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Roads in the Deserts of Roman Egypt - Analysis, Atlas, Commentary (Paperback)
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Roads in the Deserts of Roman Egypt - Analysis, Atlas, Commentary (Paperback)
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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. Roads 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. The 'route of least resistance' across the desert
varied from period to period according to the available road
infrastructure and beasts of burden employed. Roman administration
in Egypt not only increased the density of local desert 'node'
networks, but also facilitated internodal connections with camel
caravans and transformed the Sahara by establishing new, or
embellishing existing, nodes, effectively funnelling desert traffic
into discernible corridors.Significantly, not all desert areas of
Egypt are equally suited for anthropogenic development, but almost
all have been optimised in one way or another, with road
installations built for added comfort and safety of travellers.
Accordingly, the study of how Romans successfully adapted to desert
travel is of wider significance to the study of deserts and ongoing
expansion due to global warming.
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