2010 and Nadel et al. The annual precipitation is between 750mm and birds, climate conditions, average temperatures, shade during the daytime and venture out into the open when the 1934, La trace de Rome dans le dsert de Syrie. Poidebard (A.) Interesting Facts for Kids 11:- Syrian Desert plant Syrian Desert?
What little rain arrives on the plateau flows into local salt flats. Durand (J.-M.) 1990, Le sel Mari (II): les salines sur les bords du Habur, MARI6: 629-634. 22 challier & Braemer1995; Harding1953; MacDonald2005. countries in the Arabian Peninsula including Syria, Iraq, Horvati (B.) Betts (A.V.G.) & K.V.Russel 2000, Prehistoric and Historic Pastoral Strategies in the Syrian Steppe, M.Mundy & B.Musallam (eds. 15As a result of the intense debate which developed between scholars in the nineteen-eighties and nineties, especially in the periodical Palorient, challier & Braemer1995 proposed an alternative functional interpretation of the desert-kites as enclosures in which flocks of sheep or goats living in a semi-free state on the dry steppe were gathered. 50 Cf. Meshel (Z.) war between Kuwait and Iraq in the last century. the and water sources? 18 Gazella subgutturosa, known also as the Persian Gazelle, in the Jordan and Syrian deserts, Gazella dorcas and Gazella gazella in the Negev and Sinai deserts (Holzer et al. 1Notwithstanding the importance of the desert region surrounding Palmyra for the economic development of the oasis and the Bronze Age settlement1, and especially of the great caravan city of the classical period, the Palmyra hinterland has never been the object of systematic and intensive archaeological research, with the only exception of the explorations conducted in the nineteen-thirties by D.Schlumberger to the Northwest2, in any case exclusively directed at investigation of Palmyras territory at the time of the Roman Empire. A huge stretch of mostly barren land covering parts of four countries: Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. T213. Each group includes variants with respect to the shape of the central enclosure, the number and form of side cells distributed along the enclosure perimeter (fig. Zarins (J.) They might be similar to structures recorded among the dolmen types (Braemer, challier & Taraqji2004: 192). [18], Some of the climax plants in the Syrian Badia are Caroxylon vermiculatum, Stipa barbata, Artemisia herba-alba and Atriplex leucoclada. 93That this may be also interpreted as the sign of an increased level of social complexity would seem reasonable: the number and dimension of the kites and some of the tumuli and the organization of many kites in chains of interconnected traps and of many tumuli in extensive burial fields, such as in the case of the Rujem al-Majdur necropolis, can be explained only as the result of more intensive modes of cooperation102. [5][6][7][8], The desert is bounded by the Orontes Valley and the volcanic field of Harrat al-Shamah to the west, and by the Euphrates to the east. In the late 1970s, there was much oil exploration. Legge (A. The Syrian Deserts natural boundaries are established by the Euphrates River in the east, the Orontes Valley in the west, and the Arabian Peninsulas deserts in the south.
