Strategies for Water Supply in Arabia Petraea during the Nabataean through Early Islamic Periods: Local Adaptations of the Regional ‘Technological Shelf’

Abstract

Excavation by the author at the site of al-Humayma, ancient Hawara, allowed detailed reconstruction of the water-supply system that supported this isolated settlement in the hyperarid Hisma Desert of Southern Jordan. A re-evaluation of the regional water-supply systems in Arabia Petraea from the Nabataean through the Early Islamic phases, shows that some aspects of the systems at Nabataean sites, such as Petra and Hawara, had precedents in the technologies of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements in the region, while others can be traced to developments in the Hellenistic Aegean. Sites such as Petra, Hawara, Iram, and Hegra show that the overall flavor of the water-supply systems remain strictly regional, mostly due to climate, topography, and hydrology.