Sharing History

Although often associated with the desert, the Arab and Ottoman world had a deep cultural connection to water. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, those territories included agricultural countries, hence the importance of water for irrigation, but it was also important as a communication route and for hygiene and religious purity. Irrigation and public use of water had for centuries been organised and distributed using technologies that varied from country to country. At the beginning of the 19th century, Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha in Egypt inaugurated the construction of works to improve agricultural production and export. In the following decades, across the Ottoman Empire, dams and public hydraulic works were built using European expertise and know-how. The Arab and Ottoman world was exporting raw materials to Europe, increasing its dependence on the great powers. Reforms and public works were a result of the autonomous initiative of sultans, pashas and khedives, but the long-term consequences were controversial.