Ingrid Hehmeyer
Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer, Professor in the History of Science and Technology, is an agricultural engineer who specializes in human-environmental relationships in the arid regions of ancient and medieval Arabia. Her current research focuses on the history of water technology in medieval Yemen, where she investigates technical innovations in hydraulic engineering and strategies for water management that allowed people to live under harsh environmental conditions. Her second area of research is the history of the medical sciences in the Islamic world. As a licensed pharmacist, she is particularly interested in the use of medicinal substances and their manufacture. The perpetual menace of disease on the one hand, and of water scarcity on the other – the two most fundamental threats to the basis of life – led people to resort to magical measures in the hopes that these might change the course of events. Tangible evidence for this exists in the form of magic-medicinal bowls, talismans, and magical symbols, which form a major theme in her research.
Selected Publications:
2025
“Dezentraler Wasserrückhalt: Beispiele aus der Geschichte der jemenitischen Stadt Zabid und ihrem landwirtschaftlichen Hinterland.” Schriften der Deutschen Wasserhistorischen Gesellschaft 32: 21–40.
2025
“The Hammam in the Pre-Modern Islamic City: Ancient Legacies, New Bathing Habits.” In Bathing Culture in Budapest: Proceedings of the International Frontinus Conference Budapest, September 8-15, 2022, edited by Gilbert Wiplinger, 185-193. Leuven: Peeters.
2022
“The Challenge of Interpreting Archaeological Remains in the Light of Written Sources: A Discussion Based on the Work of the Canadian Archaeological Mission in Zabid, Yemen.” In Made for the Eye of One Who Sees: Canadian Contributions to the Study of Islamic Art and Archaeology, edited by Marcus Milwright, and Evanthia Baboula, 151-166. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
2022
“Lokale Kompetenz oder Techniktransfer? Die unterirdischen Kanalsysteme von Ghayl Ba Wazir, Jemen.” Schriftenreihe der Frontinus-Gesellschaft 33: 183-209.
2019
A History of Water Engineering and Management in Yemen: Material Remains and Textual Foundations (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 1: The Near and Middle East, 129). Leiden: Brill.
Selected Presentations:
June 2026
“Warum ist die Geschichte des Wasserbaus ein wichtiges Thema im 21. Jahrhundert? Fallstudien aus dem antiken und mittelalterlichen Jemen” – 50 Jahre Frontinus-Gesellschaft, Bremen, Germany. [Keynote]
July 2026
“Magisch-medizinische Schalen: Heilkraft von Religion und Magie” – Museum für Islamische Kunst, Berlin.
October 2023
“Dezentraler Wasserrückhalt: Beispiele aus der Geschichte des städtischen und ländlichen Jemen” – Dezentraler Wasserrückhalt in Kulturlandschaften: Lernen aus der Geschichte (Cura Aquarum, 17th International Conference on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering), Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft, Wolfenbüttel, Germany.
June 2023
“History of Water Management in Yemen: An Interdisciplinary Study” – 3,000 Years of Water Management: Saudi Heritage Commission/Source of Life Project, Radboud University, Nijmegen.
September 2022
“The Hammam in the Pre-modern Muslim City: Ancient Legacies, New Social Customs” – Bathing Culture in Budapest: International Conference of the Frontinus-Society on the History of Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering, Budapest, Hungary.
June 2022
“Sharing Water During Medieval Times: The Underground Canal Systems of Ghayl Ba Wazir, Yemen” – Aqueducts, Canals, Qanats: Construction and Management of Water Conduits in the Late Antique and Medieval Mediterranean and Middle East, Radboud University, Nijmegen.
December. 2021
“Mathematics and Its Applications: An Example from Rasulid Zabid, Yemen” – Middle East Studies Association, 55th Annual Meeting (online).
September 2021
“Lokale Kompetenz oder Techniktransfer? Die unterirdischen Kanalsysteme im Jemen” – Frontinus-Gesellschaft: Internationale Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Wasser-, Energie- und Rohrleitungstechnik (online).
May 2021
“Wasserbau und Wassermanagement im Jemen: Fallbeispiele aus Antike und Mittelalter” – Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft (online).
May 2021
“Water and Urban Life in Medieval Zabid, Yemen: Archaeological Remains, Textual Foundations and Religious Implications” – Source of Life Project team, Institute for Culture and History, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (online workshop).
October 2019
“The Transmission of Knowledge: Examples from Classical Arabic Medicine” – Department of History, University of Western Ontario.
October 2019
“Why is the History of Water Engineering and Management Important? The Example of Zabid, Yemen, and Its Irrigated Farmland” – Institute for Islamic Studies, University of Toronto.
Current Courses:
HST 325 – History of Science and Technology I
HST 777 – Medicine from Antiquity to 1500 CE
HST 786 – Science and Technology in Middle Eastern History
HST 787 – Astronomy versus Astrology
HST 788 – The Archaeology of Water
HIS 501 – Archaeology and Material Culture
HIS 916 – Medieval Medical Manuscripts (Senior Seminar)
Professional Affiliations:
German Institute of Archaeology
Deutsch-Jemenitische Gesellschaft
Middle East Studies Association
International Water History Association
Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft
Frontinus Society
Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants