Shushtar hydraulic system
Sistema hidráulico de Shushtar (Band-e Kaisar)
- Date
- c. 260 · confidence medium
- Place
- Shushtar, Khuzestan, Iran
- Credited to
- Sasanians (Shapur I), with Roman engineers and prisoners
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Complex of a dam-bridge over 500 m long across the Karun river, canals cut into the rock and a cascade of watermills that irrigated the plain and powered mills. It is the most complete example of Sasanian hydraulic engineering.
Tradition attributes it to soldiers of Valerian captured at Edessa (260); part of the works and mills are from the Islamic period. World Heritage Site since 2009.
What it led to
- urban-scale water milling
- irrigation of the Khuzestan plain (sugar cane)
- model for dam-bridges in Iran