Water Resources of the City of Constantine in Medieval Historical Sources and Modern Stratigraphic and Geological Studies

Abstract

The subject of this article, entitled “Mention of the Water Resources of the City of Constantine in Medieval Historical Sources and Modern Geological Stratigraphic Studies,” is a historical approach proceeding from the inseparable bond between humankind and water – the “blue gold,” as it is termed in our age – the perennial dilemma humanity has faced since antiquity; strategic necessity has always required the search for water resources, the hydrographic wealth, in order to achieve what is called “water security.”

Through this research paper we aim to bring out the scholarly value of historical sources and of the geographical literature of the Middle Ages, as well as of modern stratigraphic studies, in that they have revealed to us the sources of Constantine’s water resources in the medieval period and their intersection with modern geological stratigraphic studies.

Among the findings of this study is that it has allowed us to gain insight into the sources feeding Constantine’s water network despite the difficulty of the city’s rocky geological terrain, and the effect of this on the continuity of its urban and civilizational character as an ancient city that has known development and prosperity across the ages down to the present day.