Three "rivers"—"streams" would perhaps be a more appropriate appellation—contribute to watering Ġūṭat Dimašq, the population density of which is the highest in Syria: Mnīn in the north, al-ʾAʿwaǧ in the south, and Baradā in between, the last being by far the most important of them all.
Shortly before entering Damascus at ar-Rabwā gorge, Baradā gives rise to its first "fan" of canalization: the Yazīd and Tōrā on the left bank and the Mazzāwī, Dārānī, Qanawāt, and Banīās on the right.
Just after it exits the city, Baradā emanates its second "fan": the ʿAqrabānī Canal (a continuation of Banīās that runs north of the Citadel adjacent to the ancient city's wall heading east), the Mulayḥī's, and the Dāʿīānī's. Those three canals subsequently divide into the third "fan," an innumerable network of brooks, each one of which is named after the village that constitutes its final destination. The "Zōr" is the basin of Baradā itself; it is the lowest and most fertile part of the oasis. Qanawāt and Banīās provide the city with water. The rest (Yazīd, Tōrā, Mazzāwī, and Dārānī) irrigate the surrounding lush gardens.
This distribution is minutely arranged using the "qīrāṭ," a ubiquitous system in the Near East that divides proportionally, a qīrāṭ being 1/24 of the whole. The reason is quite simple: the amount of water available varies widely from one season to the next, making the allocation of a fixed amount of water an impossible feat. The man in charge of supervising the canals, maintaining them, and opening and closing the distributors is called "šāwī," a profession—like many others—passed from father to son.
Concerning this elaborate irrigation system, no maps or historical documents of any worth existed prior to the era of the French Mandate. All available info was oral and handed from one generation of "šāwī" to the next.
Jacques Weulersse. Paysans de Syrie et du Proche-Orient. Gallimard 1946.
Richard Lodoïs Thoumin. Géographie humaine de la Syrie centrale. Librairie Ernest Leroux, Paris 1936.
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