At empire's edge : exploring Rome's Egyptian frontier / Robert B. Jackson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jackson, Robert B., 1961-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Boundaries.

Egypt--Antiquities, Roman.

Egypt.

Classical antiquities.

Romans--Egypt.

Romans.

Egypt--Boundaries.

Egypt--History--30 B.C.-640 A.D.

History.

Physical Description:

xxv, 350 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, [2002]

Summary:

When Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. after the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, its vast and mysterious frontier lands had an important impact on the commerce, politics, and culture of the empire. This engrossing book -- part history and part gazetteer -- focuses on Rome's Egyptian frontier, describing the ancient fortresses, temples, settlements, quarries, roads, and aqueducts scattered throughout the region and conveying a vivid sense of what life was like for its inhabitants. Robert B. Jackson has journeyed by jeep, by camel, and on foot to virtually every known Roman site in the area, from Siwa Oasis, forty-five kilometers from the modern Libyan border, to the Sudan. Drawing on both archaeological and historical information, he discusses these sites, explaining how Rome extracted exotic stone and precious metals from the mountains of the Eastern Desert, channeled the wealth of India and East Africa through the desert via ports on the Red Sea, constructed and manned fortresses in the distant oases of the Western Desert, and facilitated the expansion of agricultural communities in the desert that eventually experienced the earliest large-scale conversions to Christianity in Egypt. Elegantly written and illustrated with many handsome photographs, the book will be a treasured resource for archaeologists, classicists, and travelers to the region.

Contents:

Part 1 The Eastern Desert

I. The Hills of Smoke, Gebel Dokhan 3

II. Mons Claudianus 35

III. The Quarry Roads to the Nile 55

IV. Ports on the Red Sea Coast 75

V. Desert Trade Routes 95

Part 2 The Upper Nile Valley

VI. The Gateway to Africa: Aswan, Elephantine, and Philae 111

VII. Roman Nubia 129

Part 3 The Western Desert

Overview of the Western Desert 158

VIII. The Great Oasis 163

IX. The Small Oasis 229

X. Siwa Oasis 241.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-335) and index.

ISBN:

0300088566

OCLC:

47785565