Archaeologists have found three previously unknown Roman military camps in what is now Saudi Arabia, which they believe may have been an undocumented part of a campaign to annex the Nabataean kingdom that began in AD 106. Working as part of the Endangered Archeology in the Middle East and North Africa Project (EAMENA) at the University of Oxford, UK, the scientists used satellite imagery open source from sources such as Google Earth Pro.
Their findings are published in an article in the journal antiquitywritten by four scholars from the Oxford School of Archaeology.
“Before our new article, there were only four known temporary Roman military camps across Jordan, so the three new camps identified by our investigation are an important addition,” said Michael Fradley, one of the authors, in an email. “Particularly unusual is the identification of these new camps running in a straight line with nearly identical distances between the camps, allowing us to confidently infer that they were linked as part of a single campaign and to be able to affirm their probable target of Dumat al-Jandal in Saudi Arabia.
The location of the three newly discovered camps. Courtesy One of the Roman camps discovered by archaeologists. Courtesy of Endangered Archeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA).
The camps featured telltale indications of Roman design, including a playing card shape and symmetrical entrances, and are located on the arid western side of the Sirhan Valley, which spans Jordan and Saudi Arabia. , and in central Jordan. There are almost no remnants of nearby structures, suggesting that the land remained relatively undisturbed.
Historical sources point to a caravan route that would mirror the route between the camps, the authors say, suggesting the camps could have allowed the element of surprise to an attack on the Jawf region, or allowed flanking maneuver in a larger campaign. wide.
One of the Roman camps discovered by archaeologists. Courtesy of Endangered Archeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA).
“This research is important because it provides some of the clearest evidence to date that the Roman takeover of the Nabataean kingdom after 106 CE may not have been as peaceful as surviving Roman histories suggest if we are correct. in our hypothesis about when these camps were built, and that the Roman army may have been actively campaigning to bring the kingdom under Roman control,” Fradley said.
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