Barbé, H. and Taxel, I. 2021. Habonim-Kafr Lām: A Ribāt of the Levantine Coastal Defensive System in the First Centuries of Islam. In: Eisenberg, M. and Khamisy, R. (eds.). The Art of Siege Warfare and Military Architecture from the Classical World to the Middle Ages. Oxford. Pp. 153–163. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Sinibaldi, M., Karak Castle in the Lordship of Transjordan: Observations on the Chronology of the Crusader-period Fortress, in P. Edbury, D. Pringle and B. Major,“Bridge of Civilisations.” The Near East and Europe c.1100-1300, Oxford, Archaeopress, 2020, 97-114. , 2020
This paper analyses the material structures of Karak castle in the Crusader period and it matches them with the available information in the documentary sources, in order to comment on their chronology and on the castle's development through the duration of the Crusader period at the site. Link to the volume Bridge of Civilisations: https://www.oxbowbooks.com/dbbc/bridge-of-civilizations-the-near-east-and-europe-c-1100-1300.html?fbclid=IwAR3z0UnzIWOxL0rqYAVHVoFlL9WBqzTH0AyiQbVSeLGw82d\_7KozamIH-DY
Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills (Shephelah) and the southern coastal plain in central Israel, which has been subject to survey and excavations over the last two decades. Excavations by Bliss and Macalister in 1899 exposed a fortification system which was dated to the " Jewish period.. In this paper, we present updated data on these fortifications which have led to fresh insights. In two separate excavation areas, we excavated portions of the fortification system that surrounded the site which can now be dated to the EB III of the southern Levant. The EB fortification system influenced the location of later fortifications at the site. The nature of the construction techniques of these fortifications and the character of the settlement which they surrounded suggest that Tell es-Safi/Gath was a major regional urban centre during the EB III and was governed by a centralised administrative hierarchy. The excavations by Bliss and Macalister at Tell es-Safi/Gath in were one of the first archaeological excavations of a large multi-period site in the Levant, and as such have an important role in the history of the development of archaeological research in the region (e.g. Avissar and Maeir ; Avissar Lewis and Maeir ). As this excavation was done under the auspices of and with the support of the Palestine Exploration Society (Bliss and Macalister ), the preliminary publications of the excavations were published in the issues of the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement. The current excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath (Maeir ) have uncovered various remains which were also dealt with in the earlier excavations, including aspects relating to the fortifications during various periods of this site. In the present paper, we wish to present a renewed look at the Early Bronze Age (EB) fortifications at the site, based both on the finds from Bliss and
The Contribution of “Light” Archaeology to theStudy of Fortified Sites in Northern Syria
2016
A new archaeological project has been recently started by a joint team from the University of Florence and the University of London, entitled Islamic Syria and Latin Kingdoms: a Mediaeval frontier. Settlements and interaction in the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. 1 This project aims at analysing settlements, territories and fortified systems on both sides of the frontier in the coastal plain of Syria and in the Orontes valley. In this context, the frontier acquires the significance of an "observatory" on the interaction (for example, in relation to settlement modes, control of territory, exploitation of natural sources, and exchange of technology) between west European feudal society and Islamic society in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Figure 1). 2 In the Near East, research topics such as the transformation of settlement in the period under consideration and the origin of fortifications do not seem to have been adequately developed. To date, the archaeological study of this period has mainly concerned standing 1. The Italian team was funded by grants from the Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica and from the Ministero degli Affari Esteri. The Italian Embassy in Damascus provided in many ways advice, help and assistance, in particular H. E. the Ambassador Antonio Romano Napolitano. The Syrian Embassy in Rome kindly gave the team complimentary entry visas. The team wishes to thank the Directorate General of Antiquities for providing the assistance of Architect Asmahan al-Wazza during this phase of fieldwork. The team also wishes to thank the Institut Français d'Etudes Arabes de Damas and its Director, Professor Mallet, for the hospitality they provided. The results presented here relate to the campaign conducted in May 1999. The team consisted of the two authors, Professor Guido Vannini (GV) and Dr Cristina Tonghini (CT); Dr. Eugenio Donato, who also played a very important role in the analysis of the wall typology; Architect Asmahan al-Wazza, from the Department of the Antiquities. A first preliminary survey had also been conducted in November 1998. During that campaign the team also included, together with the present writers, Professor Hugo Blake (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Professor Franco Niccolucci (Università di Firenze). 2. Islamic culture can be considered the heir of Late Antique urban Mediterranean society in terms of social and territorial organization, although with well-known variations. In this setting, especially in the case of marginal areas (part of or close to the original desert environment), there are occasional swings towards the re-emergence of the nomadic or seminomadic way of life. This situation seems to characterize the Islamic side of the frontier in the two regions considered by our Mission: in southern Transjordan, and in the current project in Syria between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. See, in general, Lombard 1980; Lapidus 1993.
Kh. el-Maqatir: A Fortified Settlement of the Late Second Temple Period on the “Benjamin Plateau”
In the Highlands Depth, 2017
Since 1995 the Associates for Biblical Research (ABR) has been excavating at Kh. el-Maqatir, nine miles north of Jerusalem. Beginning in 2010, increasing evidence has emerged, which reveals clear signs that the site was more than a small Jewish village on the Benjamin Plateau. On the contrary, excavations have unearthed the presence of extensive walls and a huge fortification tower. Moreover, the discovery of mikva’ot, stone vessels, punctured pottery, and a tomb typical of the Late Second Temple period lend further evidence to the theory that the site was in fact Jewish. This material evidence along with architectural traits and the massive fortifications betray the reality that Kh. el-Maqatir was an important upper-class, ritually observant, Jewish settlement in the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman periods. Numismatic and destruction evidence suggests that the Romans destroyed the site in ca. 69 CE. Ancient textual witnesses and archaeological evidence may suggest that Kh. el-Maqatir was the first-century settlement of Ephraim.
Qala’at Halwanji: A 4000 year old fortress in Syria
Annual Report NINO-NIT 2009, 2010
The eighth Lecture in honour of Prof. K.R. Veenhof was, as is tradition, held in the Taffeh Hall of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden (19th November). The 2009 lecture was delivered by the new director of NINO, and was folllowed by a ceremony to celebrate the outgoing director, J.J. Roodenberg. The lecture was an introduction to a new archaeological field project initiated in 2008 in cooperation with the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian Arab Republic. This project will over the next years be a main focus for research by NINO. The article is a revised version of the lecture.
The article describes the results of the first season of excavations at Khirbet ʿAujah el-Foqa. The site, which was surveyed intensively by Adam Zertal about 15 years ago and identified by him as biblical ʿAtaroth, is located on a hilltop controlling the large spring of ʿAujah, 11 km northwest of Jericho. This area is not yet well known from archaeological excavations. The main occupation phase of the 1.5-hectare site is represented by a fortified Iron Age II town with a well-built casemate wall including a destruction layer and rich finds. An upper layer of well-preserved smaller structures probably dates from the Mamluk or Ottoman period, and remains of a pre-fortification phase were also identified. The date, location, and function of the site during the Iron Age II are also discussed; only further excavations in the coming years will clarify its character and layout in more detail.