J.Wilke & G.O.Rollefson 2002, From Flint Mine to Fan Scraper: The Late Prehistoric Jafr Industrial Complex, BASOR327: 17-48. Did you know that the term 'desertification' can In any case, pottery from the Roman and Islamic periods is also present, so the association between these surface finds and the funerary structures appears problematic. Their location at the mouth of the Wadi Hallabat is, however, problematic: though also in this case similar evidence has been already recorded64, a clear explanation has not yet been given. desert plants grow in abundance, forming an important part of Cross Disciplinary Perspectives: 57-86. On the other hand, we prefer to keep the tumulus definition for those located at the site of Rujem Al-Majdur since, to date, all of the structures examined are funerary in character. J.) in the Middle East including Syrian Desert, Arabic Bdiyat Al-Shm, arid wasteland of southwestern Asia, extending northward from the Arabian Peninsula over much of northern Saudi Arabia, eastern Jordan, southern Syria, and western Iraq. 5The archaeological evidence gathered during the first survey campaigns shows the existence of a well-documented distribution of Mousterian, Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic open-air sites in the corridor connecting the lake basins of Abu Fawares and Palmyra and in the surrounding steppe during the period characterized by humid climate (fig. A Joint Tribute to Adnan Bounni: 17-40. [25][26][27][28], With low rainfall and poor quality soils, today the region is principally used as rangeland for livestock. Together with the vertical stones occurred a semi-round stone structure formed by irregular stone blocks. Oxford. 6 where desert-kites have not been found should not necessarily be considered free of these constructions. The salt economy thus most probably played a crucial role in the subsistence strategy based on the large-scale hunting of gazelle and other ungulates practiced by specialist hunter groups in the Palmyra region. There is, in fact, a lack of detailed studies for these periodsregarding estimates of the gazelles age at death carried out on bones from stratified archaeological contexts (that would be relevant to the question of whether these animals engaged in annual migrations or not)30. 47Similar attempts at absolute dating of the Western Palmyrenas desert-kites may be supported and facilitated by relative chronological information obtainable from the archaeological record. snakes, lizards and chameleons. Le Limes de Trajan la conqute Arabe. Dam can be found in the Syrian Desert, and it provides a great In the centre (the region between Qaryatein and Dumeir) and south (between the Jebel al-Arab massif and the Southern Safa) of Syria, out of 174desert-kites examined two prevailing kite-arm orientations are found: the first, most numerous, group is aligned to the east and east/southeast, whereas the second, less numerous, group opens to the west and west/northwest41. The ritual worship of the Muslim community. 18Moreover, some rock engravings, such as those on the Cairn of Hani in Jordan, dated by means of an accompanying Safaitic inscription to a period between the 1stcent. 38 Although most of the available archaeological evidence seems to indicate a concentration of this phenomenon in the Ceramic Neolithic, Late Chalcolithic and EBA (see below, p.43-44). This phase led to the markedly cold and arid conditions that were observed in a number of high-resolution climate proxies in the eastern circum-Mediterranean region33. ), would seem to suggest that it was absolutely necessary to conceal the central enclosure from the animals driven between the convergent kite walls. This feature, shared by all the kites recorded to date in the Western Palmyrena (78; , bothinthemountainous regions of Jebel Hayan (21), Jebel al-Khan (36) and Jebel al-Abtar (19)andonthe plain south of the Sebkhat al-Muah (2), constitutes compelling evidence in favour ofthe interpretation of kites as traps used in the large-scale hunting of gazelle herds, , and probably ofotherwild ungulates, such as the onager (, ) all species of wild animal whose behaviour would make it appropriate to capture them using desert-kites, since they all live in groups, follow one another when in movement, make use of fixed migration routes and react to stress by running in the same direction, The Hemma engravings also show dogs taking part in the hunt, driving the prey into the desert-kite, Moreover, some rock engravings, such as those on the Cairn of Hani in Jordan, dated by means of an accompanying Safaitic inscription to a period between the 1, , portray structures which are rather similar to the desert-kites. 14Since O. G. S.Crawford pu-blished a brief note in the1929 Antiquity commenting upon Rees study of desert-kites in the Trans-Jordan desert in the same volume of the periodical, most archaeologists had interpreted desert-kites as traps used in hunting gazelleorotherlarge ungulates, which would have been driven into the large terminal enclosures by means of the long convergent walls, which continued across the desert for hundreds of metres or often kilometres. onwards, but has been studied principally in its function as an important caravan city and, as such, effectively disembedded from its territorial and regional context and seeninstead as part of a supra-regional socio-political, economic and cultural system. 1928, Reconnaissance arienne au Ledja et au Safa, (Mai 1927), Syria9: 114-132. The kites depicted in the Hemma engravings have been provisionally dated to the 4, , although an engraving from one site in the Hemma, b n-Naga, shows a kite with what seem to be gazelles inside and a dromedary outside, which therefore suggests that these structures remained in use at least until the Iron Age. provides key facts about the Syrian Desert including how 2000 (:439-440), arguing rather in favour of more limited seasonal movements of the gazelle herds, fluctuating in size and composition according to resources availability.
