AN archaeologist has appealed to historians and heritage experts from all over the world to help identify the purpose of curiously-shaped, bedrock-embedded underground aqueducts found in Bahrain.
Baca museums and archaeology director Dr Salman Al Mahari presented his call for experts to put their heads together and interpret these archaeological features found all across the region.
“Bahrain used to be home to an extensive network of irrigation qanats, and they bear striking similarities with channels found in nearby countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman,” he said yesterday.
“They’re almost the same, with minor differences in construction and naming – known in Bahrain as ‘thuqb’ (holes), in Saudi as ‘kharaz’ (beads) and in Oman as aflaj.”
According to Dr Al Mahari, a specific type of channel has been found in three sites in Bahrain, and archaeologists in the country are scratching their heads as to its use.
These channels are characterised with having several openings, or pits, all connected with small channels, he said, presenting a qanat found on a bedrock plateau in Nabih Saleh as a sample.
The archaeologist recounted a curious example, in which qanats sloped toward a central well, instead of away from it, feeding a fluid into the pool for a yet-undiscovered purpose.
“The pits found came in several shapes and sizes – big and small, circular and square – but we have no clear idea what their use was. The closest ones I’ve seen were in Al Ain, UAE, and they also don’t have confirmation on their usage.
“We do not have accurate interpretations of these kinds of archaeological elements – we need to explore them in further studies. There should be a collaborative project between these countries on the subject.”
Dr Al Mahari added that such projects will help frame the different kinds of channels found in the region and will be a good opportunity to put recent finds in context.
He also called on the heritage and archaeology experts in the conference to reach out if they have ideas for interpretations of such channels.
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