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Sabaean Kingdom

  • The Sabaean Kingdom (c.1200 BCE-275 CE) was located in modern Yemen and was an ally of the Roman Empire.

Roman Client Kingdom

Cities

  • Its Capital was at Marib, near the modern Capital of Sana’a, (altitude 7,500 ft), one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
  • Its main port was Aden, known as ‘Eudaemon’, a city built inside the crater of an extinct volcano.

The Incense Road

Azania

The Sea Silk Road

 

Marib, Yemen

Queen Hatshepsut

  • Queen Hapshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) was an Egyptian Pharaoh during the New Kingdom (1520-1075 BCE).
  • Hatshepsut built a Mortuary Temple at Deir el-Bahri, in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. The walls describe a sea voyage to the Land of Punt to collect exotic Goods.

Dynasty

  • Queen Hatshepsut was the first Pharaoh of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) and started the Eighteenth Dynasty.
  • This is the same Dynasty as Tutankhamun (1332-1323 BCE).

Hateshepsut’s Temple

  • The Temple consists of three storeys of double colonnaded terraces, connected by long ramps, originally covered in gardens.
  • The Temple is aligned to the Winter Solstice.
    • A lightbox permitted the winter sun to penetrate the rear wall of the chapel, illuminating the statues of the Gods.
    • A second lightbox permitted the sun to penetrate a second chapel behind the first.

Land of Punt

  • She organised a voyage to the Land of Punt, described on the walls of her Temple at Deir el-Bahri.
  • The ships brought back exotic Goods, such as Elephants and Giraffes, along with trees of Frankincense and Myrrh, that were placed in gardens on the ramps of her Temple.

Senmut's Tomb

  •  Senmut, Queen Hatshepsut’s architect, built his own Tomb which is situated next to Hatshepsut’s Temple.

 

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Valley of the Kings

Himyarite Kingdom

History

  • The Capital was at Zafar.
  • It was on a caravan road that linked Marib, the Capital of the Sabaean Kingdom with the Red Sea.
  • The Himyarite Kingdom exported Frankincense and Myrrh from Arabia.
  • It also traded extensively with the independent ports of East Africa, in particular, the Ivory trade.
  • In c.25 BCE it invaded the neighbouring Sabaean Kingdom.
  • Around 200 CE Qataban was invaded.
  • Around c. 300 CE Hadramawt was conquered.
  • It was finally invaded by Ethiopia in 525 CE.

Relations with Rome

  • In 26-5 BC The Roman Prefect of Egypt, Aelius Gallus, took the Legions (probably the Legio III Cyrenaica) for his campaign against Arabia Felix, in modern Yemen.
  • During his absence, the Kushan kingdom attacked Upper Egypt.
  • The next Prefect of Egypt, Gaius Petronius, invaded Kush and sacked Napata in 22 BCE, ending the threat from Kush for the next three centuries.
  • The Himyarite Kingdom remained on friendly terms with Rome. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea refers to its Ruler as a ‘friend of the Emperors’. In c. 25 BCE it invaded the Sabaean Kingdom, which then also became an ally of Rome. It exported Goods from East Africa and Arabia to Egypt up the Red Sea.

 

Zafar, Yemen

Gallipoli Peninsular

  • The Gallipoli Peninsular, also known as the Thracian Chersonese, is located in the East Thrace Region of the European part of Turkey. The Peninsular controlled access to the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.
  • It is famed for the failed Gallipoli Campaign (1915-1916) by the Allies against the Ottoman Turks, during the First World War (1914-1918).

Thracian Chersonese

  • At Agora it had a 4 mile (6.5km) defending wall across it from sea to sea. From here the Peninsular was 48 miles (77.5km) long and had 12 cities.
  • The important cities were Callipolis and Sestos, which was the main crossing point to Turkey.
  • The other main cities were Agora, Cardia, Pactya Alopeconnesus, Madytos and Elaeus.
  • Opposite, on the southern shore, and near the mouth of the Hellespont, was the ancient city of Troy.
  • The Gallipoli Peninsular was also famous for its production and export of wheat.

