The Water Mill in the 12th and 13th Century Bilad ash-Sham: a Point of Cultural Interaction?

Abstract

During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Levant was the centre of turbulent social, economic and political changes. The ongoing wars of the Crusades between Christians and Muslims to dominate the Holy Land had a tremendous impact both on the societies and politics of the region. The Levant became a centre for political and economic activity providing a bridge between the Occident and the Orient. A revival during the 13th century in the West of technological and scientific inventions and discoveries after the Dark Ages was paralleled in the Levant, where there had been a marked advancement in the development and use of various technologies. The development of water-driven grain and sugar mills, which were important mechanical devices already during the Hellenistic period, both in the Levant and the West (Hodge 1992), continued to provide an important source of energy, and had significant historical, social and environmental consequences.