qa·nat 
(kă-nät)
(kă-nät)n.
An ancient irrigation system consisting of a tunnel dug at a very slight upward gradient into rising ground so that water from deep within the earth runs out to the surface. Qanats were developed in Persia and later adopted throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
[Persian qanāt, from Arabic qanāh, qanāt-, tube, canal, qanat; akin to Hebrew qāne and Akkadian qanû, reed; see qnw in Semitic roots.]