A magisterial new handbook replaces the discussion of water technology in antiquity in R.J. Forbes Studies in Ancient Technology and the first two volumes of A History of Technology, edited by Charles Singer et al. It surveys water use and water technology in an area from Mesopotamia to the Atlantic Ocean, from the beginning of the Neolithic period up to ca. A.D. 600, based on the archaeological and written evidence. 11 authors from very different backgrounds and with varying scholarly perspectives discuss the socio-economic background, irrigation and drainage, water supply,...