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The catalogue
6 places to sift through. Narrow by kind, country, period or how firmly each one is established — contested and pseudoarchaeological claims are labelled here, never hidden.
🇲🇦 Morocco · Hydraulic works
Early Islamic to present (1,300-yr continuity) · Sijilmassa Hezran + Filali oasis communities
Tafilalet foggara line: 45 khettaras (0.8-6 km, 120-410 shafts) feeding Sijilmassa palm oasis since 8th c.
🇨🇱 Chile · Hydraulic works
Formative to Modern (Alto Ramírez to Colonial) · Tarapacá / Pica-Tarapacá / Hispanic oasis
Pica (1,350 m, 20°29′21″S 69°19′46″W) is the only living oasis of the Atacama with active filtration galleries (socavones) tapping the Pica Aquifer; study by Lictevout et al.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Han to Qing (2nd c. BCE – 19th c. CE) · Han Chinese, Turkic Uyghur, Gaochang Tokharian, Hui
Tianshan 5,000-km 1784-karez gravity snow-melt system below sea level Han–present.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Archaeological wonder
Old Kingdom to Islamic (2300 BCE–19th c; peak Roman) · Ancient Egyptian / Roman-Egyptian / Islamic oasis
Western Desert 100-km oasis with Muzawaka painted zodiac tombs and Ain Asil Old Kingdom governor palace.
🇴🇲 Oman · Hydraulic works
Iron Age (1000 BCE) to present · Omani, Iron Age to Islamic
Approximately 3,000 still-active aflaj (singular falaj) thread Oman, of which five exemplars — Daris, Al-Khatmeen, Al-Malki, Al-Jeela and Al-Muyassar — are inscribed.
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates · Hydraulic works
Iron Age to present ~1000 BCE–present · Omani/Hafit to UAE bedouin oases
Al Ain 3,000-year aflaj-fed palm oasis irrigating 147,000 palms with time-share water law.
