Small fort Gasr Bularkan

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Small fort Gasr Bularkan
Alternative name Qasr Bularqan, Qasr Bularkan
limes Limes Tripolitanus
(back line)
Dating (occupancy) Diocletian ? / Constantine or already shortly after 275/280 AD
Type Small fort, Quadriburgus
size without towers: 22 × 22 m
(= 0.05 ha);
Overall outer circumference: 27 × 27 m
Construction stone
State of preservation Walls still up to three meters high, later renovations
place Beni Ulid
Geographical location 31 ° 49 ′ 19.6 "  N , 14 ° 17 ′ 52"  E
height 140  m
Previous Thenadassa Fort
(rear Limes line) (northwest)
Subsequently Small fort Gasr Banat
(backward Limes line) (southeast)
Upstream Fort Mizda
(southwest)
Fort Gheriat el-Garbia
(southwest)
Small fort Gheriat esh-Shergia
(southwest)
The small fort Gasr Bularkan in the rear of the Limes Tripolitanus
Plan of the small fort based on the historical building report by Richard Goodchild

The small fort Gasr Bularkan , which was initially known as the small Roman fort at Mselletin (Roman small fort near Mselletin) by its discoverer, the archaeologist Richard Goodchild (1918–1968), is a former late Roman military camp , whose crew for security and surveillance tasks in Hinterland of the Limes Tripolitanus was responsible. The border fortifications formed a deep system of forts and military posts. The remains of the well-preserved garrison site are located near the road that leads past Wadi Merdum, around 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Beni Ulid , which is located in Libya , in the municipality of Misrata .

location

The Gasr Bularkan was built on a small rocky hill above the right bank of Wadi Merdum. To the southeast of the fortification, this wadi borders the central reaches of the largest dry valley in Tripolitania , the Sofeggin wadis, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea south of Misrata . An important road junction could probably be monitored from the small fort. In a south-westerly direction, a connecting path ran across the managed Bir-Scedua basin on the south side of the Sofeggin wadi up to the steep step south of the Jabal Nafusa . There was the Mizda fort on the Limes Tentheitanus . Another road led to the north to the coastal town of Lepcis Magna , and along the route running in a south-easterly direction, other types of settlement and garrison could be reached. The region in which the small fort was built was cultivated on a large scale during the late Roman period. By the middle of the 20th century, however, the land lay fallow.

Research history

Early European researchers did not recognize the facility. In close cooperation with the British military administration of Tripolitania, Goodchild set out after the Second World War to use aerial photographs taken by the Royal Air Force for target training purposes for archaeological mapping and new explorations. In addition, this work was supported by army departments of the British Army. In the summer of 1949 it was possible to discover the small fort not far from the well-known Roman tombs of Mselletin. Goodchild first visited the site in the same year. With the help of the military data, the archaeologist made a map with the sites of the Upper and Middle Wadi Merdum, but he failed to carry out a detailed check of the fortification or to collect datable ceramic fragments. In a research project of the Society For Libyan Studies running from 1971 to 1973, the archaeologist Olwen Brogan (1900–1989) explored selected sites in 1973, including the Gasr Bularkan, and undertook a field inspection there for the first time . As part of the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey carried out between 1979 and 1989, an investigation was also carried out on the fortification.

Building history

Dating and building evaluation

Important archaeologists who have worked intensively on the exploration of the Tripolitan Limes defined the complex as a small fort or checkpoint and arranged it using a number of structural details such as the towers of the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305) or a little later, the Constantinian era (306 -337). Despite the lack of clearly datable finds, the concept of the small fort showed clear parallels to other late Roman military sites known from North Africa where Quadriburgi (four [towers] castles) were built. Compared to these systems, however, the Gasr Bularkan is noticeable due to its very small dimensions. There are considerations to interpret the site as a fortified farmstead, but it seems unlikely that such a large and costly construction effort should have been made for such a building. It has been emphasized several times in the past that the Gasr's small troop may have mainly performed police duties.

