Menua Canal

Despite the fact that this canal stands out for its technicality and the importance of the works undertaken to complete it, it was part of a larger policy of hydraulic constructions carried out by the Urartian rulers aimed at ensuring adequate water supply in the region.

[4] The reasons for erecting such a significant structure are still not well known, but political motives aimed at gaining the approval of his subjects by portraying himself as a benevolent and magnanimous king cannot be ruled out.

[6] This canal was part of a broader set of pipelines and structures aimed at improving irrigation in the Armenian highlands during the Kingdom of Urartu's time.

[2][8] In certain areas, it included retaining walls that were approximately eleven metres (36 ft) high; they were used to facilitate terrace farming and irrigation.

[13] Moses writes:[14]"She said, 'We must, in a country with such temperate climate and pure water, establish a city, a royal residence to dwell in Armenia, amidst all delights, one-fourth of the year; the other three colder seasons, we will spend in Nineveh.'

[...] Semiramis first had the river embankment constructed, using blocks of rocks bound together with lime and fine sand, a colossal work in terms of its extent and height, which, it is said, still exists to this day.

"Banister Fletcher wrote about it in his History of Architecture: The Shamiram Su (Semiramis Canal) is the most famous of the canals and cisterns which formed a major part of the works of the successive Urartian kings, and was constructed by Menua to bring water from the valley of the Hosap river south-east of Van to the fields and gardens round the capital.

[15] The inscriptions found along the canal have been significant in the understanding of the Urartian language, while also providing researchers with information about the actual sponsor of the construction.

[2] This restoration undertaken by Turkey, however, replaced its central part, including one aqueduct, with a modern concrete construction, as the old structure was too expensive to maintain.