Harbaqa Dam

The Harbaqa Dam or Kharbaqa Dam (Arabic: سد خربقة) was a Roman era Palmyrene gravity dam in the Syrian desert about southwest from Palmyra on the road to Damascus. The dam, built of rubble, concrete, and dressed with ashlar stones, dates to the first or second century AD. The dam later was used as a water supply for the Umayyad palace of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi. Overview The dam was built in the first/second-century AD by Palmyra. It was restored and used again by the Umayyads in the eighth cent…