in: F. Buccellati, S. Hageneuer, S. van der Heyden, F. Levenson (eds.), Size Matters. Understanding Monumentality Across Ancient Civilizations, Histoire 146 (Bielefeld 2019) 223–239, 2019
We would like to thank the Cluster of Excellence 264 TOPOI for funding this project and this book... more We would like to thank the Cluster of Excellence 264 TOPOI for funding this project and this book. Furthermore, we would like to warmly thank the speaker of TOPOI's reserach group B-2, Prof. Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, for her support.
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Kalkulationen zur Dauer der Bauarbeiten wurden durch die vorherige Bestimmung zweier zwingend notwendiger Grundgrößen möglich: Zum einen musste das Bauvolumen ermittelt und zum anderen die Bearbeitbarkeit des Baumaterials Gipsstein als Leistung ausgedrückt werden. Letzteres ergab sich im Zuge der Konsolidierungsarbeiten an der Basilika A im Rahmen des Resafa Gesamtprojekts. Dabei wurden einsturzgefährdete Mauerpartien ersetzt durch traditionell bearbeitete Steine, welche neben Quadern, auch Säulen und Keilsteine für Bögen umfassten. Die Erfahrungen des Bauleiters als Steinmetz erbrachten genaue Vorstellungen zum erzielbaren Arbeitspensum beim Umgang mit dem bruchfrischen Gipsstein.
Mit diesen Werten lässt sich schließlich das Verhältnis Mannschaftsstärke-zu-Baudauer ermitteln, am einfachsten ausgedrückt als Mann-Jahre. Je nach Annahme einer Mannschaftsstärke größer als eins ergeben sich dann gesetzmäßig beliebig viele Zahlenpaare. Die Bandbreite der plausiblen Möglichkeiten lässt sich jedoch eingrenzen. So ist das Bauende der Stadtmauer sicher abgesteckt durch das inschriftlich fixierte Baudatum der Basilika B, einem Anschluss-Bauwerk intra muros. Auch ist die Mannschaftsgröße klar beschränkt durch die allgemeine Trinkwasserknappheit am Ort. Die Kapazität der ersten Großzisterne, deren Bau sicher ganz am Anfang des Ausbauprojekts der Stadt stand, setzte der Großbaustelle ihre logistische Grenze und kann beziffert werden.
Im Lichte weiterer Bauzeitanalysen zu anderen spätantiken Bauwerken werden die Berechnungen zu Resafa schließlich überprüft.
The solutions comprise the semicircular form, which remains typical in Late Roman times, as well as segmental arcs, and this to an astonishing degree of shallowness. Even flat vaults were constructed as secondary supports. Additionally, also different variants at the abutment were carried out. The solutions show very clearly, how the builders reacted to the given proportions and how they implemented unusual ideas. This is also true for the building process, which can be derived from the location and patterns of the putlog holes for the centering.
The secondary vaults at Resafa are better understood when seen in comparison to other structures at the ›twin‹ fortification Zenobia and the Za’faran Monastery. Both deliver a probable time frame for a dating in the late 530s AD. And beyond this, we now understand that one of the master builders at Zenobia, Isidorus of Miletus the Younger, known as the genius of the second dome of the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, took advantage of his training with shallow vault forms in the Far East.
these imply multiple transformations in function. The phases are presented in their historical context and a glance at certain other places of the region reveals parallels to those structures and the traditions
forming them. The first stage begins at the turn of the 5th to the 6th century, when the plan for a new city wall had come into effect and its first two sections started to rise. Beginning in times of lasting peace
and prosperity the idea was to create a lavish imposing edifice. Focusing on a representative appearance, labour-intensive elements were introduced in the construction and at the same time, important defensive
features were neglected. The next three stages cover the painful struggle for completion. After the Roman-Persian war had broken out in AD 502, armament had to be improved and concessions in concept and
construction increased. Consideration of Amida, Dara-Anastasiupolis and Zenobia help to understand this development. The blocking of the gates and the banking up of the ramparts mark the last stage. These
measures produced an impenetrable enclosure and obviously these structures never were intentionally disassembled. Possibly the intention in early Islamic times was to define a protected holy ḥaram area next
to the caliph’s spacious residence outside the walls.
main tasks of our excavations. The town enables us to examine living conditions, spatial concepts
and the development of a ‘non-royal’ urban settlement close to the royal residence of Meroe.
Alongside with the gradually developing city map of Hamadab’s latest occupation phase, our
excavations at the local temple, at the fortification wall, in domestic houses and adjoining streets
illuminate the building history of the town. Another important part of our investigation focuses on
the function of individual houses and the organization of city quarters. Since 2005, the
archaeological fieldwork was complemented by magnetometric prospection and Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR), as well as by geo-electric measurements at the iron-slag heaps to the east and south of
the settlement. Finally, an archaeological field walk survey in the Kerawa, the fertile land between
Hamadab and the city of Meroe, shed light on settlement patterns in the periphery of Hamadab.
