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Location Ninawa Governorate, Iraq | ||
Jerwan
Jerwan is a locality north of Mosul in the Nineveh Province of Iraq. The site is clear of vegetation and is sparsely settled.
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The site is famous for the ruins of an enormous aqueduct crossing the Khenis River, constructed of more than two million dressed stones and using stone arches and waterproof cement. Some consider it to be the world's oldest aqueduct, predating anything the Romans built by five centuries.
Jerwan vista del grande acquedotto
The Aqueduct of Jerwan
The aqueduct is part of the larger Atrush Canal built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib between 703 and 690BC to water Ninevah's extensive gardens, with water diverted from Khenis gorge, 50km to the north.
An inscription on the Aqueduct reads:
Some scholars believe the legends of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were actually Sennacherib’s extensive gardens in Nineveh, not Babylon.
