The millennium-old hydrogeology textbook <i>The Extraction of Hidden Waters</i> by the Persian mathematician and engineer Abubakr Mohammad Karaji (953&thinsp;CE–1029&thinsp;CE)

Ataie-Ashtiani, Behzad; Simmons, Craig T.

doi:10.5194/hess-24-761-2020

Articles | Volume 24, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-761-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

History of hydrology (HESS/HGSS inter-journal SI)

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-761-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 24, issue 2

Education and communication

| Highlight paper

|

19 Feb 2020

Education and communication | Highlight paper |

| 19 Feb 2020

The millennium-old hydrogeology textbook The Extraction of Hidden Waters by the Persian mathematician and engineer Abubakr Mohammad Karaji (953 CE–1029 CE)

Behzad Ataie-Ashtiani and Craig T. Simmons

Viewed

Total article views: 9,377 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)

HTML	PDF	XML	Total	BibTeX	EndNote
5,623	3,607	147	9,377	145	177

HTML: 5,623
PDF: 3,607
XML: 147
Total: 9,377
BibTeX: 145
EndNote: 177

Views and downloads (calculated since 15 Aug 2019)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Aug 2019	194	76	5	275
Sep 2019	59	27	2	88
Oct 2019	89	20	1	110
Nov 2019	129	31	1	161
Dec 2019	25	23	0	48
Jan 2020	29	29	0	58
Feb 2020	369	192	6	567
Mar 2020	385	48	4	437
Apr 2020	157	35	0	192
May 2020	162	32	0	194
Jun 2020	102	25	1	128
Jul 2020	97	27	5	129
Aug 2020	117	37	1	155
Sep 2020	105	64	0	169
Oct 2020	62	34	1	97
Nov 2020	61	21	0	82
Dec 2020	105	20	0	125
Jan 2021	101	26	2	129
Feb 2021	90	38	0	128
Mar 2021	81	25	0	106
Apr 2021	81	29	3	113
May 2021	96	52	1	149
Jun 2021	83	44	0	127
Jul 2021	85	40	0	125
Aug 2021	59	47	1	107
Sep 2021	67	75	0	142
Oct 2021	50	58	1	109
Nov 2021	53	54	0	107
Dec 2021	58	39	1	98
Jan 2022	51	42	1	94
Feb 2022	39	58	1	98
Mar 2022	50	89	1	140
Apr 2022	41	59	0	100
May 2022	60	67	1	128
Jun 2022	48	64	2	114
Jul 2022	55	96	1	152
Aug 2022	103	63	1	167
Sep 2022	49	51	1	101
Oct 2022	50	54	2	106
Nov 2022	54	45	0	99
Dec 2022	60	72	2	134
Jan 2023	49	90	1	140
Feb 2023	56	25	1	82
Mar 2023	63	49	0	112
Apr 2023	49	39	3	91
May 2023	46	36	0	82
Jun 2023	49	34	1	84
Jul 2023	48	40	3	91
Aug 2023	60	46	1	107
Sep 2023	51	49	0	100
Oct 2023	63	57	4	124
Nov 2023	31	21	0	52
Dec 2023	29	40	2	71
Jan 2024	21	42	3	66
Feb 2024	29	46	1	76
Mar 2024	41	62	3	106
Apr 2024	33	35	6	74
May 2024	21	46	3	70
Jun 2024	43	40	2	85
Jul 2024	31	35	2	68
Aug 2024	47	37	1	85
Sep 2024	36	54	0	90
Oct 2024	29	42	1	72
Nov 2024	15	12	2	29
Dec 2024	14	34	3	51
Jan 2025	11	24	0	35
Feb 2025	27	15	0	42
Mar 2025	36	11	2	49
Apr 2025	22	18	2	42
May 2025	33	13	0	46
Jun 2025	90	26	0	116
Jul 2025	47	34	2	83
Aug 2025	33	22	4	59
Sep 2025	31	29	4	64
Oct 2025	37	43	2	82
Nov 2025	97	39	3	139
Dec 2025	87	55	5	147
Jan 2026	82	51	16	149
Feb 2026	35	44	5	84
Mar 2026	44	56	3	103
Apr 2026	79	47	5	131
May 2026	67	41	2	110

