4/5 Ebrahim H. 2 years ago on Google • 460 reviews
The
Tanks
were
mentioned
in
some
manuscripts
after
the
coming
of
Islam
to
Yemen
in
the
7th
century
A.D.
"Aden
has
Tanks
that
store
water
when
the
rain
falls",
wrote
Al-Hamdani
in
the
10th
century.[2]
Al-Makdsi,
writing
three
centuries
later,
also
recorded
the
presence
of
wells
and
cisterns
in
Aden.[3]
By
the
time
of
the
Rasulid
dynasty
(1229-1454
A.D.),
the
Tanks
had
fallen
into
disrepair.
However,
the
Rassulids
recognized
the
utility
of
the
Tanks
and
began
to
restore
them.[4]
This
restoration
has
led
some
to
claim
that
the
Rassulids
built
the
Tanks,
thereby
obscuring
what
are,
in
all
probability,
the
far
more
ancient
origins
of
the
Tanks.
After
the
Rassulids,
the
Tanks
once
again
fell
into
disrepair,
damaged
by
flooding
and
neglect
and
filled
with
the
rubble
of
successive
floods.
By
the
time
of
the
British
occupation
of
Aden
(beginning
in
1839),
the
Tanks
had
been
almost
completely
buried
by
debris
carried
down
the
mountains
by
successive
floods.
Sir
Robert
L.
Playfair
rediscovered
the
tanks
and
recognized
their
potential
value.
Aden
had
no
fresh
water
and
was
often
cut
off
from
mainland
water
supplies
by
hostile
tribes.
Playfair
hoped
that
the
Tanks,
once
repaired,
could
provide
a
reliable
source
of
water
for
public
consumption.
The
British
accordingly
set
out
to
restore
the
tanks
to
their
original
function.
However,
in
the
process,
the
British
modified
the
design
and
layout
of
the
Tanks
significantly
from
their
original
state.
With
the
intention
of
storing
the
greatest
quantity
of
water
possible,
British
engineers
replaced
an
intricate
network
of
numerous,
small,
cascading
cisterns
along
the
valley
walls
with
a
few,
larger
tanks.
The
Tanks'
ability
to
both
control
floods
and
store
water
was
thus
hampered,
and
the
site
that
tourists
visit
today
is
very
much
a
Victorian
British
creation.
Further,
the
remodeling
destroyed
what
archaeological
evidence
might
have
been
present
with
regards
to
the
original
site,
and
this,
coupled
with
the
scarcity
of
documentary
evidence,
has
made
learning
more
about
the
Tanks'
origins
difficult.
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