"Anjar"

 

"Anjar, the fortified 'new town' founded during the reign of the Caliph al-Walid (AD 705-15), but which was destroyed only a few decades later (After Salame-Sarkis);

1. great palace;

2. mosque;

3. small palace;

4. "hamam" (public baths);

5. housing (excavatated);

6. central junction of maind shop-lined roads with a Roman-style monumental tetrastyle;

7. North Gate;

8. East Gate;

9. South Gate;

10. West Gate;

11. One of twelve pairs of stairs onto the fortified wall:

12. One of four hollow corner towers (the other 36 towers, including those flanking the gates are solid).

Reference:

D. Nicolle, "Saracen Strongholds AD 630-1050," Fortress 76, (Osprey Pub.-2008), P. 8-9

Cross-section and plan of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople

 

This plate shows a complete cross-section and plan of a typical stretch of the Theodosian Walls. The section shows the different layers of defense. On the plan, are the different shapes of the towers.

From Left to Right:

--Moat ( 61 ft. wide, and more that 20 ft. deep);

--Moat Walls (6 ft. 6 in. high);

--Parateichion (terrace between the outer wall and the moat wall, 61 ft. wide, and it's main purpose was to extend the distance between the besiegers and the besieged);

--The Outer Wall (The outer wall is from 2 ft to 6 ft 6 in. thick, and rises 27 ft, 6 in. above the Parateichion);

--Peribolos (terrace between the Inner and Outer Walls which accommodated the soldiers who defended the Outer Wall. It was 50 to 64 ft. wide.);

--The Inner Wall (96 towers were 57 to 60 ft. high, and spaced between 175 ft. to 181 ft. apart. It rises 40 ft. above the city level and varies in thickness from 15 ft. 6 in. near the base to 13 ft. 6 in. at the top.);

The Theodosian Walls were constructed using both stone and brick. In the detail of the wall showing the cross-section of the wall, both materials can be seen. Brick was used more sparingly than stone.

Reference:

Stephan Turnbull, "The Walls of Constantinople AD 324--1453," Fortress 25, Osprey Pub., London, 2004, pp.10-13.

Kafr Lam Fortress

 

This fort rests on the Mediterranean coast, South of Haifa. It is an early Islamic period fort, but strengthened in the ninth or tenth century AD (After H. Barbe et al.).

1. Pre-Islamic Romano-Byzantine structures;

2. Crusader chapel with apse cut into the wall of the fort;

3. Later Islamic structures from the Ottoman Period.

Reference:

David Nicolle, "Saracen Strongholds AD 630 - 1050, The Middle East and Central Asia," Fortress 76, Osprey Pub., London, 2008, pp 29.

Mosque / Fortified Headquarters, Kufa, Iraq

 

The fortified Dar al-Imara administrative headquarters was founded in AD 638 , but was rebuilt in AD 670 by the governor of Basra (After G. Macheil).

1. Mosque;

2. Central Courtyard;

3. Fortified Inner Enclosure;

4. Outer Fortifications.

Reference:

David Nicolle, "Saracen Strongholds AD630 -- 1050, The Middle East and Central Asia," Fortress 76, Osprey Pub., London, 2008, pp.8-9

Harran Citadel

 

Ancient structures, including a Sabaean Temple which remained in use throughout the early Islamic period are shown in black. Early Islamic fortifications , including the East gate with its carved decorations, are shown in dark grey. The early thirteenth century citadel is shown in white with dark lines (After Hanisch and Faucherre).

Reference:

Davis Nicolle, "Saracen Strongholds, The Central and Eastern Islamic Lands," Fortress 87, Osprey Pub., London, 2009, pp. 5.

Lashkari Bazar

 

This is a diagram (floor plan) of the late eleventh to twelfth century fortified palace built for the Ghaznawid rulers of Afghanistan and northern India. Part of the northwestern corner of the palace has been eroded by the River Helmand and there was an irrigation canal in the narrow space between the palace and the river (see the green line):

1. Great northeastern tower;

2. Audience hall decorated with wall-paintings and with a small pool fed by the East-West channel (After Schlumberger and Ettinghausen).


Reference:

D. Nicolle, "Saracen Strongholds 1100-1500," Fortress 87, Osprey Pub.-2009), P. 5

Side,Top, and Section Views of the trireme "Olympus"

 

The ship views shown here are scale drawings. The 170 rowers were arranged in three files on each side: 31 in the top bank and 27 in each of the two lower banks. The six files are arranged in a "V" shape, with the lowest bank farthest inboard and the top one farthest outboard. The seats of the rowers in the top and bottom files were angled a few degrees inboard, so that all the oar tips were evenly spaced.

Reference:

"Scientific American," April, 1989

http:www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist%26civ/slides/02herod/trireme.jpg