
Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017) - autokill
https://blog.longnow.org/02017/04/10/1000-year-old-windmills/
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milani
As an Iranian, this is the first time I hear about these windmills!
Unfortunately, the only source of info about them is this National Geography
video.

There is no exclusive page for them on wikipedia, but I could find how they
work generally here:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panemone_windmill](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panemone_windmill)

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mattlondon
That wiki page suggests that the sails are articulated? In the video these are
very much fixed sails - looks like battens of woods lashed or nailed together
so I don't think the sails themselves can turn.

I do wonder which way the prevailing wind is for those windmills though as
they are surrounded by walls. The knee jerk reaction is that the wind comes
"face on" but then surely there would not be a turning force if the wind blows
on both sides of the axis equally (especially since the sails look to be
fixed)

I did notice there was a small vertical slit on the back wall, which makes me
wonder if the wind blows "sideways" and generates lower pressure by blowing
over the slit, causing the sails to move.

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lancefisher
I would guess the wind blows into the slit, driving just one side of the
paddle.

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Jestar342
Just watching the video shows how they work just the same as a water wheel
does, except "on their side". The wall(s) erected around them are shielding
one half of the windmill, thus there is wind flowing onto one side of the
windmill only.

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growlist
They also have incredible underground aqueducts that have been maintained for
thousands of years. Smart people.

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ZeroGravitas
The distance these cover and the depth they tunnel into mountains is part of
what makes them incredible, in case the description of underground aquaducts
doesn't sound cool enough.

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growlist
True! :) I first learnt of them years back on TV - think it was a Channel 4
(UK broadcast channel) documentary, in which they sent a British academic into
somewhat hazardous situations. He walked underground along one of these
tunnels. Haven't been able to find the documentary since, unfortunately.

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bcraven
I think Iain Stewart went down one for his "Rise of the Continents" series.

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gherkinnn
Fascinating how these windmills come across as a symbiosis between man and
nature.

They’re an integral part of the landscape, part of the culture (or used to
be), and harness the local environment to produce something. Same goes for
rice terraces, vineyards, etc.

And yet I see many people complain about us sticking wind turbines on top of
hills.

One can only imagine how the Iranian wind wills were received a thousand years
ago.

I suspect it will take a generation or two for these turbines to turn them in
to an integral part of our life as well. Or utter necessity.

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taneq
People whinge about new things. You don't see anyone complaining that the
pyramids are an eyesore or the Arc de Triomphe is a waste of taxpayers' money.

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gherkinnn
The Eiffel Tower wasn’t well received at first, now it’s a part of Parisian
identity.

Gotta love that cycle.

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saalweachter
My vague understanding is there are still mixed feelings about it.

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agumonkey
Sure but the ratio is pretty overwhelmingly positive now.

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twic
Another film about the windmills:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv3Pn2DFkDw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv3Pn2DFkDw)

From the International Wood Culture Society, who have a ton of other wood-
related content:

[http://iwcs.com/allSubject.cfm](http://iwcs.com/allSubject.cfm)

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dharma1
Iran also has ancient natural air conditioning tech

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher)

Persians are very smart people

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e40
> Persians are very smart people

I agree, but doesn't this have more to do with the stability of their society,
in that period?

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behnamoh
What stability? Persia (current Iran) has been under constant attack from its
neighbors for thousands of years, most notably Alexander's conquest, the Arab
invasion, and the Mongols.

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andrew_c_v
What are the windmills used for? Is it for milling grains?

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ranDOMscripts
I suspect many bread makers would immediately recognize the name of the
province where the windmills are located.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khorasan_wheat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khorasan_wheat)

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Leszek
There's likely an interesting Ship of Theseus debate to be had about whether
these are indeed thousand-year-old windmills, and whether it's accurate to
consider the windmills build a thousand years ago to be "still standing".

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growlist
'In one of the most iconic scenes in British television comedy, Trigger, the
butt of so many ‘Only Fools and Horses’ jokes, proudly reveals that he has
used the same road sweeping brush for his entire career. “This old broom”, he
says “ has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles”. We, the audience, are
laughing at his apparent stupidity long before Sid points out “how the hell is
it the same bloody broom then?”'

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faceplanted
Only Fools and Horses, Ship of Theseus edition, wait till you see Plato fall
through the bar.

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sumithegde
This is so cool!

