ABSTRACT
It is often implied that Sumer derived much of its economic strength from irrigation,but in reality water provided an even more fundamental context for everyday life. This is because water manifested itself in many ways: not only as a supplier of essential drinking water for humans and their flocks, but also in the form of marshes and wetlands, as irrigation water, and as rivers and channels for bulk transport. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers not only nurtured major economic resources in the form of fish, reeds, and other wetland products, but were also regarded as sacred rivers (Wood 2005). Consequently, rather than simply discussing irrigation, this chapter tackles the overall ‘hydraulic landscape’.
