Western Asia

Nebuchadnezzar builds immense walls around Babylon, using the Euphrates and canals as defensive moats surrounding the inner castle.

After a successful campaign against the Halidians of Armenia, Sargon II of Assyria destroys their intricate irrigation network and floods their land.

In quelling rebellious Assyrians in 695 B.C., Sennacherib razes Babylon and diverts one of the principal irrigation canals so that its waters wash over the ruins.

Pipelines are destroyed in Yemen by locals protesting the extraction of water in Abyan for piping to Aden.

Ancient Sumerian legend recounts the deeds of the deity Ea, who punished humanity for its sins by inflicting the Earth with a six-day storm. The Sumerian myth parallels the Biblical account of Noah and the deluge, although some details differ.

The dispute over the Gu’edena (edge of paradise) region begins. Urlama, King of Lagash from 2450 to 2400 BC, diverts water from this region to boundary canals, drying up boundary ditches to deprive Umma of water. His son Il cuts off the water supply to Girsu, a city in Umma.

A grandson of Hammurabi, Abish or Abi-Eshuh, dams the Tigris to prevent the retreat of rebels led by Iluma-Ilum, who declares the independence of Babylon. This failed attempt marks the decline of the Sumerians who had reached their apex under Hammurabi.

During construction of the Ataturk Dam, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) destroys construction equipment and nearly 1,100 vehicles, severely delaying the project.

Turkish police discover Syrian-backed terrorists designing a plan to blow up the Atatürk Dam.

Iran claims to have bombed a hydroelectric facility in Kurdistan, thereby blacking out large portions of Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq War.