Food Sources: Earth, Water, and Air - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 64

waters of the Kā ∞ d ¶ āne valley which
also had been used for the water supply
of Byzantium up until 1204.
Dalman and Wittek show that the main
aqueducts or su-kemeri s on this line were
the work of the architect Sinān, who
built them first in 961/1554 and then
a second time in 971/1564 after heavy
rains had destroyed them. In construct-
ing their water works, the Ottomans
made use of the remains of the Byzantine
water conduits and aqueducts as well as
employing native Greek experts (a certain
master called Kiriz Nicola is mentioned by
Selānīkī) among the su yol ¡ ular . It may be
suggested at this point that the Ottomans
borrowed from the Roman-Byzantine
system some hydrological techniques and,
combining them with their own traditions
evolved quite a complex organisation to
supply water for their huge capital city.
Sultan Süleymān's extensive water pipe-
line brought to the city and to his newly-
constructed mosque abundant water,
which was distributed to a number of new
fountains. The remainder of the water
went to the Palaces and gardens of the
Sultan and grandees in the city, as well
as to the public bath houses. The basic
system was expanded upon by succeeding
sultans, particularly in connection with
newly-constructed mosques. They con-
structed new reservoirs and water lines,
extending those already in existence in
the two main areas of Kā ∞ d ¶ āne and
‡ alal.
Water sources found and brought
to the city through government initia-
tive belonged to the mīrī waf or state-
controlled endowments and were placed
under the control of the relevant waf 's
administration, which was also respon-
sible for meeting repair expenses. Fearing
lest the water supply specified for the use
of imperial mosques, palaces and public
fountains be cut short, mīrī waf waters

in Jerusalem and Mecca. In Istanbul, the
most complex and best-studied example,
we see that the system consisted of col-
lecting in reservoirs or bend s (Pers. band )
the waters from the two hilly areas in the
outskirts of the city, namely the ‡ alal
valley and the Belgrad forest, and then
bringing this water underground in huge
pipes and over aqueducts to high points
in the city. Water towers or su terāzī s
were constructed to keep the water at a
high level and water depots, mala s and
masam s, distributed the water in differ-
ent directions. In order to construct and
maintain the system, an extensive organi-
sation grew up under the chief architect
or ¶ ā mimārba ª and the superinten-
dent of the water conduit workers or
the su yol ¡ ular nār . The construction
and maintenance of the water works was
financed and organised by awāf , either of
individuals or of sultans. The main water
conduits and aqueducts came into being
to bring water to the complexes surround-
ing the great mosques which, as we know,
served as the nuclei for the development
of the city. The mainstay of this water
system was created through efforts under
two sultans, Meemmed II and Süleymān
I. In the winter of 861/1456 Meemmed
II gave orders “to bring into the city from
the countryside an abundance of water
through aqueducts”. The Byzantine water
works, pipes and aqueducts which had
been left to fall into ruin during the last
centuries of the empire, were re-discov-
ered and used by the Conqueror to cre-
ate the first Ottoman water system. The
rapid increase in the city's population,
first under Bāyezīd II and then under
Süleymān I, together with the construc-
tion of major mosques under these sul-
tans, led to a search for water sources at
a greater distance. It was under Süleymān
I that the second major water project was
carried out, this time collecting mainly the