Bir Aliqua Qanat – Ma'an Plateau (Wadi Araba fringe)
Ma'an Qanat · Bir Aliqua Foggar
Nabataean to Late Roman·Nabataean / Roman Arabia·🇯🇴 Ma'an Governorate, Bir Aliqua, eastern Wadi Araba fringe, Jordan
About
About Bir Aliqua Qanat – Ma'an Plateau (Wadi Araba fringe)
A 3.2-km rock-cut qanat (foggar) with 28 vertical shafts (2–12 m deep) tapping the Ma'an sandstone aquifer on the eastern escarpment above Wadi Araba, distinct from the Petra Siq hydraulic channel and the upland Udruh system. The qanat carries 3 L/s to Bir Aliqua Roman–Nabataean caravanserai and terraced fields, dated to Nabataean–Late Roman (100 BCE–400 CE) via associated caravanserai ceramics and C14 of shaft fill. Documented by Parker 1986 Limes Arabicus survey and Schmid 2015, the line shows Nabataean adaptation of Achaemenid qanat technology to the Hisma–Araba transition, with shaft collars of sandstone drums.
Why it mattersBest-preserved southern Jordan qanat showing Nabataean transfer of Persian qanat.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Gradient precision over 3 km
Theories
- 01Caravanserai corridor water
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.100 BCE – 400 CE
- Period
- Nabataean to Late Roman
- Culture
- Nabataean / Roman Arabia
- Builders
- Nabataean–Roman engineers
- Purpose
- Caravanserai and terraced field irrigation
- Abandoned
- c.600 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1986 Parker Limes survey; 2015 Schmid clearance
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
100 BCE
Qanat cutting with Nabataean sherds
1986
Parker maps 3.2 km line
On the ground
Structures & features
30.1800° N · 35.7300° E · 980 m · 2 mapped features
Shaft S-14 Deep Collar
hydraulic12-m deep shaft with drum collar
30.1810° N · 35.7310° ETunnel Outlet & Caravanserai Head
hydraulicOutlet feeding Bir Aliqua caravanserai
30.1780° N · 35.7280° E