Watermills, sugar industry flourished in Ayyubid, Mamluk Jordan Valley

AMMAN — Watermills were in use in Jordan until 1970s and these structures date from the Ayyubid (1171‒1260) and Mamluk period (1260‒1516). These watermills were operating as bread mills until quite recently; however, the remnants of these mills were standing in the midst of very dense concentrations of sugar pot sherds.

"The sugar pottery, consisting of typical funnels and syrup collecting jars, dates to the Ayyubid / Mamlukperiod when the Jordan Valley was one of the centres of sugar cane cultivation," Eva Kaptijn, a post-doctoral researcher from Leiden University, said.

The cane was crushed with the aid of watermills and the resulting pulp was left to crystallise in the sugar pottery, which frequently broke when the sugar was removed, Kaptijn elaborated.

"The connection between the main canals of the early modern irrigation system, the watermills and Ayyubid / Mamluk sugar production pushes these systems back in time until at least the Ayyubid / Mamluk period," the researcher elaborated.

In the southern Jordan Valley, no surveys have been able to positively make the connection between Mamluk sugar production, watermills and the early modern irrigation system, Kaptijn added. 

"However, there is sufficient circumstantial evidence to suppose that the same principle is at work here. Until recently four watermills for grinding cereals were active in the area, two at the mouth of the Wadi Al Kafrein, one where Wadi Al Hesban enters the Ghor and another one a few hundred metres further into the Ghor," added the researcher.

The site, referred to as Mesallahah or Al Meselḥah, also contained pottery from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. Unfortunately, no distinction was made regarding the type of Ayyubid / Mamluk pottery, i. e. between domestic pottery and sugar production pottery, so there is no positive evidence for sugar industry. 

"There is a considerable number of Ayyubid / Mamluk remains in the region. Immediately to the west-northwest of the mill lies Shaghur / Shagwir where, according to the East Jordan Valley Survey most of the remains can be dated to the Ayyubid / Mamluk period, "Kaptijn noted.

The researcher added that Glueck noted that the site also contained mediaeval Arabic remains, though unfortunately he did not specify any sub-periods. 

The site itself is described as a natural rock outcrop with traces of quarrying and a small number of sherds. More extensive occupation seems to have existed at nearby Tell Rameh, Kaptijn continued, adding that this site, which has sometimes erroneously been identified with Biblical Beth-Haram, is located on a large natural hillock and features traces of Roman, Byzantine and especially Ayyubid /Mamluk occupation.

"The presence of a settlement in close proximity to a watermill and sugar production site is very typical for the Ayyubid / mamluk periods in the Zarqa Triangle. A small number of Byzantine and Ayyubid / Mamluk sherds was found at the northern early modern watermill, referred to as Tell Al Tahun located along the Wadi Kafrein," Kaptijn underlined. 

The researcher noted that if this mill also functioned as a watermill in the sugar industry, one would expect large quantities of sugar related pottery. 

Further remains from the Ayyubid / Mamluk period were excavated at Tell Nimrin. 

Although no traces of a watermill or other water-related features came to light here, large numbers of sugar-pot sherds were unearthed in addition to domestic Ayyubid / Mamluk pottery.

Sugar mills driven by oxen did exist during the Mamluk period. However, they were generally only used when water power was not an option. The location of Tell Nimrin at the Wadi Nimrin makes it highly likely that a watermill did exist here during the Mamluk period, Kaptijn elaborated. 

The fact that sucrose levels diminish rapidly when sugar cane is harvested, suggests that sugar production sites were most likely located in close proximity to the area where the sugar cane was grown. Sugar cane needs a lot of water and takes more than a year to mature before it can be harvested, the researcher noted.

"Hence, sugar cane can only be cultivated in the Jordan Valley, especially in its southern part, when irrigation is in place," Kaptijn concluded.