Menua Canal

The Menua canal, also known as the Semiramis canal or as the Shamiram canal, is a canal joined with a series of hydraulic works such as aqueducts constructed by King Menua of Urartu (r. 810–786 BC). It is located to the east of Van, Turkey and runs 56 kilometers, supplying a large region and flowing into Lake Van.[1] It is considered a masterpiece of Anatolian and global hydraulic and architectural engineering.

Despite the fact that this canal stands out for its technicality and the importance of the works undertaken to complete it, it was part of a larger policy of hydraulic constructions carried out by the Urartian rulers aimed at ensuring adequate water supply in the region. It is believed to have provided sustenance for up to 50,000 people in the capital of Tushpa (Van) alone.

Although it was thought to be from Assyrian mythical queen Semiramis by medieval historians, who remembered it from a legendary past, it was built by the Urartian King Menua, according to Urartian inscriptions found in some of the structures. These fourteen inscriptions serve as valuable resources for researchers translating Urartian.

It has been continuously used by the local inhabitants for irrigation purposes up to this day, more than 2500 years after its construction.

History

Background

This construction seems to be parallel to the introduction of the qanat system in Urartu from neighboring Persia.[2] This method, using underground canals, revolutionized the hydraulic and architectural practices in the region.[2][3] Later, one of Menua's descendants, Rusa II, added an artificial lake, Lake Rusa (now known as Lake Kechich), to the hydraulic works.[2] King Menua is known for other hydraulic works, including approximately five smaller canals in the region and towards Manazkert, of which he may have been the founder.[4]

The reasons for erecting such a significant structure are still not well known, but political motives aimed at gaining the approval of his subjects by portraying himself as a benevolent and magnanimous king cannot be ruled out.[4]

Construction

King Menua of Urartu (r. -810/-786) built the canal, according to his inscriptions, which are still visible by the canal.[5] It brought fresh water to the capital city of Tushpa[6] This canal was part of a broader set of pipelines and construction of structures aimed at improving irrigation in the Armenian highlands during the Kingdom of Urartu's time.[7] It extends over a length of 56 kilometers.[2][8] Until its first restoration in 1956,[2] the canal typically provided between 2 and 3 cubic meters of water per second.[8] During the dry season, it could decrease to 1.5 cubic meters of water per second.[2][8] In certain areas, it included retaining walls that were approximately 11 meters high; they were used to facilitate terrace farming and irrigation.[9] For example, it appears that Menua's wife[9] or daughter[4] owned vineyards on a terrace adjacent to the canal. An inscription found on this land declares, "This vineyard belongs to Tariria, the wife of Menua. It is called Tariria's vineyard."[9][10] Dams were also built along the canal's route to control the water supply to the region.[2] It is believed to have provided sustenance for up to 50,000 people in the capital of Tushpa (Van) alone.[11]

Drawing of a wall of the canal with a Urartian inscription when it was first found.

Along the course of the canal, particularly in the most challenging construction areas, there are inscriptions in Urartian cuneiform.[8] There are a total of 14 inscriptions, all of which celebrate the patron of the project, King Menua.[8] Some of these inscriptions contain curse formulas, while others do not. The length of the inscriptions varies according to the difficulty of the technical work involved.[8]

The most complete Urartian inscription found along the canal is located near a section where an aqueduct is built by the king.[8] It included a curse formula against anyone who would desecrate the structure and declared:

By the will of Khaldi, Menua, son of Ishpuini, has built this canal. This canal is named Menua Canal. Menua the powerful, the great king, King of Biaina, Prince of the city of Tushpa; Menua speaks in the name of the dread Khaldi: Whosoever damages this inscription , whosoever overturns it, whosoever does such things according to his own desire or in the name of another, Menua warns that the dread god Khaldi, the god Teisheba and the Sun god Sivini will efface him from the sign of the sun.[12]

Although the structures were Urartian and originally bore the title "Menua's Canal," the name "Semiramis Canal" was due to the medieval Armenian historian Moses of Khorene, who attributed legendary origins to this canal related to Queen Semiramis.[13] However, he might not have been mistaken about the construction chronology by mentioning this mythical queen, if he associated her with Shammuramat, an Assyrian queen associated with the mythical figure of Semiramis and reigning from -823 to -810.[13] He stated:[14]

"She said, 'We must, in a country with such temperate climate and pure water, establish a city, a royal residence to dwell in Armenia, amidst all delights, one-fourth of the year; the other three colder seasons, we will spend in Nineveh.' [...] Semiramis first had the river embankment constructed, using blocks of rocks bound together with lime and fine sand, a colossal work in terms of its extent and height, which, it is said, still exists to this day. [...] Distributing a portion of the river's waters throughout the city, she brings them wherever they are needed, including for the watering of gardens and flowerbeds."

