Water deprivation as military strategy in the Middle East, 3.700 years ago

Abstract

Oil, which sparked the first Gulf War, is not the only liquid resource that may trigger global crises from within a Middle Eastern theater. Water - or the lack of it - could be a cause of future conflicts because it is the most precious natural resource that can be manipulated and controlled by humans. Here, we report the written evidence for the diversion of the Tigris for repression purposes in Iraq, 3700 years ago, during a period marked by precipitation decline. Our study shows the perverted role of human control over water in the Middle East, using freshwater supplies as a weapon of war, especially at times when drought may have affected the inhabitants, leaving them weak and vulnerable. The translation of 75 cuneiform tablets from the Cornell Archive has revealed the development of military forts for the protection of the Babylonian heartland, and has highlighted one of the oldest known attempts to dry up the Mesopotamian marshes to starve the southern lowlands. Independent palaeoenvironmental data and climate modelling show that relatively drier conditions may have increased the efficiency of this military strategy.