Al-Aflāj

Al-Aflaj is an oasis district in southern Najd, named for the channels that carried water to its cultivated land. Here natural pools with water close to the surface supplied palm gardens at al-Sayh and other settlements. The landscape receives the runoff of wadis descending from the Tuwayq heights, while the pools provided a more dependable source for irrigation.

The inhabitants cut channels from the pools to lower ground, maintaining shafts along their course for clearing and repair. Water was divided according to carefully measured shares of time; owners could use their portion or sell and lease surplus water to other cultivators. Early Arab geographers described the settlements of al-Sayh among the lands of the Banu Jadah. The surviving channels show the labour required to bring water to fields across this dry plain.