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19 - A millennium of rainfall, settlement and water management at Humayma, southern Jordan, c. 2,050–1,150 BP (100 BC to AD 800)

from Part IV - Human settlement, climate change, hydrology and water management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2011

By
Rebecca Foote ,
Andrew Wade ,
Mohammed El Bastawesy ,
John Peter Oleson  and
Steven Mithen
Edited by
Steven Mithen  and
Emily Black
Rebecca Foote
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Andrew Wade
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Mohammed El Bastawesy
Affiliation:
National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences
John Peter Oleson
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
Steven Mithen
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Steven Mithen
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Emily Black
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Summary

ABSTRACT

Humayma is an extensive archaeological site located in the hyper-arid region of southern Jordan. It was principally occupied between the Nabataean and early Islamic periods, c.100 BC to 800 AD, and provides evidence for the most complex water management system known outside of Petra. Since 1986 John Oleson has led extensive survey and excavation at Humayma, documenting the hydraulic structures and examining the various settlement remains that include a Nabataean cultic centre, Roman fort and early Islamic qasr. By making estimates of annual precipitation, surface runoff, water storage capacity and the extent of cultivated land, he has recently proposed that a total of 448 persons, 3,008 ovicaprids and 300 camels or donkeys could have been sustained within the Humayma catchment. This chapter draws on Oleson's research to develop a water balance model for Humayma to further explore the relationship between rainfall, runoff, storage capacity, agriculture and population levels. To do so, it reviews the textual and archaeological evidence for the settlement, undertakes an evaluation of the site's catchment using remote-sensing and digital elevation modelling, and then undertakes multiple simulations of the hydrological and hydraulic systems under a range of rainfall scenarios. Its results are in broad agreement with Oleson's estimates for past population levels, although various additional constraints on population are highlighted. Overall, a more thorough understanding of the hydrological dynamics of Humayma is developed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Water, Life and Civilisation
Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley
 , pp. 302 - 334
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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