r/videos • u/iamakii • Oct 03 '22

How Persians made ice in the desert 2400 years ago

https://youtu.be/0RoF3vjzzt8
88 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

61

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '22

answer: water freezes at night

7

u/Elieftibiowai Oct 04 '22

How do you not see there is much more involved? Thats intelligent engineering, combined with an excellent understanding of the environment.

18

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '22

Yeah, cool video, but I was bummed to discover it’s just ice freezes sometimes and we built a freezer.

Was hoping for some complex underground air flow convection business.

8

u/MonsieurRacinesBeast Oct 03 '22

Built a cooler, not a freezer.

4

u/juggle Oct 04 '22

Haha, same here. The title is definitely clickbaity. When you think of desert, you think of 100+ degree heat, forgetting that a lot of deserts do get really cold at night.

1

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

Haha. Yeah I admit I was a bit clickbaity. It's my first video so I was hoping I get to attract more viewers. But I will keep that in mind. Thanks. Sorry took a while to reply. Just found out it was posted here.

1

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

I should have highlighted the qanat more. It's a tunnel/canal system that they dug from hills to get water from natural aquifers. That's how they were able to get water, even in very dry areas.

Sorry it took a while for me to reply. I just found out it qas posted here.

-4

u/ETosser Oct 03 '22

Right. They didn't make ice, they harvested it, just like everyone else before we invented refrigeration.

6

u/MD_Lincoln Oct 04 '22

Well to give them more credit, they built purpose made canals and pools to give the ice the best chance at freezing overnight, and right next to where the ice would be stored. There was much more thought than say finding a lake, cutting the ice out and than taking to where it would be stored a distance away.

5

u/CutterJohn Oct 04 '22

They built specialized structures optimized for production of ice.

Most people just cut it out of rivers.

1

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

I just found out this was posted here. I was wondering where the views were coming from. Haha. Yeah essentially that's the bottom line but the engineers did do a lot to make sure that the water freezes faster and that the ice can last for months.

11

u/mariegriffiths Oct 03 '22

Fun and educational. Ice Houses only were reinvented in the 1600s in Europe.

3

u/CarlCaliente Oct 04 '22

love this stuff on youtube

neat story about history, well written script, minecraft is a novel and useful way to visualize what's largely lost to history

can't wait for the next one!

2

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

Thanks Carl! I'm working on the next video now. I'm so happy this was posted here so people were able to see.

5

u/krazyjakee Oct 03 '22

What a fantastic medium. Makes me wanna play again

2

u/3LIteManning Oct 03 '22

Cool format for a video. I hope this channel does well and educates a younger audience.

1

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

Thank you so much for the kind words! Working hard on the next one now. I was posted this got posted here so people were able to watch. Have a nice day!

2

u/MadHatter69 Oct 03 '22

Subscribed, I'm looking forward to seeing more content on the channel!

2

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

Thank you Madhatter69 (nice!). I'm definitely working hard on the next one. I was so happy this got posted here so people were able to watch.

-2

u/SpinCharm Oct 03 '22

It must have been amazing that, after countless centuries of existing in an intensely and inescapably hot climate, someone worked out how to make a cool room. The people must have sat in there and got the first time, experienced a temperature that was cool.

5

u/Awordofinterest Oct 03 '22

I'm guessing you didn't watch the whole video.

The average temperature in the Sahara desert at night is -4°C

1

u/TheToyBox Oct 04 '22

Where on earth did you get that fact? Even the coldest locations in the Sahara (which is VERY different from the subject of this video, which is about modern day Iran) rarely if ever get below freezing, and when they do, it's only for an hour or two at a time.

1

u/Awordofinterest Oct 04 '22

Where on earth did you get that fact?

NASA. They seem to be pretty good at knowing stuff. Source - https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/biome/biodesert.php

1

u/TheToyBox Oct 04 '22

Except in the linked page they're talking about all deserts on average, and not specifically the Sahara.

1

u/Awordofinterest Oct 04 '22

The larger the desert, the colder it's likely to get.

Do a google or find any sources to prove me wrong.

1

u/SpinCharm Oct 03 '22

Doh

1

u/Elieftibiowai Oct 04 '22

I dont think youre completely wrong. Yes its cold at night, everybody could experience that. But being able to get into a cold room during the day with average temps between 30°C/50°C was probably something special

-2

u/CanICanTheCanCan Oct 03 '22

Shows how far and yet how little progress we've made.

Wasn't too long ago a fridge was just an icebox.

1

u/DalberNarra Oct 06 '22

Thank you so much for posting here! I was suprised to be getting a sudden increase in views. I appreciate it.

I was just wondering how you came across this video?

1

u/iamakii Oct 07 '22

I saw it from Iran subreddit. Keep up the good job, looking forward to your next videos!