Cisterns of the Roman Baths are archaeological remains built during

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

and are located in downtown

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. The cisterns were built in order to store and supply water to Roman Berytus.https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/assemblage/html/4/4rxt.html THE LIFE AND DEATHS OF A HOT BATH IN BEIRUT]

Overview

The Romans constructed an aqueduct fed by the

Beirut River Beirut River ( ar, نهر بيروت, ''Nahr Bayrūt'') is a river in Lebanon. The river runs east to west, then curves north, separating the city of Beirut from its eastern suburbs, primarily Bourj Hammoud and Sin el Fil. According to popular le ...

, whose main source was located 10 km from the city. When the water reached Riad Al Solh Square, it was stored in large cisterns and then distributed to the pools of the Roman Baths. The cisterns were built in order to store water for a city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants and in the Roman centuries this was a big engineering accomplishment.

History

For centuries, the streams and wells of Ain Naba’, Berjawi and Khandaq Al-Ghamiq provided Beirut with fresh water. At the time of Roman Berytus, four large bath complexes as well as numerous private baths increased the city’s water consumption. The Romans constructed an aqueduct which crossed the river at Qanater Zbaydeh and followed the slopes of Hazmieh to Mar Mikhael and Furn Al-Chebak. The water finally reached Riad Al Solh Square; there, at the foot of the

Serail Hill Serail may refer to: *Saray (building), an administrative building (from Turkish ', meaning palace) * Saray (harem), a building or buildings for a harem (also from Turkish ', meaning palace) *Grand Serail of Aleppo *Grand Serail in Beirut *''Die En ...

, it was stored in large cisterns. An intricate network of lead or clay pipes and channels distributed the water to the various pools of the Roman Baths. The cisterns were damaged and partially destroyed during the big earthquake of 551 AD. Since then they were no more used.

References

Bibliography

*Davie, Michael F., Makaroun, Yasmine and Nordiguian, Leon (1997). Les Qanater Zubaydé et l’alimentation en eau de Beyrouth et de ses environs à l’époque romaine, Bulletin d’Archéologie et d’Architecture Libanaises 2:262-289. * Lauffray, Jean (1977) « Beyrouth. Archéologie et Historie, époques gréco-romaines. I. Période hellénistique et Haut-Empire romain", Aufstieg und Niedergang der Romischen Welt. II.8 : 135-163, Wallter de Gruyter, Berlin. {{coord missing, Lebanon Roman cisterns Buildings and structures in Beirut Monuments and memorials in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Beirut

Overview

History

See also

References

Bibliography