WATER HISTORY WEDNESDAY | EDITION 02
For as long as we’ve had established civilisations, humans have been concerned about the supply of water.
With the population rising as a result of successful civilisations, expansion was required. It was important to ensure that the extended areas were still able to access a water source, and with more people came the issue of sanitation. Humans’ main concern remained to be water supply, drainage and irrigation.
A common misconception is that the earliest pipes were made of stone – although there was an appearance of stone pipework in ancient Rome, stone pipes were difficult to manufacture, with stone requiring boring and cutting into to form pipes. This process was long and time-consuming thus stone was mostly used for open conduits and drainage instead.
Venturing into the Bronze Age, however, we see the invention of the potter’s wheel and soon following that the creation of fired clay and ceramic water pipes.
Being significantly easier to manufacture, fired clay pipes became universally popular with various examples of fired clay pipes recorded in Mesopotamia, Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley, and in Minoan Crete. Clay pipes, unlike stone, can be rolled and shaped into different designs by hand with ease. Like pots, they were spun into tubular shapes using the potter’s wheel, their bases were then removed and the finished pipe lifted off ready to be connected to the next piece.
The potter’s wheel appeared to be in use both in Sumeria and the Indus Valley around 3500 BC, which coincides with the earliest pipes.
Early Minion Crete (3200-2300 BC) also heavily used clay pipes for their water system which included wells, cisterns, piped water and aqueducts. Crete was more sophisticated in its designs, using conical pipework with a wide end tapering to a narrow end to fit together the pipework. Although inefficient for water flow, this design made the pipes easier to make and seal.
The Ancient Greeks used similar conical pipes but also cylindrical ones as seen in the aqueduct at Naxos but were able to take it one step further and used sockets. The Romans developed this to a new level, they had a variety of forms including bell and spigot joints sealed with lime mortar and sometimes lead (although that would become a problem later).
The earliest evidence of urban sanitation was seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, a city in the Indus River Valley which included the world’s first urban sanitation systems which largely used clay pipes.
The Indus River Valley Civilisation – also known as the Harappan Civilisation – was located in southeast Asia, extending from modern-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. The Indus River Valley Civilisation was not just one hub of living – it consisted of many cities and settlements that developed into large urban centres. The main cities included Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mojenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan and Dholavira Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar and Lothal in modern-day India. The Indus cities are known for their urban planning with the designs of their pipework suggesting a high priority was placed on hygiene.
The houses of the Indus River Valley civilisation were made from mud, dried mud bricks or clay bricks. Throughout the urban areas, there was a collection of public and private baths. The resulting water system of this city was both complex and extensive.
The remains of the Indus Valley Civilisation cities indicate a well-organised wastewater drainage and trash collection systems along with baths and granaries. The city of Mohenjo-daro hosts the Great Bath, which is thought to have been a large public bathing area, much like the Roman baths. The water system of Mohenjo-daro was extensive, pipes ran through homes through to large pools and baths.
It was again Harappa and Mohenjo-daro that demonstrated the world’s first known sanitation systems. The remains of their ancient systems of sewage and draining illustrate that individual homes drew water from wells, and had spaces that directed wastewater to covered drains on the main streets. They had such extensive pipework that even the smallest homes on the city outskirts were believed to have been connected to the system.
Unfortunately, the Indus River Valley began to decline around 1800 BC, with debate surrounding the reason for its demise. Theories suggest that it was largely abandoned by the population as a result of a changing climate – whether through a great flood, the drying of the Saraswati River (which began around 1900 BC) or through invasion.
Regardless of its demise, the Indus River Valley Civilisation was an excellent example of the invention of the first water pipes and early concern for sanitation in the ancient period.
