After reading about it in my guidebook, I had to visit the ancient norias of Hama, even though time was at a premium. For centuries now these wooden wheels have been dipping into the Orontes lifting river water into small aqueducts that route it to irrigation channels for the surrounding fields. Because both the wheel and the block on which it turns are made of wood it makes a distinctive mournful groaning noise that can be heard throughout the streets and alleys of the old town. One local resident recalled his childhood days swimming near the Al-Mohammediyya, the largest of the wheels. He said the plaintive notes emitted with the spinning of the wheel could rival the best of any symphony.