One of the most important ancient settlements in the Syrian desert is Palmyra; first mentioned in the second millennium BC, the city was an important trading center in Roman times, and its people were renowned merchants who took advantage of its strategic position on the silk road linking the far east to the mediterranean, by taxing passing by caravans, establishing colonies on the silk road, and trading in the rare commodities from the far east, thus bringing enormous wealth to their city. Abdallah (F.) 1996, Palmyre dans le complexe conomico-politique du XVIIIe sicle av. 83 On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that in some cases well-dated materials with clear parallels in the above-mentioned chrono-typological sequences have come from the excavation of some tumuli, (see for ex. ." A GroupD (trapezoidal) desert-kite extending from one slope of Jebel Hayan to the other, north of Palmyra, A GroupA (arrow-shaped) desert-kite extending from one slope of Jebel Hayan to the other. For a summary of the few desert-kites that have been partially excavated, . 186, 240, 251, 287, and 324): the reasons for this might lie in a different use of the landscape, with less need to mark it with structures visible from far away. The preliminary data available for the Palmyra region seem to agree with this framework. Future studies will need to focus on this aspect and verify the presence of a diverse tradition of megalithism (either in terms of chronology, burial culture and/or religious/tribal beliefs). Such features are not unknown among similar structures in the Levant, in particular in the Negev and Sinai Peninsula71, where the presence of vertical stones in small groups has been generically interpreted as evidence of cult sites (Zohar1992: 47). Some native animals no longer inhabit this area, and many plant species have died out while grasses with a lower nutritional value to livestock have replaced them. Middle East including Syria, 9, 35, fig. Kuwait as well as Iraq where a number of oil wells can be found. ), Crossing the Rift: 51-74. Tropical Cyclones are the violent cyclones that primarily start from the ocean in tropical areas and then move towards coastal areas forming lots of destruction, heavy rainfall, violent winds etc. Sections1 and2 of this article were written by D.Morandi Bonacossi, 3 by M.Iamoni and 4 jointly by both authors. The most important feature of T302 was the presence of an ash layer with bone fragments78 lying directly on the floor, concentrated in the northeastern sector of the cist. 8This raises an important question: is this shortage of archaeological evidence related to the existence of real gaps in the occupation of the Palmyra region from the 6th to 1stmillenniumbc? Bradbury (J.) 52 Harding1953; MacDonald2005. summer.
occurrence being present in Syria, hence its name. 77 The compactness of the soil as well as its regularity suggests an artificial origin (although also in this case no vegetal inclusion has been observed). 36 On the hunting strategies of post-Neolithic societies involving the overkilling of wild ungulates and their contribution to the eventual extirpation of a number of wild species, including Gazella subgutturosa, see Legge & Rowley-Conwy1987, Bar-Oz, Zeder & Hole2011 and Martin2000. 3; 30, fig. Its excavation was only begun during the 2010 season and consequently the following results are provisional; however, it appears to be of paramount importance, since it confirms the archaeological information about the presence of funerary rituals and adds data that might be crucial for the chronology of the necropolis. [12] The eastern section of the Syrian Desert, that within borders of Iraq, can be referred to (within Iraqi context) as the Western Desert. Daniele MorandiBonacossi et Marco Iamoni, The Early History of the Western Palmyra Desert region. 28 Gourichon2004; Gourichon & Helmer2008; Helmer2000. Avner (U.) However, other rock engravings from Burqu in Jordan23 and the Hemma (Hassake) basalt formation in Northeastern Syria24, clearly portray gazelles and other animals (equids) inside desert-kites, thus establishing an unambiguous association between traps similar to kites and gazelle hunting25. mode of transport in the Syrian Desert and live up to its 90Although the function as pastoral and tribal landmarks of the tumuli in our study area has to be more thoroughly investigated, their use as burial structures is clearly indicated by the recovery of human bone fragments from nearly all of the eight excavated structures.
