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‘Atiqot 71 (2012)
ISBN 2948-040X
A Hydraulic Construction of the Mamluk Period at El-Madahil, Northeast of the Hula Valley
(pp. 93*–108*)
Hervé Barbé
Keywords: Middle Ages, hydrology, technology, travertine, numismatics
A water-related construction from the medieval period was exposed, revealing evidence for a strong flow of water. This observation was further confirmed by the eroded edges of the potsherds uncovered in the destruction phase. It is likely that this structure operated by means of the driving force of water, which enabled the rotating movement of a vertical mechanical wheel. The large number of iron nails retrieved from the site suggests that the machinery was constructed of timber, and was destroyed or dismantled. The finds, almost exclusively pottery, point to a date in the Mamluk period (fourteenth–fifteenth centuries CE).