182 Early Agriculture
contained no less than 40 temples.^102 The great number of labourers engaged in
building this palace- and temple-city has already been cited. Like the monster
work teams of Mexico, those of Tezcuco could draw upon the entire corviable
population.^103 In another country of the main lake region, Cuauhtitlan, the con-
struction of large-scale hydraulic works^104 was followed by the building of a great
temple. It took 13 years to complete the second task.^105
In the Andean zone, as in most other areas of the hydraulic world, the attach-
ment of the priesthood to the government is beyond doubt. The Incas made heavy
levies on their empire’s material wealth in order to beautify their temples and pyra-
mids.^106 They called up whatever manpower was needed to collect the raw materi al,
transport it and do the actual work of construction.^107
E. The Masters of Hydraulic Society – Great Builders
Evidently the masters of hydraulic society, whether they ruled in the Near East,
India, China or pre-Conquest America, were great builders. The formula is usu-
ally invoked for both the aesthetic and the technical aspect of the matter; and these
two aspects are indeed closely interrelated. We shall briefly discuss both of them
with regard to the following types of hydraulic and nonhydraulic construction
works:
I. Hydraulic works
A. Productive installations
(Canals, aqueducts, reservoirs, sluices and dikes for the purpose of irriga-
tion)
B. Protective installations
(Drainage canals and dikes for flood control)
C. Aqueducts providing drinking water
D. Navigation canals
II. Nonhydraulic works
A. Works of defence and communication
- Walls and other structures of defence
- Highways
B. Edifices serving the public and personal needs of the secular and religious
masters of hydraulic society - Palaces and capital cities
- Tombs
- Temples