Persian Yakhchals Ancient Desert Refrigerators, Sustainable Technolog ژیان گه زاگروس

Persian Yakhchals Ancient Desert Refrigerators, Sustainable Technolog

An important merit of indigenous knowledge and innovations was that environmentally they were not harmful, as it is in the case of modern capitalist science. This was simply because these innovations were not made merely for making profit. They were made mostly to solve problems and make life pleasant for natives. Beside “Kāriz” and “Bādgir”, the invention of a type of refrigerator or “Yakhchāl” was based on using no polluting energy.

The construction of “Yakhchāl” as described in the clip here, was normally for dry and hot climate. There exist variety of climatic conditions in West Asia. This is why that the ancient great ruling dynasties of the Orient were used to move between their summer and winter capitals. Several of them had built their winter capitals on Mesopotamian lowland and their summer capital on Zagros highland.

Persian Yakhchals Ancient Desert Refrigerators, Sustainable Technolog

Normally Zagros regions had very cold snowy winters. Most of the high mountain peaks were all the time covered with snow. Until a very recent time in summer time, someone had counted 26 layers of ancient ice on one of glaciers “Parāu” mountain. In warm summers of Zagros, there were some people who went up and carried big pieces of snow ice on mule and brought to sell in the towns like Harsin. This snow used to be rapped with a bushy mountain plant called “Kama” during the time of transport and sell. The snow was absorbing the taste and the very nice aroma of the plant.

The bulk of snow used to be kept in the same “Kama” plant and cut with a saw and sold to people. They put the snow in pots of water and drank. Different ingredients might have been mixed with that water like for example grape syrup or chia. In some cities like Kermanshah very big holes used to be filled with winter snow and covered with earth. The same snow used to be sold to people in summer.