10) and the installations present inside the structures. These groups of hunters probably made use of the large amounts of salt available in nearby Sebkhat al-Mouah to conserve the meat45, in similar fashion to the semi-nomad gazelle-hunting and salt-gathering Solubba tribe, which peopled the Palmyrena during the 19th and early 20thcent. The nomads raise sheep and camels, and they move according to the seasons, from one region to the other across political frontiers seeking pasture. in this region. Recent research, however, has located similar structures also in regions suitable for agriculture90, thus undermining Lnnqvists conclusions and warning against making equations between material culture and ethnicity too easily and too fast. 56Northern Levant and Eastern Syria long remained terra incognita in this respect and although significant evidence was recorded during the fifties60, only recently have projects started to conduct intensive surveys in the region. Therefore the a. , known also as the Persian Gazelle, in the Jordan and Syrian deserts. En hommage Jacques Cauvin (BAR IS1843): 115-228. The high concentration of desert-kites in the Jebel Hayan, al-Khan and al-Abtar mountainous region, directly connected with the Sebkhat al-Mouah through the Wadi al-Hallabat, may be due not just to the presence of gazelle migration paths, but also to the abundant availability of salt from the nearby salt lake. Das Ai-Gebiet vom Neolithikum bis zur Islamischen Zeit. These left their mark in the archaeological landscape of the Palmyra Desert in the form of isolated cairns or clusters of cairns, in some cases associated with small groups of huts, and desert-kites.
A ritual function with banquets and sacrifices for tumuli has been already suggested100: the role that tumuli played in the visual memory of ancestors must have been crucial in a society based on family lineages. AlBattani deceased leaders), their position also indicates the zone of control of each tribe. 24One might wonder, though, whether the presence of gazelles in the Euphrates Valley throughout the year and their slaughter in greater numbers in the wet season, which caused Gourichon and Helmer to propose that, in particular during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, groups of Gazella subgutturosa did not migrate, need or indeed ought to imply that the same circumstances pertained in the following Pottery Neolithic,Chalcolithic or Bronze Age as well. Haiman (M.) 1992, Cairn Burials and Cairn Fields in the Negev, BASOR287: 25-45. 51 challier & Braemer1995: 55; Holzer et al. macrolepis) can be found growing in the upper parts of the Walnut Creek. Sheffield. Retrieved June 22, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/syrian-desert. The Prehistoric and early historic context of the site. See the recent work in the area of Jebel Bishri, More recently see also the case of the tumuli of the Bishri region (, Preliminary results obtained by the geoarchaeological component of the Syrian-Italian mission stres, The study of the material has just recently begun and so has not been included in this preliminary, This was made simply of mud and did not show traces of vegetal inclusions: its interpretation as m, This seems to point toward the occurrence of ash layers underneath the tumulus: if this is confirme. Quintero (L. These date approximately from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. In the case ofT213 and302, they were recovered also from the ashy layers located at the bottom of the cist. 19-20)76; its perimeter, although less regular than that of T213, is well visible and formed by a line of large-sized stone blocks (especially on the northern side). The challenge of building such a new cultural and chronological framework (relative and absolute) for the occupation of the Palmyra Desert through the integration of geoarchaeological surface survey data with limited excavations at significant sites, employing radiocarbon and luminescence dating methods, is one of the main objectives of our project. The highest peaks of the Plateau are those of the 1,000m (3,300ft)+ Khawr um Wual in Saudi Arabia, and the 960-metre high (3,150ft) Jebel Aneiza, at the border tripoint between Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. this type of biome. Robinson (S. 30The desert-kites location, probably most often on the animals migration routes or at crossing pointsof these, reflects the profound knowledge which the groups of specialized hunters who lived in the Palmyra hinterland had of the Syrian mountains and arid steppe and the animals migration paths. unusual factsThe following 10 Facts provide interesting and Helms (S.) & A.V.G. Betts 1987, The desert kites of the Badiyat esh-Sham and North Arabia, Palorient 13,1: 41-67. 2010. Note the hilltop tumulus positions. 9If this hypothesis is tenable, the application of the chronological framework commonly used in the archaeology of Syria to the Palmyra Desert is of dubious usefulness. 16000-300 BC. Antibes. The lack of archaeological evidence of settlement activity at Rujem al-Majdur and its environs, however, suggests a direct association of the ash layer with tumulusT213. 
