Since the Iran War has become a Sitzkrieg, I am returning to writing about what I love: Iranian history and culture. What were Iranians doing in the “Stone Age”? Inventing fun stuff. The yakhchal (“ice pit”) is from ca. 500 BC. It is a pre-modern fridge.
Preamble
The mental midget in the White House unleashed a stream of derisive laughter and commentary from Iranian media and social media when he threatened to bomb Iran into the “Stone Age.” Iranians pointed out that Iranian civilization was highly advanced, from the Stone Age (6,000 BC—4,500 BC) to the Iron Age (1,200 BC—550 BC). The best that Europeans can offer in comparison are later Greek and Roman civilizations. See “Vaporizing 47 Years of Anti-Iran Propaganda.”
Science
The science underlying the yakhchal is beyond my expertise, but fortunately, this work has been done by experts (see links in bibliography below). In a nutshell, ice-making is a three-stage process. The pit deep below the conical adobe structure stores the ice (see Fig. 1 and Fig 4).
Stage 1: Deserts may be scorching at daytime, but are surprisingly cool at night. Water, usually from a subterranean channel (Persian: kariz; later popularized by the Arabic “qanat”), is run into a large, shallow, and shaded pool. At night, the heat escapes into the air. The water chills and forms a thin layer of ice. This is harvested and stored in the ice pit (see Fig. 3).
Stage 2: The ice pit was linked to a kariz and two or more badgirs (“wind-catchers”). See Fig. 1. Flowing waters from the kariz are cooled by airflows from the badgir. Evaporation inside the ice pit absorbed heat and kept the interior cold.
Stage 3: Harvested ice stayed in the deep ice pit (see Fig. 4). The conical structure’s walls were not just thick, they were coated by a waterproof plaster mixed with, inter alia, egg whites and goat hair.
Yakhchal Products
The end product was not just ice shavings to cool water on a scorching summer day, but certain treats that we enjoy, which are derived from Iranian creations emerging from the invention of the yakhchal. Sharbat, a cold drink, became the Italian sorbetto, French sorbet, and English sherbert; and faludeh—one variant, faluda, is popular in South Asia (Caution: tap water in South Asian faluda is often deadly!).
After the bibliography is a YT video and four of the photographs that I took during a visit to the Maybod yakhchal in 2010.
Bibliography
“Iranian Yakhchal,” by Hareth Pochee. Scientific explanations.
“Yakhchal, Ice-making Architecture of Persia,” by Dennis Holloway, an architect. Excellent graphic designs of the components of a yakhchal.
“Yakhchaal.” Stony Brook University. Images of exterior and interior.
“Yakhchal: Ancient Refrigerators.” Science, images, and sketches.
“Yaḵčāl,” Hemming Jørgensen, Encyclopaedia Iranica.
Visuals
