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Book Cover
E-book
Author Paprocki, Maciej, author.

Title Roads in the deserts of Roman Egypt : analysis, atlas, commentary / Maciej Paprocki
Published Oxford : Oxbow Books, [2019]
©2019

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Description 1 online resource (x, 341 pages) : illustrations, maps
Contents Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: research aims, book structure, and sources -- 1.1. Main research aims and scope -- 1.2. Structure of this book -- 1.3. This book as an atlas: maps of desert trails of Roman Egypt -- 1.4. Sources on ancient traffic along desert trails of Egypt -- 2. Road networks of Roman Egypt -- 2.1. Factors influencing road network structure in Roman Egypt -- 2.2. Dense and sparse zones in the Egyptian deserts under the Roman influence -- 3. Pack animals in ancient Egyptian desert transport: shifting patterns of use -- 3.1. Donkeys -- 3.2. Camels -- 3.3. Oxen -- 3.4. Horses -- 4. Roads of the Sinai Peninsula -- 4.1. Roman Sinai as the Nabataean trade corridor between Africa and Asia -- 4.2. Roads linking northern Egypt to Palestine -- 4.3. Nabataean road nexus in the Negev -- 4.4. Trails linking the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Suez -- 4.5. Trails across the central and southern Sinai -- 5. Roads of the Eastern Desert -- 5.1. Roads of the Eastern Desert -- northern section -- 5.2. Roads of the Eastern Desert -- central section -- 5.3. Roads of the Eastern Desert -- southern section -- 6. Roads of the Western Desert -- 6.1. Roads from Alexandria -- 6.2. Roads between Memphis and selected Western Desert sites -- 6.3. Roads from Siwa to the Mediterranean coast and the Nile Valley -- 6.4. Roads from Bahariya Oasis to the Nile Valley -- 6.5. Asyut Oasis Junction (roads from Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga to Asyut) -- 6.6. Other roads from Kharga to the Nile Valley -- 6.7. Roads crossing the Qena Nile Bend -- 6.8. Roads linking Dunqul and Kurkur Oases with Syene, al Shabb, Selima and Kharga Oases -- 6.9. Roads between major oases -- 6.10. Roads from major oases to sites beyond Egypt -- 7. Road density area studies -- 7.1. Introduction -- 7.2. Area studies -- 8. Conclusions and future research
Summary Egypt under the Romans (30 BCE-3rd century CE) was a period when local deserts experienced an unprecedented flurry of activity. In the Eastern Desert, a marked increase in desert traffic came from imperial prospecting/quarrying activities and caravans transporting wares to and from the Red Sea ports. In the Western Desert, resilient camels slowly became primary beasts of burden in desert travel, enabling caravaneers to lengthen daily marching distances across previously inhospitable dunes. Desert road archaeology has used satellite imaging, landscape studies and network analysis to plot desert trail networks with greater accuracy; however, it is often difficult to date roadside installations and thus assess how these networks evolved in scope and density in reaction to climatic, social and technological change. 0Roads in the Deserts of Roman Egypt examines evidence for desert roads in Roman Egypt and assesses Roman influence on the road density in two select desert areas: the central and southern section of the Eastern Desert and the central Marmarican Plateau and discusses geographical and social factors influencing road use in the period, demonstrating that Roman overseers of these lands adapted remarkably well to local desert conditions, improving roads and developing the trail network. Crucially, the author reconceptualises desert trails as linear corridor structures that follow expedient routes in the desert landscape, passing through at least two functional nodes attracting human traffic, be those water sources, farmlands, mines/quarries, trade hubs, military installations or actual settlements
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-328) and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 06, 2019)
Subject Roads, Roman -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert
Archaeological surveying -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert
Trade routes -- Egypt -- Eastern Desert
HISTORY -- Ancient -- Rome.
Archaeological surveying
Classical antiquities
Excavations (Archaeology)
Roads, Roman
Trade routes
SUBJECT Eastern Desert (Egypt) -- Antiquities, Roman
Subject Egypt -- Eastern Desert
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019938765
ISBN 9781789251579
1789251575
9781789251593
1789251591