AquaTyr

The international consortium AquaTyr will investigate reticulated water management in the antique city of Tyre, in Lebanon, an island that became a peninsula. It will focus on coping strategies for water needs, from the Iron Age to Medieval times, before, during, after a period when water was delivered by a roman aqueduct. It will track the evolution of water intakes, management, and dispensing. Multidisciplinary investigations involving Archaeology, Architecture, History, Geomorphology and geochemical analyses will allow an in-depth study of the evolution of reticulated water grids over large timespans and spatial scales to capture the full range of usages (‘white’, ‘grey’, and ‘black’ waters; wells, water tanks, aqueducts, and associated city zoning), as well as their dynamic response to sea level rise, alterations to the island shape, and harbor relocation. This approach, which associates on land and offshore observations, is novel and can be transposed to other coastal cities. In addition, the project proposes a plan for the valorisation of results and training through research based on collaboration between Lebanese and French researchers.