An international team of researchers revealed in June they had discovered a 3,000-year-old hydraulic system in the Nile Valley, Egypt.
The ancient engineering structure is some 2,500 years older than examples originally thought to be the oldest hydraulic systems in the world located on the Yellow River in China, according to the research team at the University of Western Australia (UWA). The team mapped more than 683 miles of the Nile Valley to determine the nature of the construction timeline, who built the systems and why they were needed.
The findings suggest a highly interconnected civilization throughout parts of North Africa. The data also correlates with 200-year-old map archives and aerial photographs of the area, some of which were taken back in 1934.
Rare Zodiac Imagery Unearthed In Ancient Egyptian Temple https://t.co/rscMJxcMGU via @DailyCaller
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Some of the structures were present in parts of the Nile that haven’t flowed in centuries due to historical climate shifts, and the general design was still used in parts of Sudanese Nubia as recently as the 1970s.
Lead author Dr. Matthew Dalton from UWA’s School of Humanities mentioned, “This incredibly long-lived hydraulic technology played a crucial role in enabling communities to grow food and thrive in the challenging landscapes of Nubia for over three thousand years.” (RELATED: Mayan ‘Superhighways’ Suggest We Need To Rethink How Advanced Our Ancestors Really Were)
The research contributes to a growing body of evidence that suggests previous civilizations were far more advanced and complex than we’ve recently been led to believe.