Khirbet el-Fityan

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Khirbet el-Fityan
limes Limes Arabiae et Palestinae
section Limes Arabicus
(back line)
Dating (occupancy) around 300 AD
to no later than approx. 500 AD, probably at the end of the 5th century.
Type Small fort
unit Vexillation of the
Legio IIII Martia ?
size 76.80 m × 78.80 m
(= approx. 0.60 ha)
Construction stone
State of preservation Facility badly damaged by earthquakes, soil erosion and modern stone robbery; the south wall was removed from the adjacent Wadi Lejjun.
place Khirbet el-Fityan
Geographical location 31 ° 14 ′ 34 "  N , 35 ° 51 ′ 24"  E
height 800  m
Previous Qasr Abu el-Kharaq ,
(rear Limes line) (northeast)
Subsequently Rujm Faridiyyeh ,
Via Traiana Nova
(backward Limes line) (southwest)
Backwards Kerak ,
Via Traiana Nova
(backward Limes line) (southwest)
Upstream Legion camp Betthorus
(rear Limes line) (southeast)

Khirbet el-Fityan is a late Roman military camp , the crew of which was responsible for rearward security and surveillance tasks on the Limes Arabiae et Palaestinae in the late ancient province of Arabia . The remains of the fortification, some of which have been preserved, are located on the Kerak Plateau , 1.50 kilometers northwest of the Betthorus legionary camp, which is in turn around 20 kilometers east of the Jordanian city ​​of Kerak in the al-Karak governorate .

location

Pre-Roman use of the area

Even before the construction of the fort was one of the later location Iron Age structure of unknown type. So founds the west curtain wall according to the evidence from scientific excavations in 1980 and 1985 on a wall of the Iron Age II (1000-586 v. Chr.). In addition, corresponding Iron Age fragments had been picked up during previous field inspections on the fort grounds. Furthermore, during the excavations mentioned, ceramics from the Iron Age II came to light, partly mixed with a few Early Bronze Age sherds and Roman Age material, including early Roman Nabataean ware. Although the archaeologists in 1980 and 1985 could only speculate, due to the poor evidence, what buildings might have stood here long before the arrival of the Romans, they suspected an Iron Age fortress. It is also noteworthy that of all types of military garrison in this region, only Khirbet el-Fityan also shows traces of Nabataean settlement.

The Roman garrison place

The Khirbet el-Fityan fort lies on the edge of a slope above the Wadi Lejjun, which is more than 70 meters deep . Since the system was built very close to the apex of a collision slope , the southern defensive wall facing the wadi fell victim to fluvial erosion . The Roman designers carefully aligned the location of the fortification with an excellent view of the western Jordanian desert. The American provincial Roman archaeologist Samuel Thomas Parker , who worked on site, spoke in this regard “of the best view of the surrounding topography in the entire region”. In addition, the crew of the fort should be able to control the access through the wadi. The three preserved gates in the flanks of the enclosure, which describes an uneven rectangle, are oriented precisely towards the cardinal points. Since the nearby legionary camp itself was unfavorably built on a plain near the strategically important source of Ain Lejjun, Khirbet el-Fityan, due to its favorable location, together with the nearby watchtowers, will have assumed the role of military "eyes and ears" for the legionary camp . In addition, the emergency services of the border guards on the watchtowers were able to communicate with Betthorus via Khirbet el-Fityan.

Parker assumed that Khirbet el-Fityan was the central hub in a complex network of surveillance and messaging systems. In 1982 an experimental night and day review of this system by Parker had taken place. The British historian Patricia Southern criticized Parker's experiment in 1990. In their opinion, it would be wrong to interpret Khirbet el-Fityan as an important relay station . She believed that Parker was overestimating the sophistication of Roman long-distance communications and that Khirbet el-Fityan was primarily able to relay orders from the Betthorus legionary camp, but not to act as a transmitter and receiver. She also assessed the system of watchtowers in the center of Jordan, usually between five to ten kilometers away, not as a fixed border line, but as the location of an advance warning system that enabled nearby troops to intervene. Beacons in the front line at a static border made less sense for them, at most at a few selected points and then more in the rear Limes zone, since communication from tower to tower would no longer have been possible in a chain of beacons near the border.

Research history

Until the early 1980s, the Limes in present-day Jordan was one of the least studied border regions of the Roman Empire. A first field inspection took place in Khirbet el-Fityan in 1976. At that time only 34 late antique and early Byzantine ceramic shards could be picked up. The decisive contribution to the modern research of the late antique Limes Arabicus was made by Parker's research, who undertook archaeological expeditions with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from 1980 to 1989. As head of the Limes Arabicus Project , he focused on the Roman border in central Jordan. The project was funded primarily through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities during the research campaigns of 1980 and 1982 , with additional support from the Jordanian Antiquities Service, North Carolina State University , Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, and the American Philosophical Society . Additional funding came from the National Geographic Society , the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and private donors. Parker's research objects also included the Khirbet el-Fityan fort. The project's first field campaign took place from July 7th to August 17th, 1980 and included archaeological probes in Khirbet el-Fityan. It was not until the third field campaign between June 8th and July 31st, 1885 that the excavations at the fort were resumed and completed. A first plan of the facility was then drawn up.

