🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Hydraulic works
Wadi Hanifah Dams (Diriyah Dam System)
Najdi Emirate to First Saudi State · Najdi oasis (Diriyah Amirship)
Wadi Hanifah: 6 Najdi 15th-18th c. wadi dams at Diriyah UNESCO site, Riyadh 24.73N 46.57E.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Bir Aliqua Qanat – Ma'an Plateau (Wadi Araba fringe)
Nabataean to Late Roman · Nabataean / Roman Arabia
3.2-km Nabataean–Roman rock-cut qanat (100 BCE–400 CE) with 28 shafts — Ma'an plateau.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Sadd Al-Rahwah Dam (Hadramawt Highland Dam)
Himyarite–Hadrami to Rasulid · Hadrami kingdom to Rasulid dynasty
Hadramawt highland: 45-m crescent dam at Shibam hinterland, Himyarite 500 BCE–Rasulid 12th c.
🇨🇳 China · Hydraulic works
Lingqu North Pound Extension Canal (Qin Lingqu Northern Stepped Pound)
Qin 214 BCE to Tang 825 CE (Lingqu North pound) · Qin imperial (Shi Huang–Shi Lu) Lingqu Yue conquest hydraulic
North pound extension 1.2 km ×8×1.5 m with 3 Qin granite pound-locks 8×4 m ×1.0 m lift — earliest locks globally 214 BCE.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Hydraulic works
Sadd el-Kafara North Embankment Wadi Garawi
Old Kingdom · 4th Dynasty Egypt (Sneferu to Khufu horizon)
North wing 55 m of world's oldest large dam (Old Kingdom) breached during construction.
🇸🇾 Syria · Hydraulic works
Nahr Al-Kabir Canal (Orontes Coastal Canal, Nahr al-Kabir al-Janoubi)
Roman Hadrianic to Byzantine Justinian · Roman–Byzantine coastal Levant
Nahr al-Kabir: 3.2-km Roman 2nd-c. canalized river reach on Syria 35.30N coastal plain, Latakia.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Hydraulic works
Aswan First Cataract North Canal
Old Kingdom to Ptolemaic · Old–New Kingdom Pharaonic, Ptolemaic Greek Egyptian
2.1-km Pharaonic granite canal linking unfinished obelisk quarry to First Cataract Nile.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Hydraulic works
Sadd al-Khanaq Dam – Hijaz (Khaibar Oasis northern dam)
Late Pre-Islamic to Early Islamic · Nabataean–Himyarite to Umayyad
110-m two-phase dam (320 BCE–750 CE) on Wadi al-Khanaq — Khaibar oasis northern reservoir.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Hydraulic works
Ayn Zubaydah Aqueduct (Zubaydah Spring Canal to Makkah)
Early Abbasid (Harun al-Rashid–Al-Amin) · Abbasid (Zubaydah bint Ja'far patronage)
Ayn Zubaydah: 35-km Abbasid 809 CE spring aqueduct from Wadi Nu'man to Haram, Makkah.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Hydraulic works
Sadd Al-Khair (Wadi Fatima Dam, Sadd al-Hamra)
Umayyad (with possible South Arabian precursor) · Umayyad Hejaz oasis
Wadi Fatima: 65-m rock-fill dam at Al Jumum 28 km west of Mecca, 8th c. Umayyad 32,000 m³.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Tang-e Boraq Aqueduct (Boraq Gorge Cliff Aqueduct)
Sasanian to Kakuyid (450 CE, repaired 1050 CE) · Sasanian Zagros (Eqlid terrace farmers)
Tang-e Boraq: 420-m Sasanian 450 CE cliff aqueduct in 85-m Zagros gorge, Eqlid 30.55N 52.32E.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Hydraulic works
Rai Jawa North Canal Hydraulic System
Early Bronze Age IA · Proto-Jawa
1.8-km spate canal feeding 12-ha bunded fields north of Jawa town.
🇸🇾 Syria · Hydraulic works
Qasr Al-Hayr Al-Gharbi Canal (Hir Azraq Canal to Palmyra Steppe Palace)
Umayyad (Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik) · Umayyad steppe palace culture
Hayr Gharbi: 16-km Umayyad 727 CE limestone canal from Harbaka Dam to steppe palace 34.52N 38.12E.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Paskeh Band Ancient Dam – Hormozgan (Band-e Paskeh)
Sasanian (Shapur I–II) · Sasanian Persian
180-m Sasanian gravity dam (240–380 CE) on Minab tributary — 300,000 m³ for Minab palms.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Wadi Jirdan Ancient Dam – Hadramawt
Hadhrami Old South Arabian · Hadhramawt kingdom
220-m Hadhrami diversion dam (700 BCE–400 CE) on Wadi Jirdan tributary — Hadramawt palm irrigation.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Shushtar Band-e Ahmadi Weir (Shushtar Ahmadi Bridge-Dam)
Safavid with Sasanian spolia · Safavid Khuzestan
Band-e Ahmadi: 180-m Safavid 1680 bridge-dam 4 km south of Shushtar UNESCO, 12 arches.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Ancient city
Go Thap (Óc Eo–Funan)
Óc Eo 100 BCE–300 CE → Funan 200–600 CE → Chenla 600–800 CE → Khmer influence 800–1200 · Óc Eo–Funan (pre–Angkorian Mekong hydraulic with Indianization)
Mekong Delta Óc Eo–Funan secondary city (100 BCE–600 CE) at Go Thap Tháp Mười — 400 ha with Vishnu Garuda and 20 km canal to Oc Eo.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Sadd al-Arim Secondary North Dam Marib
Sabaean to Himyarite · Kingdom of Saba
210-m saddle subsidiary dam 4 km NE of Great Marib storing Jufaynah tributary.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Seila Pyramid
Old Kingdom, 3rd–early 4th Dynasty (~2630–2600 BCE) · Ancient Egyptian
Fayum provincial step pyramid on Gebel el-Rus (c.2630 BCE, up to Sneferu), 25 m base, 6.8 m high, four steps.
🇺🇸 United States · Ancient city
Fort Center
Woodland Glades 450 BCE–1700 CE · Belle Glade (Calusa/Glades)
Glades woodland pond-mortuary and 1200 m causeway with charnel house, wood effigies in submerged pond.
🇵🇪 Peru · Megalith
Saywite Monolith
Inca Late Horizon ca.1470 CE · Inca
2.28-m granite boulder with 203 miniature carvings, ca.1470 Inca hydraulic model.
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Band-e Bal
Achaemenid to Sasanian (c.520 BCE–600 CE) · Achaemenid → Sasanian hydraulic
Achaemenid bridge-dam 300 m (Darius I era, sluices, Shushtar canal head) north of Shushtar.
🇾🇪 Yemen · Hydraulic works
Marib Dam
Sabaean Kingdom, Early South Arabian (~1750 BCE – 570 CE) · Sabaean (South Arabian, Kingdom of Saba)
Earthfill diversion dam spanning the Wadi Adhanah and flanked by the limestone North and South Sluices with Sabaean monumental inscriptions.
🇵🇪 Peru · Hydraulic works
Tipón Hydraulic Gardens
Wari to Late Horizon ~1200–1572 CE · Wari then Inca
Inca 12-terrace walled garden where spring water sings through 600-year-old stone drains.