How did the ancients irrigate their land?

Answer by  cccc (57)

Ancient societies first irrigated land using simple channels and canals, powered only by gravity, from water sources at high elevations to fields below. As societies advanced, they gradually improved this system, relying on reservoirs, waterwheels and animal- and human-powered pumps, before the Chinese invention of hydraulic systems in which controlled volumes of water provided enough pressure to move water uphill.

Answer by  Robgea (125)

Actually, a lot of cultures did have plumbing. Mesopotamia was laced with underground pipelines that fed fields hundreds of miles from water. Rome used aqueducts, as did others.

Answer by  xela (349)

They would irrigate with trenches or possibly build aqueducts (as in Rome) to bring water from a natural water source to their fields-- which were almost always close to water.

Answer by  tamarawilhite (17883)

They often dug ditches to carry the water to the fields. If the water didn't flow naturally to that area, water was hauled up in buckets or using water wheels.

Answer by  DackThrombosis (1093)

Most farmland sat by the rivers where a series of canals would bring water to the crops. The Romans actually did have plumbing thanks to aqueducts which could large amounts of water hundreds of miles.