Another important step in researching the eastern Roman desert border and its structures was provided by the evaluation of historical aerial photographs from the first half of the twentieth century. For example, Khirbet el-Fityan was captured in 1937 during a reconnaissance flight by the Royal Air Force . However, since after the Second World War local political and military restrictions mostly prevented civilian aerial photography in this region, systematic aerial archaeological investigations were no longer possible until the end of the twentieth century. Since 1995, however, the archaeologists have been able to rely on older, now released photo archives that were made by the early US reconnaissance satellites between 1960 and 1972 when researching the broader context in this Limes zone. Photos around the area of ​​Khirbet el-Fityan could also be analyzed.

As the archaeologist Martin JF Fowler reported in 2004, the facility was exposed “in the recent past” to targeted demolition work in order to steal material by means of stone robbery.

Building history

Stratigraphies on the Limes Arabicus

During his research expeditions into the late antique Limes Arabicus, Parker set up a stratigraphic scheme which served to simplify the assignment of the secured Roman and Byzantine finds and findings.

Stratum Time position approximate dating
VI late Roman 284-324
VB early Byzantine I 324-363
VA early Byzantine II 363-400
IV early Byzantine III − IV 400-502
III late Byzantine I − II 502-551

Construction of the fort

The military use of Khirbet el-Fityan falls with this assignment in the period of the late Roman to maximally early Byzantine phase III-IV. According to evidence of the late Roman ceramic shards from the fort area, the complex was probably built together with the nearby legionary camp around 300 AD. It is possible that a vexillation of the Legio IIII Martia stationed in Betthorus can be assumed as the main troop.

Deviating from the well-known opinions on the fort's history, the British Provincial Roman archaeologist David Leslie Kennedy and the aerial photography archaeologist Derrick Newton Riley (1915-1993) considered in 1990 to see a possible short-lived forerunner of Betthorus in Khirbet el-Fityan, which after the stationing of the Legion may have only been used as a sentry for a short time. In their opinion, the fort did not seem to have been used militarily until the fourth century. Regarding the subsequent remarks by Kennedy and Rileys in connection with the water supply, it can be stated that they did not know the existence of the two cisterns in the fort that Parker had taken.

The floor plan of the fort describes a slightly trapezoidal shape of 76.80 × 78.80 meters (= approx. 0.60 hectares). In the four corners of the enclosing wall stood clearly outwardly projecting, rectangular towers. A rectangular intermediate tower was also found in the middle of the western and southern flanks. The main gate in the center of the Praetorial Front in the north had a single-lane passage and was flanked by two rectangular gate towers. In the western gate tower, a staircase was found that led to the upper floors. In 1980 there was also a small gate in the western and one in the eastern curtain wall. These had not yet been discovered by previous researchers. Two cisterns were found in the southwest quadrant. In the middle of the southern section, remains of an installation could be found which, like the two installations in the northern part of the interior of the fort, are interpreted as barracks. Parker's investigations showed that these barracks were built directly on the rock and allowed a reliable dating, whereas the period for the construction of the surrounding wall of the fort remained uncertain despite archaeological excavations. Due to its design, which differs from the classic Quadriburgi in a number of areas, Khirbet el-Fityan is not yet one of the direct representatives of this category.

End of the plant

Whenever the military end of the fortification is to be set, it can be stated that this must demonstrably have come before the legionary camp was closed. No chronologically identifiable ceramic from Khirbet el-Fityan dates later than the fifth century. Khirbet el-Fityan, like the Qasr Bshir, will not have been abandoned by the army later than around 500, probably at the end of the fifth century. Subsequently, a civil settlement seems to be detectable. With a severe earthquake in 551, not only the civil re-use of Khirbet el-Fityan ended, but also that in Betthorus. The garrison there was withdrawn at the same time as that of the other eastern garrison types in 530.

literature

  • Samuel Thomas Parker : The Limes Arabicus Project. The 1980 Campaign . In: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 25, 1981, pp. 171-178; here: p. 177.
  • Samuel Thomas Parker: The Limes Arabicus Project. The 1985 Campaign . In: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 30, 1986, pp. 233-252; here: p. 247.
  • Suzanne Richard , Samuel Thomas Parker: The Roman castellum of Khirbet el-Fityan . In: Samuel Thomas Parker (ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan (= BAR International Series 340), Oxford 1987, pp. 429-446.
  • David Leslie Kennedy , Derrick Newton Riley: Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air BT Batsford Limited, London 2004, ISBN 0-203-78927-X , pp. 175-176.
  • Johanna Ritter-Burkert: Khirbet el-Fityan (JO) . In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-961760-10-7 , pp. 132-133.

