Thirst: water and power in the ancient world

Thirst: For knowledge of the past and lessons for the future

The water revolution: The origins of water management in the Levant, 1.5 million years ago to 700 BC

'The black fields became white/the broad plain was choked with salt' Water management and the rise and fall of Sumerian civilisation, 5000-1600 BC

'Water is the best thing of all'

Pindar of Thebes, 476 BC: Water management by the Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Ancient Greeks, 1800-146 BC

A watery paradise in Petra: The Nabataeans, masters of the desert, 300 BC-AD 106

Building rivers and taking baths: Rome and Constantinople, 400 BC-AD 800

A million men with teaspoons: Hydraulic engineering in Ancient China, 900 BC-AD 907

The hydraulic city: Water management by the kings of Angkor, AD 802-1327

Almost a civilisation: Hohokam irrigation in the American South-West, AD 1-1450

Life and death of the water lily monster: Water and the rise and fall of Mayan civilisation, 2000 BC-AD 1000

Water poetry in the Sacred Valley: Hydraulic engineering by the Incas, AD 1200-1572

An unquenched thirst: For water and for knowledge of the past.

Figures: 1.1 Societies of the ancient world visited within this book

2.1 Map of the Levant showing archaeological sites and localities referred to in the text

2.2 The Neolithic barrage at Wadi Abu Tulayha, Jafr Basin (after Fujii 2007a)

2.3 Section through the Neolithic well at Sha'ar Hagolan, Jordan Valley, Israel (after Garfinkel et al. 2006)

2.4 Schematic diagram of the water storage system at Bronze Age Jawa (after Whitehead et al. 2008)

2.5 Siloam's Tunnel at Jerusalem

3.1 Archaeological sites and locations referred to in Chapter 3

3.2 Hypothetical layout of an agricultural complex in Southern Mesopotamia (after Postgate 1994)

4.1 Map of Greece showing archaeological sites referred to in Chapter 4

4.2 The Bronze Age settlement of Myrtos-Pyrgos, Crete, showing location of the two cisterns (after Cadogan 2007)

4.3 The original course of the Manessi River, its new course during the Late Mycenaean period around the northern side of Tiryns, and the Mycenaean dam and canal built to divert the river (after Zangger 1994)

4.4 Eupalinos' tunnel on the Island of Samos (after Apostol 2004)

5.1 Nabataean settlements referred to in Chapter 5

6.1 The aqueducts of Rome

6.2 The long-distance aqueduct from Vize to Constantinople, showing location of the Kurşunlugerme aqueduct bridge (after Crow et al. 2008)

7.1 Archaeological sites and hydraulic engineering projects referred to in Chapter 7

7.2 Changing seasonal water flow at Dujiangyan (after Gillet and Mowbray 2008)

7.3 Irrigation of Chengdu Plain by the Dujiangyan scheme, based on a Qing Dynasty depiction

7.4 Sui-Tang Dynasty Chang'an, showing the fangs, streets and canals (after Du and Koenig 2012)

8.1 Barays (reservoirs), canals, rivers and a selection of temples at Angkor, referred to in Chapter 8 (after Fletcher et al. 2008)

9.1 Irrigation canals of the Hohokam in the Salt River Basin (based on maps within Pueblo Grande Museum, Phoenix)

9.2 Hohokam irrigation system components (after Masse 1991)

10.1 Maya sites referred to in Chapter 10

10.2 Schematic settlement plan of Tikal showing location of reservoirs (after Lucero 2006)

10.3 Schematic plan showing canals at Edzná (after Matheny et al. 1983)

10.4 Lid of Maya vessel depicting frog emerging from water (after Bonnafoux 2011)

11.1 Pre-Inca and Inca sites of the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu referred to in Chapter 11

11.2 Terraces and canals at Tipón (after Wright 2006)