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 15 Aug 2019)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Aug 2019	194	76	5	275
Sep 2019	59	27	2	88
Oct 2019	89	20	1	110
Nov 2019	129	31	1	161
Dec 2019	25	23	0	48
Jan 2020	29	29	0	58
Feb 2020	369	192	6	567
Mar 2020	385	48	4	437
Apr 2020	157	35	0	192
May 2020	162	32	0	194
Jun 2020	102	25	1	128
Jul 2020	97	27	5	129
Aug 2020	117	37	1	155
Sep 2020	105	64	0	169
Oct 2020	62	34	1	97
Nov 2020	61	21	0	82
Dec 2020	105	20	0	125
Jan 2021	101	26	2	129
Feb 2021	90	38	0	128
Mar 2021	81	25	0	106
Apr 2021	81	29	3	113
May 2021	96	52	1	149
Jun 2021	83	44	0	127
Jul 2021	85	40	0	125
Aug 2021	59	47	1	107
Sep 2021	67	75	0	142
Oct 2021	50	58	1	109
Nov 2021	53	54	0	107
Dec 2021	58	39	1	98
Jan 2022	51	42	1	94
Feb 2022	39	58	1	98
Mar 2022	50	89	1	140
Apr 2022	41	59	0	100
May 2022	60	67	1	128
Jun 2022	48	64	2	114
Jul 2022	55	96	1	152
Aug 2022	103	63	1	167
Sep 2022	49	51	1	101
Oct 2022	50	54	2	106
Nov 2022	54	45	0	99
Dec 2022	60	72	2	134
Jan 2023	49	90	1	140
Feb 2023	56	25	1	82
Mar 2023	63	49	0	112
Apr 2023	49	39	3	91
May 2023	46	36	0	82
Jun 2023	49	34	1	84
Jul 2023	48	40	3	91
Aug 2023	60	46	1	107
Sep 2023	51	49	0	100
Oct 2023	63	57	4	124
Nov 2023	31	21	0	52
Dec 2023	29	40	2	71
Jan 2024	21	42	3	66
Feb 2024	29	46	1	76
Mar 2024	41	62	3	106
Apr 2024	33	35	6	74
May 2024	21	46	3	70
Jun 2024	43	40	2	85
Jul 2024	31	35	2	68
Aug 2024	47	37	1	85
Sep 2024	36	54	0	90
Oct 2024	29	42	1	72
Nov 2024	15	12	2	29
Dec 2024	14	34	3	51
Jan 2025	11	24	0	35
Feb 2025	27	15	0	42
Mar 2025	36	11	2	49
Apr 2025	22	18	2	42
May 2025	33	13	0	46
Jun 2025	90	26	0	116
Jul 2025	47	34	2	83
Aug 2025	33	22	4	59
Sep 2025	31	29	4	64
Oct 2025	37	43	2	82
Nov 2025	97	39	3	139
Dec 2025	87	55	5	147
Jan 2026	82	51	16	149
Feb 2026	35	44	5	84
Mar 2026	44	56	3	103
Apr 2026	79	47	5	131
May 2026	67	41	2	110

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 9,377 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 8,424 with geography defined and 953 with unknown origin.

Country	#	Views	%

1

1

Cited

Saved (final revised paper)

Latest update: 01 Jun 2026

Short summary

We revisit and shed light on the textbook The Extraction of Hidden Waters by the Persian mathematician and engineer Abubakr Mohammad Karaji. Ground-breaking ideas and descriptions of hydrological and hydrogeological perceptions such as components of the hydrological cycle, groundwater quality and driving factors for groundwater flow were presented in the book. We speculate that Karaji's book is the first of its kind to provide a construction and maintenance manual for an engineering project.