ICHAJ13 2019 Driessen-Abudanah The Udhruh Intervisibility (original) (raw)
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The Udhruh lines of sight: connectivity in the hinterland of Petra
TMA50, 2013
The region around Udhruh, in the hinterland of the Nabataean Capital Petra in southern Jordan, was actively exploited in antiquity with investments of great effort and ingenuity. In the 48 sq km research area around the town of Udhruh, best known for a Roman legionary fortress, a communication system consisting of eight watchtowers on territorial markers has been retrieved. This system was built in the Nabataean era for the protection and communicative control of the water management and field systems and the possible caravanserai of Udhruh. The microregion of Udhruh was through this signalling system not only connected with Petra, but also with its network along the trade routes. In the Roman period the Udhruh-region became part of a different globalised network through this connectivity: the Roman armies, although the security of the site and the agro-hydrological schemes remained important.
An attempt to systematize the gates in the Urartian fortresses
Iranica antiqua, 2005
Abstract: One of the most interesting issues in Urartian archaeology is the development of a defensive network. The majority of Urartian fortresses have never been excavated though. This article provides an overview of defensive sites with preserved defensive gates in ...
Fortified Roads as Communication and Defense Networks in the Ancient Near East
Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare, 2022
This essay investigates the organizational logic of regional, rural fortification systems in the ancient Middle East through a non-site-based approach. Utilizing two case studies from Middle Bronze Syria and Iron Age Assyria and Urartu, an analysis of archeological and textual sources reveals that distributed landscape features situated as networks along roads served multiple functions besides the imposition of sovereignty and defense. Fortified regional networks consisting of forts, fortresses, fire beacon stations, and other fortified structures were hubs for communication and intelligence gathering. The distributed nature of these networks means that they are best understood and investigated as cultural landscapes.
Open Archaeology, 2023
The Strata Diocletiana was a military road in Late Roman Period Syria. It ran from Damascus to the Euphrates by way of Palmyra. The road was fortified and received its name during the reign of Diocletian (284-305 CE), following the Roman sack and subsequent garrisoning of Palmyra after the city's failed revolt 272-273 CE. The Strata Diocletiana is only one of several attested routes between Palmyra and western Syria and one of two between Palmyra and Damascus. In this study, we seek to understand why this route was chosen for the new fortified road. We compare the location of Late Roman fortifications along the Strata Diocletiana to the modern distribution of water in the Syrian Desert and the theoretical least-cost paths between Palmyra and Damascus, and Palmyra and the fortress of Sura on the Euphrates. The argument is made that some parts of the Roman road network in the Syrian Desert were planned in order to control major water sources along the desert rim, but that the new military road between Damascus and Palmyra in the late third century CE was constructed with the aim of monitoring and controlling access to settled regions from the desert, in addition to ease and speed of communication. The conclusions have bearings not only on our understanding of the Late Roman defence and communication system, but also on nomad-settled interaction in Late Antiquity and the use of GIS methodologies in the reconstruction of ancient communication networks.
A Provincial Centre on the western border of Urartu: Palu Fortress
Anatolian Research, 2024
Palu Kalesi is a fortress site situated in modern Elazığ province. In the Middle Iron Age, this region was the western borderland of the Urartian Kingdom and the primary contact zone where political and cultural relations transpired between the Urartu and the neighbouring Neo-Hittite kingdoms. The site was also a strategically crucial military post that provided logistic support for the Urartian armies during their western expeditions. The fortress was built as a provincial centre shortly after the foundation of the Urartian Kingdom, and the settlement lasted for a long time until the fall of the kingdom. This study presents previously unrecognised archaeological remains, which were identified during our recent investigations at Palu Fortress. Our survey of the site revealed that the Middle Iron Age citadel consisted of two sectors, and the Lower Citadel was enclosed by sturdy fortifications and terrace walls reinforced with bastions. Moreover, while Urartian rock signs were already recorded at Palu, our investigations documented previously unknown rock signs at the site. In addition, other previously unrecognised features dating to the post-Urartian periods were identified by our recent investigations, including five single-roomed rock-cut tombs and two stepped rock-cut tunnels. To better understand the relationship of the archaeological features at the site, a topographic map of Palu Fortress was drawn and visible archaeological remains dated to the Urartian and post-Urartian periods were marked on this map. In addition, the multi-roomed tombs of the Urartian period were scanned using Lidar sensors, and Lidar data were used to generate 3D models and rectified plans of the tombs. Finally, a preliminary virtual 3D reconstruction of the Urartian period fortifications was generated on the basis of recently discovered remains.
Life along Communication Routes from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages, 2023
The knowledge about the existence of the Roman town Aquae Balissae or municipium Iasorum begins in the 18th century. From that time a variety of inscriptions accidentally found in the town’s urban core attested to the existence of a thriving community that flourished from the 1st century AD till the Late Antique period. These finds corroborated the idea that the Roman town of Aquae Balissae was situated in present-day Daruvar. Modern-day research brought to light new structures on the site of Stari Slavik in Daruvar. The site is situated east of the presentday Special hospital for medical rehabilitation, on a hill known as Stari Slavik. In the present-day forest, excavations unearthed parts of the presumed Late Antique town fortifications or fort. The excavation yielded the remains of a wall and foundations 26.39 m long, with a northwest-southeast direction. On both ends, the wall was destroyed by later actions. On the eastern part of the wall, a semicircular construction has been discovered with a 1.5 m thick wall. Geomagnetic and LiDAR surveys corroborated older finds, indicating that the Roman town stretched on the southern slopes of the Stari Slavik hill. Surface features indicate the existence of underground structures of rectangular layouts on the highest ridge of the hill. The area of the Roman town that was not encompassed by the urban development of Daruvar comprises a total of 3000 m² with possible remains of fortifications and housing.
The Social and Political Significance of Urartian Fortresses.pdf
Bachelor Project, 2018
The state of Urartu existed for more than 200 years from the second half of the 9th century BC, and is known for its numerous mountain fortresses. What was the social and political significance of these fortresses? The aim of this project is to describe, evaluate and discuss data and hypotheses about Urartian fortresses in order to give answers to this question. My analysis is based on the Structuration Theory of Anthony Giddens and the Landscape Archaeology of in particularly Paul Zimansky, Tiffany Celena Earley-Spadoni and Adam Smith focusing on how powerful and common people interacted in time-space. The construction of fortresses began in the Late Bronze Age, and accelerated during the Urartian period. A typical fortress is characterised by one or more buildings, one or more massive defensive walls, is situated on a hill-top and built with rock-blocks. Fortresses were adapted to the mountainous environment, strategically connected to vital spaces and connected by intervisibility making large distance communication possible. Urartian period fortresses had a distinctive style, and incorporated administrative and religious functions. Decisions concerning land use, production and people were taken in and executed from the fortresses. They constituted nodes in a network of power, formed the backbone of the federal relations between the king and the local leaders, and protected the Haldi-cult that bound local leaders and the king together. Common people and peripheral elites have probably experienced this system as burdensome and endangering traditional values and positions, and their resistance may have put local leaders in a difficult position of loyalty conflict. Such contradictions were in the 7th century countered by a costly program of building royal strongholds, but this may in turn have upset the internal power balance leading to the eventual collapse of the Urartian state.