One of the challenges humans have faced for centuries is raising water to reach farm fields or communities. One of the most impressive, yet little known, solutions is the noria (Arabic: نواعير حماة, Spanish: azud). The noria is properly pronounced na’ura (singular) and nawa’ir (plural). Noria literally means “the growler” referring to the sounds made as the wheel turns. The wooden bearings, falling water, and stresses on the wheel create a symphony of noise and musical notes. The deepest notes are in the range of 120–170 Hertz.
These remarkable machines are undershot water wheels with paddles on the rim pushed by the river flow to turn the wheel. Ceramic pots, bamboo pots, wooden boxes, or metal buckets on the rim fill with water and drop it off at the higher elevation as the wheel rotates. A fixed aqueduct, often of brick or stone, carries the water away to supply a community with drinking water or water for farmers. They often shared water and maintenance tasks.
The aqueduct of the al-Muhammadiyya noria supplied water for the Great Mosque quarter in Hama, nearly a kilometer from the banks of the River Orontes in Syria. A low dam or channels on the river help maintain flow even when the water level drops. Several channels may be used to fine tune the water pressure turning the wheel. Sometimes two, three or even four norias share the same low dam. When the water level is high, excess water flows over the dam.
The largest norias were 28 meters (80 feet) tall. The largest operating noria in Hama is 20 meters (66 feet) with 120 water collection boxes embedded in the rim. Much smaller norias are also used around the world. The water delivery of the norias in Hama ranged from 50,000 to 200,000 liters per hour (13,200 to 52,800 US gallons).
A noria in Los Angeles, California raised raised 230,000 gallons a day 36 feet from the Zanja Madre with a wheel with paddles 6-feet wide and 15-gallon buckets to lift the water. The water flowed through wooden flumes to a reservoir located at the Los Angeles Plaza in the 1860s.
Paddle-driven water-lifting wheels had appeared in ancient Egypt by the 4th century BCE. In De Rerum Natura Lucretius (mid90s to 53 BCE) mentions “Wheels on rivers are constructed upon the same principles as those just described. Round their circumference are fixed paddles, which, when acted upon by the force of the current, drive the wheel round, receive the water in the buckets, and carry it to the top …thus by the mere impulse of the stream supplying what is required” and compares their rotation with the perpetual motion of the celestial spheres. They were also described by the Roman author Vitruvius (mid70s to 15 BCE). Norias may have been invented in India 400 or 500 BCE and came to the West about 100 BCE. Around 300 CE, the Romans began using ceramic pots tied to the outside of the open-framed wheel.
They were widely used in the eastern Mediterranean by the 5th century and the Iberian peninsula by the 11th. al-Muqaddasi described numerous norias along the Ahvaz River in Iran around the year 1000. Later, the noria became a mainstay of irrigation throughout al-Andalus. In 1154, the geographer al-Idrisi marveled over an Andalusian noria that lifted water from the Tagus River to Talavera de la Reina near Toledo. Norias made it to the Spanish colonies and Portugal as well.
In 1900 J. G. Scott noted norias in the Shan States (now Myanmar). Smaller norias have been used in India and Europe, Iran, Turkestan, Vietnam, Japan, Myanmar, Morocco, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and India. The robust norias of the Mideast and Europe are much more powerful than lightly built norias used in Asia. Where rivers run in deep channels the norias may have to be 40 or 50 feet high. North American norias were once used in California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
The last great assembly of norias is in Hama, Syria on the Orontes River. Ahed Sabelarab, the Director of Norias Council in Hama Province notes, “Historically, there were 116 norias in Hama.” And once there were many more all along the Orontes. Most norias were owned by wealthy landowners, but their costs, maintenance and water were shared on an orderly collective basis by each noria’s water users. A typical noria might irrigate 75 hectares. The building of the Rastan dam upstream from Hama in 1960 reduced water levels in the Orontes so that most of the norias could no longer operate.
Several of the surviving norias were 17 meters (56 feet) or larger. In 2006 the Noria al-Muhammadiya was accorded Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark designation by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers marking a major step toward international recognition. An inscription on the eastern face of the column specifies that this noria was built by Aydamar Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Sayhi al-Turki in the year 763 of the Hijri Calendar (1361 CE).
Many of these norias were in use for hundreds of years. Like all functioning historic wooden mills the water wheels in Hama have been repaired and rebuilt over the centuries. The shafts and bearings were typically made of hard walnut tree wood. When carefully managed a noria would have undergone complete replacement of its wooden parts every 15 years. Maintenance was carried out by families of skilled noria carpenters who passed this role down over the generations. Recent repairs have proven difficult for lack of money for materials and a serious shortage of suitably skilled traditional noria craftsmen, owing to their death or emigration during the conflicts. In 1995 an effort had been underway to offer courses in noria repair but this apparently ended.
Most of the norias survived the civil war but many were damaged and supporting ditches and aqueducts were ruined in fighting over the last 40 years. Most are now just heritage attractions, turning but not supplying water. Boys often rode the wheels to dive off the top. The norias of Hama are often cited as major works of art and treasured remains of an ancient civilization.
Norias are a remarkable solution to a difficult problem. Their widespread use on the Orontes River highlights how effective they were. The initial cost was high, but once built the operating costs were low. No fossil fuels were required. The use of smaller norias deserves much greater attention. There are many opportunities to use them, perhaps enough to support a small manufacturing company. The larger norias of the past deserve greater recognition and should be restored to function with rebuilt aqueducts.
As Mohammed Sultan, a Syrian specialist in noria repair says, “It’s a nice feeling to restart the damaged water wheels. This is our country’s legacy, so I feel accomplished when bringing them back to life.”
Further reading
Al Dbiyat, M. 2009. Les norias de Hama sur l’Oronte, un système traditionnel original de l’utilisation de l’eau fluviale. pp. 196-197 in Gestion durable et équitable de l’eau douce en Méditerranée, mémoire et traditions, avenir et solutions, Conference proceedings from Cinquièmes Rencontres Internationales Monaco et la Méditerranée Monaco, 26–28 March.
Baroja C. J., 1955. Sobre la historia de la noria de tiro. Revista de dialectologia y tradiciones populares. XI:15-79.
Boissiere, T. 2005. Le jardinier et le citadin : Ethnologie d’un espace agricole urbain dans la vallée de l’Oronte en Syrie. Nouvelle édition [en ligne]. Damas : Presses de l’Ifpo.
Burns, R. 1999. Monuments of Syria: An Historical Guide. IB Taurus, St. Martin’s Press. pp.126–129.
de Miranda, A. 2004. Aesthetic tradition and ancient technology: a case study of the water-wheel.Design and Nature II. M. W. Collins and C. A. Brebbia (eds) WIT Press.
Delpech, A., Girard, F., Robine, G., and Roumi, M. 1997. Les Noria De L’Oronte. Institut Francais De Damas, Damas. (Translated from French by Michael B. Michaud of ASME). 241 pages.
Derry, T. K. and Williams, T. I. 1993. A Short History of Technology from the Earliest Times to 1900. Dover.
Doolittle, W. E. 1999. Against the current and against the odds: Noria technology in Mexico. International Molinology. 59:8-13.
English, R. 2020. On Syria river, craftsmen revive famed water wheels. The Arab Weekly. 8/7/2020 https://thearabweekly.com/syria-river-craftsmen-revive-famed-water-wheels
Ewbanks, T. 1849. Descriptive and Historical Account of Hydraulic and other Machines for Raising Water, Ancient and Modern: With Observations on Various Subjects Connected with the Mechanic Arts: Including the Progressive Development of the Steam Engine. Greeley & McElrath.
Geyer, B. (ed.) 1990. Techniques et pratiques hydro-agricoles traditionnelles en domaine irrigué, acte du colloque de Damas. IFAPO, Paris, 2 vols.
Girard, F., Roumi, M. and Robine, G. 1990. Les norias hydrauliques du Moyen-Oronte. Patrimoine syrien. Étude d’une technologie en voie de disparition,Techniques et pratiques hydro-agricoles traditionnelles en domaineirrigué. pp. 367-382 In B. Geyer (éd.), Techniques et pratiques hydro- agricoles traditionnelles en domaine irrigué, acte du colloque de Damas, IFAPO, Paris.
Hafian, W. 2025. Norias of Hama in Discover Islamic Art. Museum With No Frontiers. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monuments;ISL;sy;Mon01;32;en.
Laufer, B. 1934. The noria or Persian wheel. Oriental Studies in Honour of Dasturji Saheb Cursetji Erachji Pavry. January. Oxford University Press.
Lucretius about 54 BCE. De Rerum Natura. Book 5 Line 509
Moser, H. 1894. L’Irrigation en Asie Central. Société d’éditions Scientifiques. p. 266.
National Museum of Denmark, nd. The Water Wheels of Hama. Historical Knowledge,. https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/historical-knowledge-the-world/the-lands-of-the-mediterranean/the-far-east/digital-hama-a-window-on-syrias-past/the-danish-expedition/
Oleson, J. P. 1984. Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology. University of Toronto Press.
Olszewski, M. T. as source. 2021. Discovery of oldest representation of a water wheel on a Roman mosaic from Apamea, Syria. News 13/1/2021. University of Warsaw.
Samman, M. 2006. Noria al-Muhammadiya: Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. American Society of Mechanical Engineers. pp. 5, 7
Schioler, T. 1973. Roman and Islamic Water–Lifting Wheels. Odense University Press.
Tharaud, J. et J. 1923. Le chemin de Damas. éd. Librairie Plon, Paris, 291 p.
Vitruvius 20-30 BCE. Book X. Chapter 5 page 1.
Weulersse, J. 1940. L’Oronte, étude d’un fleuve, éd. Arrault, Tours, 88 p.
Zaqzouq, A.–R. 1990. Les Norias: ancien moyen d’irrigation dans la région de Hama. pp. 337-366 in B. Geyer (éd.). Techniques et pratiques hydro–agricoles traditionnelles en domaine irrigué, acte du colloque de Damas, IFAPO, Paris.
