How People Created Ice in the Desert 2,000 Years Ago
By Ross Pomeroy
July 09, 2018
Today, creating ice is as easy as placing water in your freezer, but how would you accomplish the same phase-altering feat without an energy-guzzling appliance?
What may seem unfathomable at first thought was regularly accomplished more than 2,000 years ago, and in the desert of all places!
In the early evening hours, Persians and other ancient peoples of the Middle East would pour water in long, shallow stone pools no more than a foot or two deep. They would return to the pools just before first light the following morning to find the water frozen over. They'd then collect the ice and store it inside a yakhchÄl, or "ice pit" (pictured above). Within these hollow, insulated domes were deep, subterranean holes where ice could be stored for months.
https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2018/07/09/how_people_created_ice_in_the_desert_2000_years_ago.html
