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The canal system of Ju-i Dokhtar: new insight into water management in the eastern part of the Pasargadae plain (Fars, Iran)

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Abstract

Within the territory of the ancient province of Persia, which corresponds approximately to the present-day region of Fars in southern Iran, numerous remains of hydraulic structures are known and reported. These have rarely benefitted from detailed studies, however, which results in functional uncertainties and unconfirmed chronological suggestions, including in particular hasty attributions to the Achaemenid period. The territory of the plain of Pasargadae, situated at the center of this province, was well suited to irrigated agriculture, exemplified by the famous gardens created in the capital of Cyrus in the first period of the Achaemenid Empire. As the region is situated in a mountainous and semi-arid environment, irrigation is necessary for regular agricultural production throughout the year. The region of Pasargadae contains many hydraulic features that are relatively well preserved. However, their dating and their functions still remain unclear, which has stimulated new research and examination of all the evidence concerning the hydraulics, using a combination of methods and approaches, including systematic regional mapping, photo-interpretation, precise topographic readings, and dating experimentation through OSL analyses. This article presents a synthesising study of the remains of the Ju-i Dokhtar canal and the dam of Sa’adatshahr, which is located at the outlet of the canal. These structures probably formed the backbone of a system of water exploitation, that included all of the south-east part of the plain of Pasargadae and the plain of Sa’adatshahr further downstream.

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Data availability

The field project “Shiraz” in Pasargadae is implemented under an agreement with the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts & Tourism Organization (ICHTO) and its Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT). The scientific program was developed under the supervision and with the scientific agreement of the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research (ICAR), the archaeology department of the RICHT. All data collected in the field by the team of the “Shiraz” project at Pasargadae and in its surrounding territory are under the intellectual property of its members but own to the Iranian State and Heritage Offices.

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Acknowledgements

The current field project “Shiraz” is jointly managed by K. Mohammadkhani (University Shahid Beheshti) and S. Gondet (Archéorient – UMR 5133 CNRS). It is implemented under an agreement with the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts & Tourism Organization (ICHTO) and its Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) headed by Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti and since 2018 by Dr. Behrooz Omrani. The project benefits from the help and support of the RICHT International and Legal Affairs Office headed by Dr. Monir Kholghi. The scientific program was developed under the supervision and with the scientific agreement of the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research (ICAR), the archaeology department of the RICHT, headed by Dr. Hamideh Choubak and since 2017 by Dr. Rouhollah Shirazi. The fieldwork is supported by the entire team of the Pasargadae World Heritage Centre (PWHC), which also provided us with various facilities. The project takes place within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding for Academic and Research Collaborations signed by the RICHT and the University of Lyon 2 in 2015. On the French side, the fieldwork is supported by the French Foreign Ministry Committee for International Archaeological Research, by the French Research Institute in Iran (IFRI), and by the University of Lyon 2/National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) through the support of the UMR 5133 Archéorient team and the FR 3747 Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux. The work on hydraulic structures implemented since 2017 is part of the “Paradise” research project, directed by S. Gondet (Archéorient – UMR 5133 CNRS), K. Kaniuth and J. Fassbinder (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich). This project is funded through a grant of the French National Research Agency (ANR) obtained within the framework of the FRAL-SHS 2016 call (project code: ANR-16-FRAL-0011-01). This call is co-funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in order to support German-French collaborative projects in the humanities. This work was also supported by public funds received through GEOSUD, a project (ANR-10-EQPX-20) of the program “Investissements d'Avenir” administered by the French National Research Agency and by the program “Initiative for Space Innovative Standards” (ISIS) of the French Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES). Finally, we would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Funding

The fieldwork and the research were funded by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, UMR 5133 Archéorient and FR 3747 Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée) and the French National Research Agency (ANR) within the framework of the German–French FRAL-SHS 2016 call cofounded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (project acronym: Paradise; project code: ANR-16-FRAL-0011–01). In the field, the project is supported by the Pasargadae World Heritage Center and the Shahid Beheshti University that provided us with facilities and material support. The project GEOSUD (ANR-10-EQPX-20) and the French Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) provided us freely with very high-resolution satellite imagery (SPOT and Pleiades).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Lyon, CNRS, Archéorient, UMR 5133, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon, France

    M.-L. Chambrade & S. Gondet

  2. Université de Lyon, CNRS, FR 374, Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, Lyon, France

    D. Laisney

  3. University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    M. Mehrabani

  4. University Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

    K. Mohammadkhani

  5. Pasargadae World Heritage Center, Pasargadae, Iran

    F. Zareh-Kordshouli

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  1. M.-L. Chambrade
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  2. S. Gondet
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  3. D. Laisney
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  4. M. Mehrabani
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  5. K. Mohammadkhani
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Sébastien Gondet, Marie-Laure Chambrade; Methodology: Marie-Laure Chambrade, Sébastien Gondet; Formal analysis and investigation: Marie-Laure Chambrade, Damien Laisney, Marzieh Mehrabani, Sébastien Gondet, Farad Zareh-Kordshouli; Writing—original draft preparation: Marie-Laure Chambrade, Sébastien Gondet; Writing—review and editing: Damien Laisney, Kourosh Mohammadkhani; Funding acquisition: Sébastien Gondet; Resources: Sébastien Gondet, Damien Laisney, Farad Zareh-Kordshouli; Supervision: Sébastien Gondet, Kourosh Mohammadkhani.

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Correspondence to M.-L. Chambrade.

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Chambrade, ML., Gondet, S., Laisney, D. et al. The canal system of Ju-i Dokhtar: new insight into water management in the eastern part of the Pasargadae plain (Fars, Iran). Water Hist 12, 449–476 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-020-00271-3

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