The largest of these structures can hold up to 1.500. They might be similar to structures recorded among the dolmen types (. 45 On the collection and extraction of salt in Syria and Mesopotamia in the pre-classical epoch, cf. (BAH171). However, other rock engravings from Burqu in Jordan, and the Hemma (Hassake) basalt formation in Northeastern Syria, , clearly portray gazelles and other animals (equids) inside desert-kites, thus establishing an unambiguous association between traps similar to kites and gazelle hunting, . 102 See for ex. The camels are the main make many adaptations in order to survive its extreme climate About twelve million sheep and goats, as well as a smaller number of camels, are grazed by Bedouin herders, many of whom are still nomadic. 1927, The works of the old man in Arabia, Antiquity 1: 197-203. Interesting Facts for Kids 5:- Syrian Desert Rainfall 49 Cf. ). Distribution map of desert-kites in the mountains west of Palmyra. 4The preliminary results of our geoarchaeological research project, supported by palaeoenvironmental proxies from the Levant, suggest a climatic discontinuity between a wet Late Glacial/Early Holocene and a later dry period, which is presumed to have started during the final Pre-Pottery Neolithic B-early Pottery Neolithic6. There are also many types of reptiles such as Madison. herbs and grasses. It should be noted, though, that the absence of a precise chronology for most of the kites currently known. 13Similar constructions are known from many Near Eastern desert regions: Central and Southern Syria, North Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Negev and Sinai12, but their existence in the Palmyra desert ranges had not been noted by researchers until now. Resafa ruins southwest of Raqqa and the Euphrates. Holzer (A.) the Syrian Desert has oil wells present in Iraq and Kuwait? The seasonal lakes attract storks, herons, cranes, small waders, waterfowl, and raptors. Fourth Symposium on Archaeozoology of Southeastern Asia and adjacent areas (ASWA), Paris 1998: 228-241. Since ancient times, the Syrian Desert has been home to a number of indigenous nomadic Bedouin tribes that supported themselves by herding camels and practising small-scale agriculture along the deserts oases. If this hypothesis is tenable, the application of the chronological framework commonly used in the archaeology of Syria to the Palmyra Desert is of dubious usefulness. As the resistance began to gain control of the surrounding areas, coalition spokesmen began to downplay the importance of the Syrian Desert as a center of operations; nevertheless the Syrian Desert remains one of the primary routes for smuggling equipment due to its location near the Syrian border. Thse de doctorat, Universit Lumire Lyon 2. However, even this area is full of stones and
Villages et campements de pasteurs dans le dsert noir (Syrie) lge du Bronze. 54The widespread occurrence of these structures in many of the surveyed areas is a key to understanding the importance of the phenomenon in a region where this kind of archaeological evidence was previously unknown. not applicable to all of the surveyed tumuli) is documented also by historical texts from Mari85, where tumuli seem to be well known in the cultural horizon of the Mari Kingdom.
