The Great Arab Revolt Project: 2010 and 2011 Field Seasons
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THE GREAT ARAB REVOLT PROJECT: 2010 AND 2011 FIELD SEASONS Neil Faulkner, Nicholas J. Saunders, John Winterburn, Cat Edwards and Susan Daniels Introduction (44km south-east) and Round Fort (46km The Great Arab Revolt Project (GARP) south-east). is planned as a ten-year project to investigate the history and archaeology of the Great Arab The Southern Extent: Between Wādī Rutm Revolt of 1916-1918 (Fig. 1). It commenced in and Mudawwarah 2006; earlier work is reported on in two succes- This includes work at the following loca- sive ADAJ reports published in 2008 (covering tions: Saddūn’s Ridge Camp (6km south-east of the 2006 and 2007 seasons) and 2010 (the 2008 Wādī Rutm), Tall Shaḥam Camp (13km south), and 2009 seasons). A general introduction to Tall Shaḥam Fort (13km south), Tall Shaḥm the project, its organisation and its methods ap- Station (16 km south), Ramlih Fort, North pears in the frst of these reports. 2 (22km south), Ramlih Fort, North 1 (24km The main focus of our frst two feld sea- south) and Ramlih Station (24km south). sons was: (1) the Late Ottoman trench-fortress The academic leaders of the project are Neil around Ma‘ān and (2) the Late Ottoman de- Faulkner and Nick Saunders, both of Bristol fences in and around Wādī Rutm Station, which University. They are supported by a feld team, lies approximately 60 km south of Ma‘ān on the which during the 2010 and 2011 seasons includ- Ḥijāz Railway. ed: David Thorpe (feld director), Susan Daniels The main focus of our second two feld sea- (project administrator and planner), Linah sons was: (1) the Late Ottoman defences in and Ababneh (planner), Ali Baldry (photographer), around Baṭin al-Ghūl Station, approximately Cat Edwards (site supervisor), Anna Gow (fnds 55 km south of Ma‘ān on the Ḥijāz Railway and supervisor), Caroline Jennings (resident artist), (2) the Late Ottoman redoubts and Hashemite David Spencer (site supervisor), Roger Ward tribal army base at Wuhayda, approximately (metal-detectorist and IT specialist) and John 18km west-south-west of Ma‘ān on the ʻAqaba Winterburn (landscape archaeologist). The road. team was supported by several Jordanian col- This report summarises the results of work leagues: Fawzi Abudaneh (al-Husein bin Talal in 2010 and 2011 on the militarised landscapes University), Zeyad Al-Salameen (al-Husein bin along two stretches of the Ḥijāz Railway as fol- Talal University), Hani Falahat (Department of lows: Antiquities), Abdullah Rawashdeh (Department The Northern Extent: Between Ma‘ān and of Antiquities), Mansour Shqiarat (al-Husein ‘Aqabat - Ḥijāz bin Talal University) and Sa‘ad Twaissi (al-Hu- This includes work at the following lo- sein bin Talal University). cations: Ghadīr al-Ḥajj Station (15km south- The 2010 feld season ran from 24 October east of Ma‘ān), ash-Shīdiyyah Station (26km to 7 November and involved a team of 26 feld- south-east), Bird’s Nest Camp (31km south- workers. The 2011 feld season ran from 14 to east), Railway Blockhouse (33km south- 28 November and involved a team of 31 feld- east), South Blockhouse Camp (33 km south- workers. This report covers both seasons, just east), Abdullah’s Fort (39km south-east), as our previous reports covered the 2006 / 2007 Mākin’s Fort (41km south-east), Ṣaliḥ’s Fort and 2008 / 2009 seasons. -71- ADAJ 56 (2012) 1. Map showing sites investigated by GARP (copyright: 2012 Google Earth, 2012 Cnes / Spot Image, 2012 GeoEye). -72- N. Faulkner et al.: The Great Arab Revolt Project The Northern Extent: Between Ma‘ān and ‘Aqabat - Ḥijāz Ghadīr al-Ḥajj Station Ghadīr al-Ḥajj, at a distance of 15km miles to the south-east, is the frst Ḥijāz Railway sta- tion beyond Ma‘ān (Fig. 2). It comprises a sin- gle, rectangular, Late Ottoman stone structure measuring 11.80m by 5.50m. The building is ruinous and only survives at foundation level. It lies west of the railway line and there is evi- dence for an underground cistern between the two. About 25m beyond the far western side of the building is a fairly well-defned breastwork- trench, angled and curving. Approximately 20 2. Ghadīr al-Ḥajj Station after the foundations were spent Mauser cartridges were metal-detected in cleared (copyright GARP). this trench. Ash-Shīdiyyah Station Ash-Shīdiyyah, the second Hijaz Railway station south of Ma‘ān, lies 11km south of Ghadīr al-Ḥajj Station. The present-day railway station comprises a complex of buildings probably dat- ing from the 1960s. No evidence has been found for the original station buildings or the defences recorded as present in 1918. Bird’s Nest Camp 3. Birds’ Nest Camp as tent-rings are cleared prior to This camp, 6km south of ash-Shīdiyyah planning (copyright GARP). Station, comprises at least 27 stone tent-rings, Railway Blockhouse with at least two other possible tent-rings, 22 of This blockhouse, 7.8km south of ash- which are arranged in two parallel, north - south Shīdiyyah Station, is intervisible with Abdullah’s lines (Fig. 3). The tent-rings range in diameter Fort to the south. It lies approximately 12m west from 3.85m to 4.80m. of the Ḥijāz Railway line. The rectangular struc- The regular layout and standardisation of ture, aligned north-south, was formed of three tent-ring diameter are typical and imply mili- rooms. Each room contained either a window or tary activity. This is seemingly confrmed by the a doorway. The window of the northern room re- fnds assemblage, which is Late Ottoman mili- vealed that metal bars had been placed across it tary in character. vertically, implying a need for defensive meas- Apart from a single linear trench 120m south ures prior to the outbreak of the Revolt. of the camp, there is an absence of obvious de- All rooms contained well-constructed loop- fences around or near this camp, which may in- holes, probably contemporary with the original dicate that it accommodated construction work- construction. This has not been a common fea- ers during the building of the Ḥijāz Railway. On ture of station buildings observed by the GARP the other hand, it may be that it was indeed a team, though there are some parallels. wartime soldiers’ camp, but that the associated The remains of a concrete roof were present defence-works have been lost to the obvious in- both in situ and as fallen debris on the foor of dustrialised destruction of the landscape. the structure. The presence of high loopholes If the latter interpretation is correct, then and the remains of partially collapsed stairs in- Bird’s Nest Camp would take its place in the dicate that the roof was easily accessible. line of intervisible defended posts between ash- No surrounding features were observed. All Shīdiyyah and ‘Aqabat-Ḥijāz Station. rooms have been heavily disturbed by later ac- -73- ADAJ 56 (2012) tivity, including graffti and illicit excavation. entrance. The fort was originally visited and surveyed in November 2009. There is evidence South Blockhouse Camp that the structure was substantially damaged in This camp lies 8.7km south of ash-Shīdiyyah October / November 2011. Station on a low hill 180m west of the railway. It comprises three separate groups of stone tent- Mākīn’s Fort rings. The northern group contains at least 15 This lies 18km south of ash-Shīdiyyah tent-rings, arranged in two parallel rows running Station. It stands immediately west of the rail- north-south, with the individual tents slightly way guarding a wadi and viaduct, but it also misaligned rather than directly opposite each forms part of a line of visual communication, other. All observable entrances were on the east- being intervisible with ‘Abdullah’s Fort to the ern sides, facing the railway. Approximately north and Ṣaliḥ’s Fort to the south. It is note- 30m west of the northernmost tent-rings was a worthy that an iron-pointed wooden instrument small circular structure formed of a dry-stone leg was found at the site, quite possibly from a wall, earth-and-gravel bank and outer ditch. It heliograph tripod. could not be dated, but it commands clear views Mākīn’s Fort comprises a breastwork-trench in all directions and may therefore have been an perimeter formed of a stone wall and earth bank Ottoman defensive position guarding the camp. fronting a shallow scrape, and an internal block- The middle group lay 130m to the south on house (Fig. 4). The whole complex is located im- the far side of a wadi and comprised at least 27 mediately above the wadi, such that the ground tent-rings. The middle camp is notable for its falls away steeply to the south. The blockhouse differences with the northern. Though it was comprises a circular enclosure to the east, with also aligned north-south in two parallel rows, an attached rectangular block to the west. The with a handful of outliers to the south-west, the interior is subdivided by partition walls and the tent-rings are formed of banks of small stones outer walls are loopholed. rather than rings of large stones. The rings are The fort appears to be linked by stone-lined placed only 1m apart, in contrast to around 5m paths to observation posts to the north, and tent- apart in the northern camp. Whereas the northern rings, a cistern (and water channel) of uncertain camp was fnds poor, the middle camp yielded date, a possible oven and a small blockhouse an abundance of metal-detected fnds, including (also loopholed) to the east, the last three being cartridges, buttons, coins and seals. on the eastern side of the railway.