https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3877-4138
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ABSTRACT
In this study, evidence provided by written records generated after the conquest of Tortosa in 1148 and the results of archaeological survey have led to the identification of several farmland areas and their associated Andalusi settlements on both banks of the River Ebro, in the hinterland of Madīna Ṭurṭūsha. These field systems were formed by compact and discontinuous cultivation areas on the riverbanks. Drainage channels and wells with water-lifting wheels comprised the main hydraulic techniques used. One of the most relevant changes as a consequence of feudal conquest was the introduction of new hydraulic systems consisting of water catchment in the hills above the river and long channels, whose main purpose was to drive watermills. These channels were rather complex in terms of technology and distinct from those of the Muslim peasant tradition and we can recognise the political power behind them.
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Notes
1. The term Andalusi is the demonym of al-Andalus.
2. Most of these documents are already available in published form. They will be cited by the acronyms of the documentary collections (see Bibliography).
3. New Catalonia includes the Southern and Western part of Catalonia, conquered by the Catalan counts in the 11th and 12th century. Old Catalonia is the name given to the Northeastern part of Catalonia, which fell under the authority of the Carolingian counts in the 9th century and which, therefore, was only slightly integrated in the Andalusi political order.
4. Some research cases on several regions of the Iberian peninsula have been published recently (Torró and Guinot Citation2018)
5. Huerta is an irrigated area located around a city.
6. Also in Italy, written sources suggest a significant increase in hydraulic projects from the 12th century on. Italian communes and monastic institutions were usually the promoters of these projects (Magnusson and Squatriti Citation2000). A similar process is noticed at the same time in France cities (Benoît and Rouillard Citation2000).
7. The bibliography on hydraulic techniques conventionally uses the Arabic term sāqiya to designate this water-lifting device, which is characterised by a gear connected to a chain of pots that sink into the well and come back to the surface full of water; the gear is propelled by an animal tied to a vertical shaft. The Catalan term sénia derives from sāniya, while the term sāqiya has instead evolved into séquia (Catalan), cequia (in Latin documents) and acequia (Spanish), meaning channel. For a classic reference see Schiøler Citation1973.
8. ‘There are also mills built on barges, so the wheel turns outside the barge with the current, and the miller can move the mill around if he so wishes. Similar mills exist in the Tigris River, in Mossul, and they are known as al-ġ.rba’ (Bramon Citation2000, 125).
9. Dams in torrents are very simple structures built with stones and tree branches that partially slow down the speed of water and allow for a small portion of the flow to be diverted into a channel. The Catalan term used to design this structures is assut (Spanish: azud) (from al-sudd, a dialectal form of the Arabic al-sadd).
10. The al-munya (Arabic) has been described as a private property, usually linked to members of the state administration or people related to it (Navarro and Trillo Citation2018).
11. A plot of land of Algezira Mascor was prope ipsam alcantaram (DCT:69); a field iuxta viam quam itur ad Valenciam prope ponten siccum et prope algziram que fuit de Zahada (DCT: 63); one plot of land of Beniguerau bordered to the south by a cequia and the Alcantera, and to the east with a road that led to Alcantera (TTE: 35).
12. The Valencia road is mentioned in different documents as a limit for the plots of this area (CTT: 44, 45; DCT: 368; ACA: Codex 115, d. 109, f. 34 r; CTT: 26, 74).
13. Negre (Citation2015, 28–31) is mistaken in his interpretation of this and other documents, and argues for the construction of a long channel, which drew water from the river Ebro, promoted by the Caliphate of Cordoba. These channels never sourced their water from the Ebro River. The characteristics of the riverbed made it very difficult to construct a dam to divert water into channels away from the river. The riverbed was much wider than it is today, and multiple branches shifted seasonally; the margins were fairly unstable and the slope gentle, hampering the construction of a dam capable of diverting the water far enough from the riverbank to be effective. This was tried for the first time in the 14th century, but the project did not come to fruition until the 19th century, when the course of the river had already been partially channelled (Fabregat and Vidal Citation2007; Vidal Citation2010; Rovira and Muñoz Citation2013).
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Helena Kirchner
Helena Kirchner (Medieval History PhD) is Professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Her areas of specialization are Medieval Rural History and Archaeology and Al-Andalus Archaeology. She has conducted research projects in the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Andalucía, Catalonia and in Yemen. She is currently the director of Agrarian Medieval Archaeology Research Group (ARAEM, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: http://grupsderecerca.uab.cat/araem/) and the co-PI of Agricultural organisations and Iberian conquests (12th-16th centuries) research project, financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and the IP of The archaeology of an Andalusian city: Madîna Balaghí, financed by the Catalonia Government.