Under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Conference on the Archaeology of Irrigation Technology and Water Management in the Islamic World Conference will be held at the Bahrain National Theatre from January 7-9.
The event is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and is organised by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), in cooperation with the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies (IAIS) of the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.
The conference aims to highlight how Islamic societies have managed and transferred water. It also aims to encourage efforts to learn from ancient societies and explore solutions to the environmental and climate challenges facing humanity today and in the future.
The studies presented in the conference will cover the areas of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Southeast and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the former spheres of influence in the Iberian Peninsula (Andalusia) and the Balkans.
Irrigation and water management techniques in Islamic civilisation are represented by a wide range of engineering constructions, including underground canals, suspended canals, ponds, tanks, fountains, water mills, wells, dams, arches, etc., that had been developed during the seventh century to the nineteenth century.