Remarks

  1. ^ Suzanne Richard, Samuel Thomas Parker: The Roman castellum of Khirbet el-Fityan . In: Samuel Thomas Parker (ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan (= BAR International Series 340), Oxford 1987, pp. 429-446.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Samuel Thomas Parker: The Limes Arabicus Project. The 1985 Campaign . In: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 30, 1986, pp. 233-252; here: p. 247.
  3. ^ A b Samuel Thomas Parker (Ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989 (= Dumbarton Oaks Studies 40), Washington, DC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5 , p. 107.
  4. ↑ a b c d Martin JF Fowler: Declassified CORONA KH-4B satellite photography of remains from Rome's desert frontier . In: International Journal of Remote Sensing 18 (2004), pp. 3549-3554; here: p. 3551.
  5. ↑ a b c d Johanna Ritter-Burkert: Khirbet el-Fityan (JO) . In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-961760-10-7 , pp. 132-133; here: p. 132.
  6. ^ A b Johanna Ritter-Burkert: Bethorus - Lejjun (JO) . In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-961760-10-7 , pp. 120-123; here: p. 120.
  7. ↑ Betthorus Legionary Camp
  8. ^ A b Vincent A. Clark, Frank L Koucky, Samuel Thomas Parker: The Regional Survey . In: Samuel Thomas Parker (Ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989 (= Dumbarton Oaks Studies 40), Washington, DC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5 , pp. 25 ff .; here: p. 39.
  9. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker in: Samuel Thomas Parker (Ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989 (= Dumbarton Oaks Studies 40), Washington, DC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5 , pp. 25 ff .; here: p. 333.
  10. ^ Ariel S. Lewin: Diocletian. Politics and Limites in the Near East . In: Philip Freeman: Limes XVIII. Proceedings of the XVIIIth International Congress of Roman frontier studies (= BAR International Series 1084), Archaeopress, Oxford 2002, pp. 91-102; here: 94.
  11. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: Romans and Saracens. A History of the Arabian Frontier . (= Dissertation Series / American Schools of Oriental Research 6), Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake 1986, ISBN 0-89757-106-1 , p. 84.
  12. ↑ Patricia Southern : Signals Versus Illumination on Roman Frontiers . In: Britannia 21, 1990, pp. 233-242.
  13. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker (ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan. Final Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980–1989 (= Dumbarton Oaks Studies 40), Washington, DC, 2006, ISBN 978-0-88402-298-5 , p. 46.
  14. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: Romans and Saracens. A History of the Arabian Frontier . (= Dissertation Series / American Schools of Oriental Research 6), Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake 1986, ISBN 0-89757-106-1 , p. XIII.
  15. ^ Suzanne Richard, Samuel Thomas Parker: The Roman castellum of Khirbet el-Fityan . In: Samuel Thomas Parker (ed.): The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan (= BAR International Series 340), Oxford 1987, p. 8.
  16. ^ David Leslie Kennedy, Derrick Newton Riley: Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air BT Batsford Limited, London 2004, ISBN 0-203-78927-X , p. 175.
  17. ^ David L. Kennedy: Aerial Archeology in the Middle East. The Role of the Military - Past, Present ... and Future? . In: Robert H. Bewley, Wlodzimierz Raczkowski (Ed.): Aerial Archeology. Developing Future Practice, (= NATO Science Series 1: Life and Behavioral Sciences 337). IOS Press, Amsterdam 2002. pp. 33-48.
  18. ^ Robert A. McDonald: Opening the Cold War sky to the public. Declassifying satellite reconnaissance imagery . In: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 61 (1995), pp. 385-390.
  19. ↑ Samuel Thomas Parker, John Wilson Betlyon, Michael R. Toplyn: Preliminary Report on the 1987 Season of the Limes Arabicus Project (= Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Supplementary Studies 26). Preliminary Reports of ASOR-Sponsored Excavations 1983-1987, The American Schools of Oriental Research, 1990, pp. 89-136; here: p. 90.
  20. ^ A b Johanna Ritter-Burkert: Khirbet el-Fityan (JO) . In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-961760-10-7 , pp. 132-133; here: p. 133.
  21. ^ David Leslie Kennedy, Derrick Newton Riley: Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air BT Batsford Limited, London 2004, ISBN 0-203-78927-X , p. 176.
  22. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: The Limes Arabicus Project. The 1980 Campaign . In: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 25, 1981, pp. 171-178; here: p. 177.
  23. ^ Paul Erdkamp: The Roman Army and the Economy . Gieben, Amsterdam 2002, ISBN 90-5063-318-8 , p. 400.
  24. ^ Samuel Thomas Parker: The Limes Arabicus Project. The 1987 Campaign . In: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 32, pp. 171-188; here: p. 186.
  25. ^ Johanna Ritter-Burkert: Bethorus - Lejjun (JO) . In: Hans-Peter Kuhnen (Ed.): Desert border of the Roman Empire. The Roman Limes in Israel and Jordan . Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2018, ISBN 978-3-961760-10-7 , pp. 120-123; here: p. 123.