Province]], [[Iran]]. It stands 60 meters tall, and in crest is a one meter width. Some historians believe the dam was built by Shāh Abbās I, whereas others believe that he repaired it.

In the [[Netherlands]], a low-lying country, dams were often built to block rivers to regulate the water level and to prevent the sea from entering the marshlands. Such dams often marked the beginning of a town or city because it was easy to cross the river at such a place, and often influenced Dutch place names. The present Dutch capital, [[Amsterdam]] (old name ''Amstelredam''), started with a dam on the river [[Amstel]] in the late 12th century, and [[Rotterdam]] began with a dam on the river [[Rotte (river)|Rotte]], a minor tributary of the [[Nieuwe Maas]]. The central square of Amsterdam, covering the original site of the 800-year-old dam, still carries the name ''[[Dam Square]]''.