An aerial view of the western camp in Jordan
Posted on 05/07/2023 2:57:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have identified three undiscovered Roman fortified camps across northern Arabia.
The University of Oxford school of archaeology made the discovery in a remote sensing survey, using satellite imagery.
It said it could be evidence of an "undocumented military campaign" across south east Jordan into Saudi Arabia.
Dr Michael Fradley, who led the research, said: "We are almost certain they were built by the Roman army.
In the report, published in the journal Antiquity, he explained his conclusion was based on the "typical playing card shape of the enclosures with opposing entrances along each side".
Dr Fradley added that the westernmost camp was significantly larger than the two camps to the east.
The research team believes they may have been part of a previously undiscovered Roman military campaign "linked to the Roman takeover of the Nabataean Kingdom in 106 AD, a civilisation centred on the world-famous city of Petra, located in Jordan".
The university's Dr Mike Bishop, an expert on Roman military, said the camps were a "spectacular new find" and an important new insight into Roman campaigning in Arabia.
"Roman forts and fortresses show how Rome held a province but temporary camps reveal how they acquired it in the first place," he explained.
Dr Fradley added that preservation of the camps was "remarkable", particularly as they may have only been used for a matter of days or weeks.
Archaeologists still need to confirm the date of the camps through investigation on the ground, the researchers said.
The camps were identified by the university's Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa project and were later photographed by the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan project.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
An aerial view of the western camp in Jordan.A map shows the location of the three camps researchers say they have identified
Reparations owed?
Archaeologists discover three Roman camps in Maan using satellite imagery
By Saeb Rawashdeh - May 03,2023 - Last updated at May 03,2023
https://jordantimes.com/news/local/archaeologists-discover-three-roman-camps-maan-using-satellite-imagery
Oblique aerial landscape view of the central camp, from the east (Photo courtesy of APAAME/B. Bewley)
https://jordantimes.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_inner/public/3-Saeb_0.png?itok=Dok4f5Qp
Roman military camps in desert found by archaeologists using Google Earth
by University of Oxford
April 27, 2023
https://phys.org/news/2023-04-roman-military-archaeologists-google-earth.html
Petra is a massive site. Tons of Roman ruins there. There are places where they excavated the sand and dirt to unearth buildings with the walls which are still painted in red ocher and mustard-colored trim.
An important aspect of these Roman and Sassanid sites is their origin and collapse prior to the rise of the Muhammadans.
Islam “arose” during a power vacuum, not from some great conquest of those prior powers (whom is defeated, but later). The implication is that when there is empty space (re. Russia 1917, etc.) it can be filled by anything.
The experience of early Christianity is precisely the opposite.
Paid in spades when Arabs started murdering the Byzantines 500 years later.
You could argue that one of the greatest mistakes in history was when Justinian’s advisers talked him out of conquering Arabia after Mohamhanded’s diplomats insulted him.
Cool! Pretty darn obvious from the air, but you might not see it at ground level. And that’s with no jungle!
There’s a whole lotta nothin’ and no reason to just be passing through. That Roman fort from the older topic (linked above) is in such good shape that, despite being made of reusable shaped stones, it is so far from anything that no one carted much of anything off over the past 1500+ years.
The Byzantines made some stupid moves, a long series of them in Armenia. Maintaining a healthy buffer state should have been a priority, but there wasn’t an IQ test requirement to become Byzantine Emperor.
https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1207/byzantine-armenian-relations/
http://www.attalus.org/armenian/char1.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Armenia_(antiquity)
Really interesting.
Thanks.
The bible mentions that st paul went to arabia.
I’ve heard people mention that this meant he went to petra and or its region
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