Research led by Joel Roskin of Bar-Ilan University and Itamar Taxel of the Israel Antiquities Authority examines traditional agricultural practices developed in the early Islamic period and assesses their potential benefits in combating increasing water scarcity and food insecurity in arid and marginal regions.
The research was funded by the Israel Science Foundation and published in the journal Environmental Archaeology.
The study focuses on what are called sunken groundwater harvesting agroecosystems (SGHAS), historically used in regions of Israel, Iran, Egypt, Algeria, Gaza and the Atlantic coast of Iberia. Through this technique, ancient civilizations between the 9th and 12th centuries collected rainwater and groundwater while enriching the soil with organic material and urban waste.
SGHAS allow local resources to be used in sandy soils to grow food crops such as vegetables, melons, dates and grapes. Roskin explained that “these agroecosystems represent a sustainable model that can be adapted to different economic and cultural contexts.”