A recently uncovered 2,700-year-old irrigation system near Armavir in Armenia is giving researchers new insight into how ancient rulers transformed dry land into fields, gardens, and vineyards. According to a new study by Nazarij Bu?awka, Krzysztof Jakubiak, and Inessa Karapetyan, published in the journal “Antiquity” by Cambridge University Press, water management helped shape one of the region's most important ancient cities. Armavir sits on the edge of the Araks Valley. In ancient times the site stretched for about 3.5 kilometers, making it one of the largest archaeological complexes in Armenia. Though founded in a fertile region, the land required irrigation to become arable, a practice introduced under Urartian rulers between...