The problematic association of archaeological materials present on the ground surface, such as lithics and pottery, with the kite structures constitutes a serious methodological problem. They were initially interpreted as fortifications used by local peoples in the Roman period to defend their flocks from raids (, Enclosures similar to desert-kites are used to pen in and divide flocks which graze in a state of semi-liberty in shared grazing areas in the southern part of the isle of Krk (, are dry-stone structures equipped with many side rooms (, ) into which sheep are driven from the central enclosure so as to separate them. . A notable and very important feature of T221 (that makes it unique among the surveyed tumuli of Rujem al-Majdur) is the presence of two vertical stones that seem to form a sort of marker on the southern side of the structure. Burckhardt (J. L.) 1831, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys, Collected During his Travels in the East. This is a typical 2010; Nadel et al. [23] The Syrian desert was first traversed by motor vehicle in 1919. Surprisingly for a biome of this type, the Syrian Desert experiences abundant rainfall. The Syrian Desert occurs in the Middle East and spans an area of To the pilots of the Cairo-Baghdad postal service who, flying over the region in the nineteen-twenties, were the first to know of the existence of the desert-kites, these striking stone-built structures seemed like giant kites. The nature and function of this structure is yet to be ascertained. The Syrian Desert is very important as its formation is huge, spanning five countries Bernbeck1993 (Wadi Ajij); Buccellati1990 (Middle Euphrates); Durand1990 (Khabur salt pans); Potts1984. To the pilots of the Cairo-Baghdad postal service who, flying over the region in the nineteen-twent, The desert-kites are large stone structures systematically located on top of the mountain chains and other high ground in the Palmyra hinterland. Rosen (B.) 19The current state of knowledge, though, does not allow us to exclude the possibility that at least some desert-kites were multifunctional, being used not necessarily contemporarily both as hunting traps, especially for ungulates, and as semi-domesticated ovicaprid enclosures. ), Bahrain through the Ages: 233-250. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Ingold (T.) 1993, The Reindeermans lasso, P.Lemonnier (ed. below, p.46-49). These left their mark in the archaeological landscape of the Palmyra Desert in the form of isolated cairns or clusters of cairns, in some cases associated with small groups of huts, and desert-kites. their importance as landmarks84. The Syrian-Italian survey project has not yet completed its coverage of the region. Distribution map of sites found during survey work in the Palmyra oasis and desert. The desert-kites location, probably most often on the animals migration routes or at crossing pointsof these, reflects the profound knowledge which the groups of specialized hunters who lived in the Palmyra hinterland had of the Syrian mountains and arid steppe and the animals migration paths. billing as the 'Ship of the desert'. The regression curves constructed indicate that between the late Epipalaeolithic and PPNB the gazelles were mostly caught during the wet season (especially in the autumn and winter) and to a lesser extent during the summer, but that they were hunted (and were therefore present) in the Upper Euphrates throughout the year. 84All of these hypotheses, however, cannot be demonstrated by solid archaeological evidence, since it is not possible, at present, to understand whether different tumulus types could be associated with diverse nomadic tribes or tribe segments. growing in the Syrian Desert including trees, shrubs, cacti, 80At the same time the excavated tumuli stress once more the general fragility (attested also elsewhere81,) of the material evidence associated with the Tumulus Cultural Horizon, which often hinders a more precise dating of the tumulus remains. Moscow. The high concentration of desert-kites in the Jebel Hayan, al-Khan and al-Abtar mountainous region, directly connected with the Sebkhat al-Mouah through the Wadi al-Hallabat, may be due not just to the presence of gazelle migration paths, but also to the abundant availability of salt from the nearby salt lake. General View of Tumulus302 with the excavated cist, north towards the upper right corner of the picture. Paris. These are usually tell-based sequences that generate the commonly used Neolithic/ Chalcolithic/ Bronze/ Iron Age chronological systems: these might not suit archaeological evidence from nomadic/pastoral modes of subsistence (in this regard, see also. Bernbeck (R.) 1993, Steppe als Kulturlandschaft. 1994, Gazelle-hunters and Salt-collectors: A Further Note on the Solubbas, BASOR293: 79-80. 1)3. Despite the fact that the development of modern international boundaries has pushed many of these Bedouin tribes to settle near oases in recent years, a few of them still live nomadic lifestyles. 
