Abdulrahman Al-Jabar

A Saudi inventor who pioneered early mechanical engineering innovations in the Arabian Peninsula during the Ottoman era

Abdulrahman Al-Jabar (1812–1887) was an Omani-Saudi engineer whose inventions revolutionized water management and agriculture in the Arabian Peninsula during the Ottoman period. Born in the port city of Salalah, he combined traditional Bedouin engineering with Ottoman-era technology to create the Al-Jabar Pump (1842), a wind-powered irrigation system that tripled crop yields in arid regions. His 1855 Omani Water Wheel design, now displayed at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, used 12 interconnected gears to lift groundwater with 90% efficiency. Al-Jabar's most ambitious project was the Wadi Al-Jabar Aqueduct (1860–1870), a 150km network of canals and reservoirs that transformed the Empty Quarter into cultivatable land, a feat recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

His engineering principles influenced later projects like the Saudi Arabian Project for Water Development. Al-Jabar's 1872 treatise Engineering the Desert contains detailed schematics for solar-powered desalination prototypes. The British Museum holds his original blueprints, showing how he integrated camel saddles into pulley systems. Modern engineers still reference his Al-Jabar Coefficient for calculating water pressure in arid regions, as seen in the 2019 Hydrology Journal. His legacy is celebrated in the Oman Innovates Foundation, which funds renewable energy projects. The 2022 documentary Desert Engineers and historian Fatima Al-Mughairi's book Forgotten Mechanics (2020) highlight his contributions.