Water Wheels in Homs

 Few people know that the city of Homs, in addition to its archeological sites and ancient monuments, had two of the most beautiful water wheels that Syria had known in the past centuries.

One of these waterwheels is wooden and the other is made of iron. The first water wheel has completely disappeared, while the second is still working, but in the town of Jisr al-Shughur, which is more than a hundred kilometers away from the city of Homs, after it was moved from its original place where it was erected in the market that is still called Al-Na’oura until now.

This iron waterwheel was designed by Omar al-Dalati, who mastered various mechanical manual crafts, including metal casting.

About this waterwheel and its design, Hajj Zakaria al-Dalati, the eldest son of the late Omar al-Dalati, said, “My father was born in Homs in 1889 and he was engaged in various construction and civil works.

When the mother of Sultan Abdul Hamid II visited the city of Homs and stayed at the Abdel Hamid Pasha Al-Droubi Palace, she decided to leave a remembrance in the city of Khalid bin Al-Waleed, so she ordered that  a water standpipe, (fountain) be constructed. After the construction of this fountain, it became clear that the water provided to this water standpipe by the old wooden water wheel was no longer sufficient because of the damage it had suffered. Therefore, it was decided to construct a modern iron waterwheel.”

Dalati went on to say, “Homs mayor at that time, Atef Al-Atassi Basha, summoned my grandfather, Hajj Hussein Al-Dalati, to take his opinion on this matter, as he is an expert in this field offering him the idea of constructing an iron water wheel instead of the worn-out wooden waterwheel, which was near the Malawian tekkeyah. Thus  Haj Hussein asked his eldest grandson, Omar bin Muhammad Ali Al-Dalati, who, as his grandfather, had mastered mechanical and technical works to construct this waterwheel.”

“My father carried out the civil works and laid the solid foundations for the construction of the waterwheel. In early 1922, he started to design the waterwheel at the expense of the Homs municipality. The parts of the waterwheel and even the inner supports were made of pure iron, the axis was made of pure steel, and the water-lifting cans were made of iron,” Hajj Zakaria al-Dalati added.

“The water wheel was the pride of industry in that era in Homs and the neighboring cities for its raw material and the ingenuity of its design. It continued to work on the energy of the water coming from the “Al-Dablan” channel, which is branched from the irrigation canal, until it was demolished by a group of abusers. It was moved to the northwest of Homs and then it transferred to Jisr Al-Shughur, where it is still in operation,” al-Dalati concluded.

Amal Farhat