Kalkulationen zur Dauer der Bauarbeiten wurden durch die vorherige Bestimmung zweier zwingend notwendiger Grundgrößen möglich: Zum einen musste das Bauvolumen ermittelt und zum anderen die Bearbeitbarkeit des Baumaterials Gipsstein als Leistung ausgedrückt werden. Letzteres ergab sich im Zuge der Konsolidierungsarbeiten an der Basilika A im Rahmen des Resafa Gesamtprojekts. Dabei wurden einsturzgefährdete Mauerpartien ersetzt durch traditionell bearbeitete Steine, welche neben Quadern, auch Säulen und Keilsteine für Bögen umfassten. Die Erfahrungen des Bauleiters als Steinmetz erbrachten genaue Vorstellungen zum erzielbaren Arbeitspensum beim Umgang mit dem bruchfrischen Gipsstein.
Mit diesen Werten lässt sich schließlich das Verhältnis Mannschaftsstärke-zu-Baudauer ermitteln, am einfachsten ausgedrückt als Mann-Jahre. Je nach Annahme einer Mannschaftsstärke größer als eins ergeben sich dann gesetzmäßig beliebig viele Zahlenpaare. Die Bandbreite der plausiblen Möglichkeiten lässt sich jedoch eingrenzen. So ist das Bauende der Stadtmauer sicher abgesteckt durch das inschriftlich fixierte Baudatum der Basilika B, einem Anschluss-Bauwerk intra muros. Auch ist die Mannschaftsgröße klar beschränkt durch die allgemeine Trinkwasserknappheit am Ort. Die Kapazität der ersten Großzisterne, deren Bau sicher ganz am Anfang des Ausbauprojekts der Stadt stand, setzte der Großbaustelle ihre logistische Grenze und kann beziffert werden.
Im Lichte weiterer Bauzeitanalysen zu anderen spätantiken Bauwerken werden die Berechnungen zu Resafa schließlich überprüft.
The solutions comprise the semicircular form, which remains typical in Late Roman times, as well as segmental arcs, and this to an astonishing degree of shallowness. Even flat vaults were constructed as secondary supports. Additionally, also different variants at the abutment were carried out. The solutions show very clearly, how the builders reacted to the given proportions and how they implemented unusual ideas. This is also true for the building process, which can be derived from the location and patterns of the putlog holes for the centering.
The secondary vaults at Resafa are better understood when seen in comparison to other structures at the ›twin‹ fortification Zenobia and the Za’faran Monastery. Both deliver a probable time frame for a dating in the late 530s AD. And beyond this, we now understand that one of the master builders at Zenobia, Isidorus of Miletus the Younger, known as the genius of the second dome of the Hagia Sophia at Constantinople, took advantage of his training with shallow vault forms in the Far East.
these imply multiple transformations in function. The phases are presented in their historical context and a glance at certain other places of the region reveals parallels to those structures and the traditions
forming them. The first stage begins at the turn of the 5th to the 6th century, when the plan for a new city wall had come into effect and its first two sections started to rise. Beginning in times of lasting peace
and prosperity the idea was to create a lavish imposing edifice. Focusing on a representative appearance, labour-intensive elements were introduced in the construction and at the same time, important defensive
features were neglected. The next three stages cover the painful struggle for completion. After the Roman-Persian war had broken out in AD 502, armament had to be improved and concessions in concept and
construction increased. Consideration of Amida, Dara-Anastasiupolis and Zenobia help to understand this development. The blocking of the gates and the banking up of the ramparts mark the last stage. These
measures produced an impenetrable enclosure and obviously these structures never were intentionally disassembled. Possibly the intention in early Islamic times was to define a protected holy ḥaram area next
to the caliph’s spacious residence outside the walls.
main tasks of our excavations. The town enables us to examine living conditions, spatial concepts
and the development of a ‘non-royal’ urban settlement close to the royal residence of Meroe.
Alongside with the gradually developing city map of Hamadab’s latest occupation phase, our
excavations at the local temple, at the fortification wall, in domestic houses and adjoining streets
illuminate the building history of the town. Another important part of our investigation focuses on
the function of individual houses and the organization of city quarters. Since 2005, the
archaeological fieldwork was complemented by magnetometric prospection and Ground Penetrating
Radar (GPR), as well as by geo-electric measurements at the iron-slag heaps to the east and south of
the settlement. Finally, an archaeological field walk survey in the Kerawa, the fertile land between
Hamadab and the city of Meroe, shed light on settlement patterns in the periphery of Hamadab.
today in southern Iraq, was continuously settled from the Late-Antique
to the Early Islamic period. Whereas its history is known through literary
sources, its material existence is only little studied. The goal of the
current cooperation project is to gain more information about the city based
on archaeological evidence. This report presents the preliminary results of
the fieldwork during the year 2022. Magnetometer prospection and a study
of the surface features at selected find sites have revealed different types of
building complexes. Susceptibility measurements were undertaken being
part of a subproject to generate a reproducible work-flow for the automated
analysis of magnetometer-data. Excavations carried out at two selected areas
revealed a further church and the gate of a large compound, respectively.
They also provide stratigraphic sequences and three building phases. Quantitative
evaluation of pottery indicates differences between the two excavated
areas. Studying and analysis of the results of the interdisciplinary research
are still in process and aim to provide an interregional contextualization.