Qanat

[Britney]

(in the Middle East) a gently sloping underground channel or tunnel constructed to lead water from the interior of a hill to a village below.

[Lanell]

n. A totally [cheap-ass] [word to] use in [Scrabble] and piss everyone off.

[Cami]

· As early as 3000 BC, a system of irrigation began in [Persia] called the qanat.
· Qanats are underground [tunnels], with a [canal] in the floor of [the tunnel], which carries water.
· At regular intervals, well-like openings extend from the surface to the tunnel floor, and it is through these openings that the tunnels were built and through which they are maintained.
· The underground nature of the canal reduces evaporation in the hot and windy desert, and allows 22,000 qanats to operate in Iran even today.
· Qanats originate in [highlands], with a mother shaft as deep as 400 metres, and the tunnel floor [slopes] at a moderate angle toward its destination, which can be up to 160 kilometres away.
· The difference between the qanat and a surface canal is that the qanat can get water from an underground [aquifer], so a surface river or stream is not needed.
· Since it travels at a slope independent of the surface features, it can go in a straight line. The water carrying canal in qanats were usually lined with stone or [tile] to reduce water loss.
· The control of water was a key issue to Persian agriculture, and documents demonstrated that Darius and [Xerxes] authorising the mass construction of qanats at Manâ[wir] in Egypt in an effort to increase agricultural production.