Ancient Levantine Farmers Used Irrigation to Counter Droughts, Study Finds

The findings span roughly 3,000 years, from the Early Bronze Age around 3600 BCE to the end of the Iron Age in 600 BCE.

By Shula Rosen

Farmers in the Levant thousands of years ago used irrigation to counter droughts and boost the cultivation of olives and grapes, showing ingenuity in the face of a changing climate, according to a new study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE.

The international team, led by scholars from the University of Tübingen in Germany and Durham University in the United Kingdom, examined more than 1,500 olive and grape seeds, along with charcoal wood samples, from 25 archaeological sites across Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and northern Iraq.

The findings span roughly 3,000 years, from the Early Bronze Age around 3600 BCE to the end of the Iron Age in 600 BCE.

By analyzing stable carbon isotopes preserved in the samples, researchers reconstructed the water conditions in which crops were grown.

Dan Lawrence of Durham University, one of the study’s authors, told The Times of Israel that the team was interested in how farmers treated olives and grapes during this period, crops often overlooked compared to staples like barley and wheat.

Lawrence explained that similarities in isotope values between seeds and wood suggested little irrigation, while significant differences indicated deliberate watering.

The study found irrigation increasingly used over time, especially as the climate became drier.

Regions accustomed to arid conditions sometimes coped better with severe droughts because irrigation systems were already in place.

He noted that at the site of Emar in Syria, grape cultivation was possible only through extensive irrigation, given rainfall far below the threshold needed for vineyards.

Grapes and olives, he said, played a central role in complex economies, functioning as commodities that supported trade and urban development.

Lawrence emphasized that while conditions varied across sites, one common theme emerged: adaptation. “Farmers experimented, responded to the conditions they faced, and developed skills in managing them,” he said.

The researchers hope to expand the study to other crops and material remains, offering a fuller picture of how ancient societies responded to environmental challenges.