From the 9th to the 16th centuries, the Muslim empire flourished, spreading across vast tracts of the then-known world. In an endless ebb and flow of territorial control, great cities such as Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus developed, and regional centres sprang up along trading routes. The citizens of this ever-growing empire needed to be clothed, fed and provided with water.

The canals, water wheels and wells that Muslim scientists developed to answer these needs marked an important chapter in the history of engineering. Not only was this water-raising technology of great benefit to the people of the time; it also laid the foundation for the machinery on which irrigation depends today.