As an Iranian, this is the first time I hear about these windmills! Unfortunately, the only source of info about them is this National Geography video.
That wiki page suggests that the sails are articulated? In the video these are very much fixed sails - looks like battens of woods lashed or nailed together so I don't think the sails themselves can turn.
I do wonder which way the prevailing wind is for those windmills though as they are surrounded by walls. The knee jerk reaction is that the wind comes "face on" but then surely there would not be a turning force if the wind blows on both sides of the axis equally (especially since the sails look to be fixed)
I did notice there was a small vertical slit on the back wall, which makes me wonder if the wind blows "sideways" and generates lower pressure by blowing over the slit, causing the sails to move.
Just watching the video shows how they work just the same as a water wheel does, except "on their side". The wall(s) erected around them are shielding one half of the windmill, thus there is wind flowing onto one side of the windmill only.
The distance these cover and the depth they tunnel into mountains is part of what makes them incredible, in case the description of underground aquaducts doesn't sound cool enough.
True! :) I first learnt of them years back on TV - think it was a Channel 4 (UK broadcast channel) documentary, in which they sent a British academic into somewhat hazardous situations. He walked underground along one of these tunnels. Haven't been able to find the documentary since, unfortunately.
Other ancient cities in Jordan had tunnels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadara_Aqueduct). These tunnels, which are thought to be originally from Iran but adopted by many cultures including the Romans, exist all over the world including in Luxembourg.
Fascinating how these windmills come across as a symbiosis between man and nature.
They’re an integral part of the landscape, part of the culture (or used to be), and harness the local environment to produce something. Same goes for rice terraces, vineyards, etc.
And yet I see many people complain about us sticking wind turbines on top of hills.
One can only imagine how the Iranian wind wills were received a thousand years ago.
I suspect it will take a generation or two for these turbines to turn them in to an integral part of our life as well. Or utter necessity.
I know that in Europe Millers were treated and depicted literally satanic for their use of cleverness to gather work passively and riches without conquest or subjugation. Their greatest sin was not fitting in with the expectations of the social order.
People whinge about new things. You don't see anyone complaining that the pyramids are an eyesore or the Arc de Triomphe is a waste of taxpayers' money.
What stability? Persia (current Iran) has been under constant attack from its neighbors for thousands of years, most notably Alexander's conquest, the Arab invasion, and the Mongols.
There's likely an interesting Ship of Theseus debate to be had about whether these are indeed thousand-year-old windmills, and whether it's accurate to consider the windmills build a thousand years ago to be "still standing".
'In one of the most iconic scenes in British television comedy, Trigger, the butt of so many ‘Only Fools and Horses’ jokes, proudly reveals that he has used the same road sweeping brush for his entire career. “This old broom”, he says “ has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles”. We, the audience, are laughing at his apparent stupidity long before Sid points out “how the hell is it the same bloody broom then?”'
"Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents."
Yes it is as he's explaining what's generally accepted here (not downvoted). Maybe you do not usually read the comments but it's often discussed. And your personal case does not make it less valid.
There is no exclusive page for them on wikipedia, but I could find how they work generally here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panemone_windmill