
Magnificent City of Merv - chewz
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/aug/12/lost-cities-merv-worlds-biggest-city-razed-turkmenistan
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chewz
> Over the centuries, Merv’s inhabitants built and maintained a series of dams
> and dykes on the Murghab river and a network of canals and reservoirs to
> ensure the supply of water to the city. The position of mir-ab, or water
> bailiff, was an important post in Merv: according to contemporary medieval
> accounts, he had a force of 10,000 workmen under his command, including a
> team of 300 divers who routinely patched up the dykes with timber. Their
> labour maintained the dam on the Murghab, preventing the accumulation of
> silt and regulating the flow of water into Merv’s canals in times of drought
> and plenty.