In particular, the UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey had doubts about the military use of the structure, with one of its most important representatives, the archaeologist David Mattingly , always taking the position of viewing the Gasr Bularkan as a quadriburgus and thus a garrison site. The 1973 field inspection by Brogan brought to light only sparse broken fragments, which were probably of Roman origin. In connection with the dating and the unusually small dimensions of the Gasr Bularkan, the archaeologist Pol Trousset pointed out that the military facility at Henchir Rjijila in southern Tunisia is a similarly small building with protruding watchtowers. The defensive walls of Henchir Rjijila , minus the towers, only cover an area of ​​21 × 18 meters. This makes this fortification even smaller than the Gasr Bularkan. Although there are no inscriptions from both places, in contrast to Gasr Bularkan, the sigillates , fragments of oil lamps and some coin finds from Henchir Rjijila can be assigned to the fourth century AD.

The work results of the archaeologist Michael Mackensen could be important for the history of the development of the small fort . Between 2009 and 2010, detailed research was carried out under his direction at the Gheriat el-Garbia border fort, which was pushed far south . This facility, which was built around 198/201 AD, was abandoned around 275/280 AD. The Gasr Bularkan could have emerged shortly afterwards. In this way it would fit into the system of late ancient border surveillance. During the period between 360 and 380 AD, repair and construction work took place in Gheriat el-Garbia. At that time the front Limes Tripolitanus was reoccupied in this region.

Enclosure and interior development

The fortification presents itself as a relatively well-preserved stone structure, the remains of which are still a maximum of three meters high. Its surrounding wall was put together from larger stone blocks using neat craftsmanship as a regular layered masonry. The wall thickness varies between one and five meters. Bastion-like towers protrude far from the bond of this defense. They have a wall thickness of around one meter. Without these towers, the square structure measures 22 × 22 meters (= 0.05 hectares). If you add the towers, the structure reaches a circumference of 27 × 27 meters. In addition to four corner towers, the small fort also has intermediate towers on three sides and instead of a fourth intermediate tower, a single entrance in the middle of the south-east wall. The interior of the complex is covered by rubble from the late and post-Roman times.

Later re-use

Either in Roman times or with the Arab conquest of North Africa , the Gasr was abandoned but not abandoned for good. This is evidenced by extensive subsequent additions, which can be seen primarily on the outside of the surrounding wall. Most of the additions were probably made by local nomads who used them as huts.

Lost property

Roman finds from the area are in the Local Museum of Beni Ulid and the Archaeological Museum of Tripoli .

literature

  • Richard Goodchild (1950): The "Limes Tripolitanus" II . In: Libyan studies. Select papers of the late RG Goodchild. Elek, London 1976, ISBN 0-236-17680-3 , pp. 35-45.
  • David J. Mattingly : Tripolitania . University of Michigan Press, 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 , pp. 191-192.
  • Eleanor Scott, John Doie, David Mattingly: The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey Gazetteer 1979–1989. In: Graeme Barker , David Gilbertson, Barri Jones, David J. Mattingly (Eds.): Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume Two: Gazetteer and Pottery . UNESCO, Paris 1996 (et al.), ISBN 92-3-103273-9 , p. 173.
  • Philip M. Kenrick: Tripolitania. Libya Archaeological Guides. Silphium Press, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-900971-08-9 , p. 196.

