ARIEL UNIVERSITY
Ancient terraces reveal their secrets
At Ariel University, Professor Oren Ackermann studies ancient agricultural terrace systems. His aim is to learn lessons from the past to achieve water efficiency for today and tomorrow
“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.” This quote from poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” has a remarkable contemporary relevance. Wasting natural resources, the protagonist causes the death of his crewmates, surviving alone to face his mistakes. The parallels to modern-day waste-related water shortages are clear. Associate professor Oren Ackermann, of Ariel
University’s Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, is working to prevent this cautionary tale from becoming our reality. The geoarchaeologist believes the solutions for a better future can be found in the past: through a multidisciplinary prism of earth sciences and hydrology, he examines the sites of ancient agricultural terraces, both in Israel and abroad, to study their benefits on farm yield – a research that has unearthed a centuries-old wisdom. Analyzing various archaeological sites, Prof
Ackermann noted humans once coexisted harmoniously with the land, with terracing being part of this consonance. The advantages of the system are numerous and can be attributed to its near-perfect conservation of soil and water resources – scarce, both then and now, in the hilly regions of Israel. In fact, ancient terraces displayed almost total water-usage efficiency.
Prof Ackermann relies on another excellent,
if a little surprising, source of ancient agricultural wisdom: the Talmud, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and primary source of Jewish religious law and theology. The text holds troves of advice for land and harvest conservation, such as the Shmitta (the seventh and last year of the Jewish agricultural cycle, when farmers are required to let the land remain fallow) or orla (rules dictating when it’s permissible to benefit from a tree’s produce). The Talmud tackles social justice issues, too, mandating taxes on produce and requiring farmers to leave a corner of their field (peah) unharvested for those in need. These lessons can help us imagine a greener
future. Modern-day urban centers suffer from water deficiency caused by their sealed surfaces and increase of high-intensity, short-lived rainfalls – an effect of climate change. Prof Ackermann’s solution would be what he calls “sponge cities” – ones that operate at optimal water efficiency, directing rainwater to reservoirs to re-supply subterranean aquifers while reducing flooding and soil erosion. He also envisions hydroponic greenhouses for every building to provide healthy, locally sourced food, as well as irrigation water. He intends to establish a research center to bring this heritage to the modern world.
BELOW: Ancient agricultural terraces, on the left, sit alongside modern ones, on the right
16 Israeli Academia | 2022
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