THE IMPACT
OF THE FALAJ
DURING THE
IRON AGE
LESSON 4
VOCABULARY:
• falaj (pl. aflaj)
• oasis (pl. oases)
4000 BC
- TOWARDS THE END OF THE
STONE AGE, THE UAE
STARTED TO GET LESS AND
LESS RAIN
- THUS, THE LEVEL OF WATER
UNDER THE GROUND
DROPPED
- GETTING FRESH WATER
BECAME INCEREASINGLY
DIFFICULT
DEPLETING WATER LEVELS
- SINCE THE PEOPLE HAD ALREADY
BEEN STRUGGLING WITH WATER FOR
SO MANY YEARS BY THEN, THE
PEOPLE HAD ALREADY FIGURED OUT
THE WATER LEVELS UNDERGROUND,
AND THE WAY THEY VARIED WITH
THE RAINFALL SEASONS.
- PARTICULARLY DURING THE UMM AN
NAR PERIOD, THEY DUG WELLS AND
WERE ABLE TO PULL OUT WATER
WITH SIMPLE PULLEY DEVICES.
1000 BC
- AROUND 1000 BC, THE RAINFALL
DECREASED AGAIN, CAUSING THE
LEVEL OF WATER UNDERGROUND
TO DROP EVEN FURTHER
- THIS MEANT IT WAS EVEN MORE
DIFFICULT TO REACH
- AT THE COASTAL REIGION OF
MUWAILEH (IN SHARJAH), PEOPLE
USED SPECIAL WELLS WHICH
WOULD ALLOW THEM TO TAP IN
THE FRESH WATER THAT LAY WHERE SALTWATER MEETS FRESHWATER
ABOVE SALT WATER
AL FALAJ
- HOWEVER, AS TIME PASSED, RAINFALL
DECLINED EVEN MORE
- AND THE REMAINING WATER BODIES
SUCH AS THE INLAND SPRINGS
STARTED TO DRY UP AS WELL.
- PEOPLE NOW NEEDED DEEPER WELLS
AND AN EFFICIENT WAY OF
TRANSPORTING IT TO THE SURFACE.
- THE FALAJ SYSTEM WAS THE SOLUTION
- THE PEOPLE OF UAE WERE THE FIRST
TO MAKE A FALAJ
THE FALAJ SYSTEM
- AL FALAJ IS AN UNDERGROUND
CHANNEL THAT CARRIES FRESH
WATER FROM SOURCES IN THE
MOUNTAINS AND SPRINGS TO WHERE
IT IS NEEDED
- DURING THIS TIME, THERE WERE
MANY NEW VILLAGES AND TOWNS
THAT GREW IN THE INTERIORS,
ESPECIALLY IN THE AL AIN AREA AND
ON THE EDGES OF THE AL HAJAR
MOUNTAINS.
OASES
- ARCHAEOLOGISTS FOUND MANY BUIDINGS
AT PLACES LIKE HILLI
- THEY FOUND MANY OTHER SUCH TOWNS
WHICH COULD HAVE ONLY FLOURISHED
DUE TO THE EXISTANCE OF FALAJ
- THE FALAJ SYSTEM PROVIDED A STEADY
WATER SUPPLY TO MANY OF THE OASES
THAT DEVELOPED THERE
- THE FALAJ SYSTEM WAS TO REMAIN ONE
OF THE MOST REMARKABLE FEATS OF
AGRICULTURE AND VILLAGE LIFE
THROUGHOUT THE UAE. ITS IMPACT LASTS
TO THE PRESENT DAY
IRON AGE
- THE IRON AGE WAS THE THIRD CULTURAL
PERIOD IN WHAT IS SOMETIMES CALLED
THE ‘THREE-AGE’ PERIOD.
- AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, THIS AGE WAS
CHARACTERIZED BY THE DISCOVERY AND
MASSIVE USAGE OF IRON.
BRONZE TO IRON
- THE IRON AGE WAS RECOGNIZED AT DIFFERENT
PERIODS AROUND THE WORLD AS IRON WAS
DISCOVERED AT DIFFERENT TIMES. BRONZE TOOLS
- PEOPLE USED BRONZE FOR THEIR TOOLS AND
WEAPONS PRIOR TO THIS, AND NOW IRON HAD
REPLACED IT.
- THE REASON FOR THIS WAS THAT IRON IS MUCH
MORE DURABLE.
- IN THE UAE REGION, THE BRONZE AGE CARRIED ON
FOR EVEN LONGER DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE
EPOPLE HAD EASY ACCESS TO COPPER AND HAD THE
TECHNOLOGY TO TURN COPPER INTO BRONZE.
IRON TOOLS
MUDBRICK HOUSES
- DURING THE IRON AGE, AROUND 1000
BCE, HOUSES IN THE UAE WERE MADE OF
MUDBRICKS.
- THE CONSTRUCTION OF THESE HOUSES
HEAVILY RELIED UPON THE KNOWLEDGE
OF CONSTRUCTION THE PEOPLE HAD, SO
THAT THE BUILDINGS COULD LAST LONG.
- SOME OF THESE BUILDINGS LASTED FOR
MORE THAN 3000 YEARS. ARCHAELOGISTS
FOUND THEM IN ABU DHABI, AL AIN AND
FUJAIRAH AS RECENTLY AS 100 YEARS
AGO.
FOOD
• JUST LIKE THE TIMES BEFORE, PEOPLE RELIED ON
HUNTING AND FISHING FOR THEIR FOOD.
• THEY ALSO OBTAINED MILK FROM THEIR BASIL
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS.
• WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FALAJ, CROPS
WERE MUCH EASIER TO GROW. NEW AND
DIFFERENT CROPS STARTED TO GROW.
• THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT SESAME WAS CULTIVATED
AND COULD BE USED TO MAKE FLOUR AND OIL.
• THERE IS ALSO EVIDENCE OF THE GROWTH OF THE
HERB BASIL.
SESAME
DESALINATION
• DESALINATION IS THE PROCESS OF
SEPERATING SALT FROM SALTWATER,
WHICH IS EVENTUALLY PURIFIED AND
TURNED INTO CONSUMABLE WATER.
• MOST OF THE WATER CONSUMED IN UAE
COMES FROM DESALINATION PLANTS,
WHICH, ACCORDING TO THE UAE
GOVERNMENT’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PORTAL, GENERATES AROUND 100 MILLION
IMPERIAL GALLONS OF WATER EVERY DAY.
