Some Irrigation Systems in ḥaḍramawt

How deeply questions of irrigation affect the daily life of the peoples of southern Arabia was first impressed upon me when the summer floods came down to am-Fajarah in Ṣubaiḥī country lying west of Aden, where I happened to be stationed at the time. The villagers turned out to argue, with some viol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 1964-02, Vol.27 (1), p.33-76
Main Author: Serjeant, R. B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Bunds
Crops
Flood irrigation
Floods
Irrigation systems
Irrigation water
Palm trees
Peasant class
Wadis
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Summary:How deeply questions of irrigation affect the daily life of the peoples of southern Arabia was first impressed upon me when the summer floods came down to am-Fajarah in Ṣubaiḥī country lying west of Aden, where I happened to be stationed at the time. The villagers turned out to argue, with some violence, over the distribution of the flood-waters. It was, however, as Shaikh Durain, a Lahej official with us in the village, pointed out, without weapons that the villagers had come to the fray, and though the women stood behind, disputing the issue no less fiercely than.the men, egging them on, so that all would doubtless have come to blows, men and women alike, there would have been no stabbings or shootings. Shaikh Durain cynically implied that there was more of sound than fury in the rencontre, but of course this is not always so, and disputes arising over rights to the use of water can lead to blood-feuds. Since those days I have made some investigation into irrigation and its wealth of technical vocabulary in various parts of the Aden Protectorate, studying some systems in more or less detail, especially those near Mūdiyah village in Dathīnah.
ISSN:0041-977X
1474-0699
DOI:10.1017/S0041977X0010028X