Elam, in the Susa region, is a very ancient civilization that developed expertise in hydraulic works starting in the IIIrd millennium BC. Three abundantly flowing rivers descend from the Zagros mountains and cross the region: the Kherka, the Ab-e Diz, and the Karan. Elam knew a brief period of glory when, between 1260 and 1160 BC, it took advantage of the weakness of the Babylonians to ravage lower Mesopotamia. Along with other spoils, the black stone on which is engraved the Code of Hammurabi passed through Susa at this time.
During this period Untash-Gal, sovereign of Elam between 1275 and 1240 BC, built a new city some forty kilometers to the southeast of Susa, next to the river Ab-e Diz; he gave the city his name in calling it Dur-Untash. But the course of the Ab-e Diz is below the elevation of the city, and the groundwater is brackish. So Untash-Gal dug a 100-km long canal to obtain water some twenty kilometers upstream of Susa from the Kherka, a river whose waters were known for their purity. The canal brings the water to a brick — lined reservoir just outside the wall of Dur-Untash. This reservoir, whose dimensions are 10.7 m long, 7.25 m wide, and 4.35 m deep, then feeds a basin just inside the city wall through nine openings. The city’s inhabitants could take water directly from this
basin.[74]