Banister Fletcher wrote about it in his History of Architecture,

The Shamiram Su (Semiramis Canal) is the most famous of the canals and cisterns which formed a major part of the works of the successive Urartian kings, and was constructed by Menua to bring water from the valley of the Hosap river south-east of Van to the fields and gardens round the capital. This canal is largely visible to this day.[15]

Posterity

The inscriptions found along the canal have been significant in the understanding of the Urartian language, while also providing researchers with information about the actual sponsor of the construction.[16][17] Thanks to the discovery of retaining walls, it is possible to reconstruct the original course of the canal with a relatively high level of accuracy.[8]

The canal is still in use[7] and had not been restored until 1956, when it underwent its first restoration, approximately 2500 years after its construction.[2] This restoration undertaken by Turkey, however, replaced its central part, including one aqueduct, with a modern concrete construction, as the old structure was too expensive to maintain.[8]

It is considered a masterpiece of Anatolian and global hydraulic and architectural engineering.[9][18] Nicolas Adontz declared about it: "The pili of Menua - the Shamiram canal - compared to all known canals [of the period], appears as an Euphrates. In other words, Menua's canal among canals is like the Euphrates among rivers."[19]

References

  1. ↑ East and west , Volumes 12-13. Instituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome. p. 189.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Viollet, Pierre-Louis (2004). L'hydraulique dans les civilisations anciennes: 5000 ans d'histoire (in French). Presses des Ponts. ISBN 978-2-85978-397-6. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  3. ↑ Lombard, Pierre (1991). "Du rythme naturel au rythme humain : vie et mort d'une technique traditionnelle, le qanat". MOM Éditions. 20 (1): 69–86. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  4. 1 2 3 Burney, Charles (1972). "Urartian Irrigation Works". Anatolian Studies. 22: 179–186. doi:10.2307/3642562. ISSN 0066-1546. JSTOR 3642562. S2CID 131657710. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  5. ↑ Gruen, Erich S. (2005). Cultural Borrowings and Ethnic Appropriations in Antiquity. F. Steiner. p. 13. ISBN 9783515087353. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  6. ↑ Azarpay, Guitty. Urartian art and artifacts: a chronological study. p. 10.
  7. 1 2 Nalbandyan, Marine (2016), Angelakis, Andreas N.; Chiotis, Eustathios; Eslamian, Saeid; Weingartner, Herbert (eds.), "Chapter 18 Ancient Aqueducts and the Irrigation System in Armenia", Underground Aqueducts Handbook, CRC Press, pp. 305–322, doi:10.1201/9781315368566-19, ISBN 978-1-4987-4830-8, archived from the original on 2024-01-02, retrieved 2023-12-03
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Garbrecht, Günther (1980). "The water supply system at Tuşpa (Urartu)". World Archaeology. 11 (3): 306–312. doi:10.1080/00438243.1980.9979769. ISSN 0043-8243. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Belli, Oktay (1999). "Dams, reservoirs and irrigation channels of the Van plain in the period of the Urartian kingdom". Anatolian Studies. 49: 11–26. doi:10.2307/3643059. ISSN 0066-1546. JSTOR 3643059. S2CID 128745831. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  10. ↑ Salvini, Mirjo (1998). "Eine urartäische Felsinschrift in der Region Nachičevan". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie. 88 (1). doi:10.1515/zava.1998.88.1.94. ISSN 0084-5299. S2CID 161814422. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  11. ↑ Angelakis, Andreas N.; Chiotis, Eustathios; Eslamian, Saeid; Weingartner, Herbert (2016-11-25). Underground Aqueducts Handbook. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4987-4831-5. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
  12. ↑ Chahin, M. (2001). The Kingdom of Armenia: A History. Psychology Press. p. 74. ISBN 9780700714520. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2021-12-04.
  13. 1 2 Grekyan, Yervand H.; Bobokhian, Arsen (2023). Systemizing the past: papers in near Eastern and Caucasian archaeology dedicated to Pavel S. Avetisyan on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Archaeopress archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing. ISBN 978-1-80327-393-8.
  14. ↑ "Moïse de Khorène : Histoire d'Arménie : livre I." remacle.org. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  15. ↑ Banister, Fletcher. Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture. p. 77.
  16. ↑ de TSERETHELI, M. (1935). "Études Ourartéennes". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 32 (2): 57–85. ISSN 0373-6032. JSTOR 23284073. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  17. ↑ de TSERETHELI, M. (1935). "Études Ourarṭéennes: Ii. — Contributions a La Grammaire". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale. 32 (1): 29–50. ISSN 0373-6032. JSTOR 23294199. Archived from the original on 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
  18. ↑ 1995: 'Neue Funde urartaischer Bewasserungsanlagen in Ostanatolien' in U Finkbeiner, R Dittmann and H Hauptmann (eds), Beitrdge zur Kulturgeschichte Vorderasiens, Festschrift fur Rainer Michael Boehmer. Mainz am Rhein: 19-48
  19. ↑ Adontz, Nicolas (1871-1942) Auteur du texte (1946). Histoire d'Arménie : les origines, du Xe siècle au VIe (av. J.-C.) / Nicolas Adontz ; préface de René Grousset,... Archived from the original on 2023-12-04. Retrieved 2024-01-02.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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