Kurit Dam — Shah Abbas Arch (Shah Abbasi Dam)
سد کُریت طاق شاه عباس · Shah Abbas Dam Kurit · Band-e Kurit · Taq-e Shah Abbas
Ilkhanid to Qajar (Mongol to Qajar)·Mongol–Persian Ilkhanid hydraulic engineers (maybe Ghiyath al-Din?)·🇮🇷 South Khorasan Province, Tabas County, 42 km southeast of Tabas, Kurit village, Kurit River gorge narrow between Kuh-e Rag and Kuh-e Fugan, Iran
About
About Kurit Dam — Shah Abbas Arch (Shah Abbasi Dam)
05 m crest width) at Kurit Gorge 42 km SE Tabas on Kurit River where gorge pinches 5 m bottom with 64 m high arch-gravity (mongol 1350 Ilkhanid, raised 1850 Qajar). Built by Mongolian Ilkhanids (perhaps Ghazan Khan) around 1350 on Dasht-e Kavir edge, arch-gravity stores 20 m flood for Tabas irrigation 300 villages, containing bottom outlet with stone shaft and step spillway sophisticated. Abandoned 1946? Actually still not impounding after segregation crack 20 cm after 1850 raising, desertified reservoir now.
Former ICOLD president cited as most astounding medieval hydraulic. ICID Heritage Irrigation Structure. Remote Dasht-e Kavir north. Prefigures arch dams worldwide earlier than Europe's 1500. Thinness record stands.
Why it mattersWorld record: tallest dam (540 yr) and thinnest arch (1.05 m) and among oldest true arches (1300) predating Europe by 200 yr. ICID Heritage.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether Khan Ghazan or later built (Yazd–Tabas route)
- 02How 1.05 m crest held 64-m hydrostatic
Theories
- 01Kurit as Ilkhanid Persian renaissance hydraulic after Mongol devastation (Tabas as model)
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.1350 CE Mongol Ilkhanid (Ghazan/Mu?), raised 1850 Qajar +4 m to 64 m; 2000 modern bow reinforcement considered
- Period
- Ilkhanid to Qajar (Mongol to Qajar)
- Culture
- Mongol–Persian Ilkhanid hydraulic engineers (maybe Ghiyath al-Din?)
- Builders
- Ilkhanid engineers after Rashid al-Din hydraulic?
- Purpose
- Tabas oasis flood reservoir for Kavir edge irrigation and qanat head stabilization, demonstration Ilkhanid Persian irrigation revival
- Abandoned
- c.1900 reservoir siltation, segregation crack after 1850; now dry; Tabas earthquake 1978 7.4 cracked further
- Rediscovered
- 1930 Stein; 1965 Gobel?; 1970s Wessels? Actually 1970 Schnitter medieval arch study; 2000 ICID
- Excavation
- Excavated
1350
Mongols build 60 m Kurit thin arch tallest world
1850
Qajar raise to 64 m, crack
1978
Tabas 7.4 quake damages
On the ground
Structures & features
33.4360° N · 57.2420° E · 980 m · 2 mapped features
Kurit Dam — Arch Crest and 1850 Raising
arch crest60 m thin arch (1.05 m crest width, thinnest arch in world) Mongol 1350 60 m high, raised 1850 Qajar +4 m to 64 m, narrowest gorge 5 m bottom, world's tallest 1350–1902
33.4365° N · 57.2425° EKurit Dam — Downstream Outlet and Spring Outflow System
outletSophisticated bottom outlet with ceramic? Actually bronze? Stone shaft and step spillway, cistern feeding 300 villages Tabas oasis canal, water for Kuh-e Fugan qanat chain
33.4355° N · 57.2415° E