As global temperatures rise, cities are struggling to stay cool during heatwaves. Modern buildings often rely on electricity and air conditioning to keep residents comfortable, but what can we learn from ancient civilizations that thrived in hot and dry climates? For millennia, builders knew how to shelter humans from the sun’s intense rays.
The Sumerians, who lived around 6,000 years ago in southern Iraq, built thick-walled structures with small windows to minimize heat exposure. They also constructed buildings close together, reducing the number of walls exposed to the sun. Narrow streets provided shade and allowed pedestrians to move comfortably through the city.
In ancient Egypt, palaces were made of stone, with courtyards that provided natural ventilation. Residential buildings were constructed from mud brick, and people adopted nomadic behaviors within their homes to escape the heat. The Egyptians developed a unique technology called the mulqaf, which used tall wall openings to capture wind and funnel it downward to cool buildings.
The Puebloans in what is now the U.S. Southwest built small-walled structures with shared walls to minimize heat gain. They also understood the importance of solar orientation, building entire communities under the overhang of south-facing cliffs to stay cooler during the summer and warmer during the winter.
In arid lands, Muslim caliphates designed buildings with rainwater harvesting techniques to capture every drop of water. The slope of the roof and courtyard floor directed runoff towards cisterns for irrigation.
At the city scale, ancient Mayans and Teotihuacans collected and stored stormwater in large cisterns for future use. Plants were used to clean the water, making it suitable for irrigation during dry seasons.
Modern architects are already using these ancient lessons to improve designs. For example, buildings can be oriented to maximize southern exposure, reducing solar radiation in summer while allowing solar heating in winter. Rainwater harvesting and green infrastructure are recognized as effective strategies to increase urban resilience.
As we face a hotter future, it’s time to revive these ancient secrets for living better in hot and dry climates. By incorporating lessons from Sumerian, Egyptian, Puebloan, Muslim, and Mayan cultures, we can create more sustainable, resilient cities that rely less on constant air conditioning.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-civilizations-knew-how-to-keep-cool-in-deadly-heat-we-need-to-resurrect-that-lost-knowledge-now