Remarks

  1. ^ Richard Goodchild : Where archeology and military training go hand in hand: Roman 'home guard' outposts in Tripolitania . In: Illustrated London News October 15, 1949, pp. 594-595; here: p. 594.
  2. ↑ Michael Mackensen : forts and military posts of the late 2nd and 3rd centuries on the "Limes Tripolitanus" . In: Der Limes 2 (2010), pp. 20–24; here: p. 22.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Richard Goodchild (1950): The "Limes Tripolitanus" II . In: Libyan studies. Select papers of the late RG Goodchild. Elek, London 1976, ISBN 0-236-17680-3 , pp. 35-45; here p. 38.
  4. ↑ Olwen Hackett , David John Smith : Ghirza. A Libyan settlement in the Roman period. Department of Antiquities, Tripoli 1984, p. 33.
  5. ^ Eleanor Scott, John Doie, David Mattingly: The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey Gazetteer 1979–1989. In: Graeme Barker, David Gilbertson, Barri Jones, David J. Mattingly (Eds.): Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume Two: Gazetteer and Pottery . UNESCO, Paris 1996 ( inter alia ), ISBN 92-3-103273-9 , pp. 43-55; here: p. 43.
  6. ↑ Kastell Mizda at 31 ° 26 '41.76 "  N , 12 ° 58' 48.71"  O .
  7. ^ Richard Goodchild : Where archeology and military training go hand in hand: Roman 'home guard' outposts in Tripolitania . In: Illustrated London News October 15, 1949, pp. 594-595.
  8. ^ Olwen Brogan: Some ancient sites in eastern Tripolitania . In: Libya Antiqua 13-14 (1976-1977), 1984, pp. 93-129; here: p. 93 and p. 106.
  9. ^ David J. Mattingly: Farming the Desert. The Unesco Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Gazetteer and pottery . Volume 2, Unesco, 1996, ISBN 92-3103273-9 , p. 175.
  10. ^ Antonino Di Vita : II "limes" romano di Tripolitania nella sua concretezza archeologica e nella sua realta storica . In: Libya Antiqua 1, 1964, pp. 65-98; here: p. 93; Richard Goodchild (1950): The "Limes Tripolitanus" II . In: Libyan studies. Select papers of the late RG Goodchild. Elek, London 1976, ISBN 0-236-17680-3 , pp. 35-45; here pp. 38–41.
  11. ↑ a b c Olwen Brogan : Some ancient sites in eastern Tripolitania . In: Libya Antiqua 13-14 (1976-1977), 1984, pp. 93-129; here p. 124.
  12. ↑ Olwen Hackett, David John Smith : Ghirza. A Libyan settlement in the Roman period. Department of Antiquities, Tripoli 1984, p. 229.
  13. ^ A b c Philip M. Kenrick: Tripolitania. Libya Archaeological Guides. Silphium Press, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-900971-08-9 , p. 196.
  14. ^ Richard Goodchild: Fortificazioni e palazzi bizantini in Tripolitania e Cirenaica . In: Corsi di cultura sull'arte ravennate e bizantina 13, 1966, pp. 225-250; here: p. 226.
  15. ^ A b Eleanor Scott, John Doie, David Mattingly: The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey Gazetteer 1979–1989. In: Graeme Barker, David Gilbertson, Barri Jones, David J. Mattingly (Eds.): Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume Two: Gazetteer and Pottery . UNESCO, Paris 1996 (et al.), ISBN 92-3-103273-9 , p. 173.
  16. ^ David J. Mattingly: Tripolitania . University of Michigan Press, 1994, ISBN 0-472-10658-9 , pp. 191-192.
  17. ^ Pol Trousset : Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus, du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière tuniso-libyenne. (Etudes d'Antiquites africaines). Éditions du Center national de la recherche scientifique, Paris 1974, ISBN 2-222-01589-8 . P. 106.
  18. ↑ Michael Mackensen : The Severan vexillation fort Myd (---) and the late antique settlement in Gheriat el-Garbia (Libya). Report on the campaign in spring 2010 . In: Communications from the German Archaeological Institute. Roman Department 117, 2011, pp. 247-375; the same: New fieldwork at the Severan fort of Myd (…) / Gheriat el-Garbia on the limes Tripolitanus . In: Libyan Studies 43, January 2012, pp. 41–60.
  19. ^ Denys Haynes : An archaeological and historical guide to the pre-Islamic antiquities of Tripolitania . The Antiquities Department of Tripolitania, Tripolis 1956, p. 139.