The Dardanelles

  • Under Augustus and the Roman Empire, Thracian Chersonese was split off from Thracia and administered separately under direct Imperial control as an ‘Ager Publicus’ or ‘Property of the State’.
  • It controlled the Straits known as either the Dardanelles or the Hellespont.
  • This was the shipping Route into the Sea of Marmara, which in turn connected via another Strait, the Bosphorus, to the Black Sea.

 

Gallipoli Peninsular

Coptos to Berenice Roman Road

  • The Coptos to Berenice Roman road was a road in Egypt that connected Coptos on the Nile with Berenice on the Red Sea.
  • Camel Caravans carried cargoes at night through the desert and rested in fortified areas with cisterns during the day.

The Road

  • Pliny the Elder described this road in Egypt in detail.
  • Originally the road was developed by the Ptolemies between Edfu and Berenice.
  • Then Vespasian ordered a series of Wells, Fortlets and Cisterns to be built which connected the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road with the Ptolemaic Edfu to Berenice road.
  • Berenice itself was surrounded by 10 Fortlets on various access routes, which were built by the Prefect of the Desert Region.

The Cisterns

  • Hydreumata
    • a Well, sometimes fortified.
  • Praesidia
    • A square fortlet with round towers at each corner and two defensive towers either side of the entry gate. They were of varying sizes.
  • Lacus
    • a cistern

The Roman Army

  • A Vexillatio of the Legio III Cyrenaica was based at Berenice between 30 BCE-c.35 CE.
  • They may have had units defending all the Forts and Inns along the Road from Coptos.
  • The remains of intervisible watchtowers on the mountains above indicate the probability that a signalling system also connected the two ports.

 

Berenice

Bornholm

  • Bornholm is a Danish Island in the Baltic Sea, located to the east of Denmark’s other islands, south of the Swedish coast and north of the Polish Coast.
  • Two groups of Bronze Age Standing Stones are located on the island, and a large Find of Medieval gold foil figures was discovered here.

Roman Brooches

  • Approximately six Roman brooches known as fibulae, dating from the 1st-3rd century CE, and usually worn by Roman soldiers have been found on Bornholm.
  • Similar brooches are normally found on the river Elbe up to southern Jutland, a route followed by Germanic soldiers serving in the Roman Army, returning to the Baltic.

Standing Stones

  • Two groups of Bronze Age Standing Stones are located on the island, and a large Find of Medieval gold foil figures was discovered here.
  • The Standing Stones are from the Bronze Age:
    • Louisenlund has 50 Megalithic standing stones.
    • Gryet, originally, had 60 Megalithic standing stones.

Gold Foil Figures

  • Over 2,400 gold figure foils have been found on the Island. Some are from the same die as the gold foil figures found at Uppakra in Sweden.
  • They date from the Period of the Merovingian Dynasty (c.457 CE – March 752 CE). Some of the figures appear to be of Kings with long hair. The Merovingian Kings were known as the ‘long-haired kings’.

Pliny the Elder (21-79 CE)

  •  Pliny the Elder mentions three islands in the Baltic, one of which may have been Bornholm.
  • The Isle of Abalus
    • Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, quotes Pytheas and mentions the Isle of Abalus as being one day’s sail from the coast of Scythia, from the estuary of the Vistula into the sea of Mentonomon (the Baltic). It being one thousand stades to the Skagerrak.
  • Baunonia
    • Pliny the Elder refers to ‘Baunonia’ as being one day’s sail from the coast of Scythia, where Amber was washed up by the sea and collected.
  • Basilia
    • Pliny the Elder also refers to another island, three days sail from the coast of Scythia, and called ‘Basilia’ by Pytheas. It is thought that he meant the ‘Isle of Abalus’ mentioned by Pytheas.

 

Bornholm

Kaymakli

  • Kaymakli is an underground city originally named Enegup, and is one of 36 Underground Cities located in the Province of Cappadocia in modern Turkey.
  • It is connected by a 5 mile (8 km) tunnel to another Underground City called Derinkuyu.

Visits

  • Kaymakli, levels 1-4, have been open to the Public since 1964.
  • Currently, levels 5-8 are not open to the Public.

The Eight Levels

  • Level 1: Stable, Church, Living Quarters, closed off by a Millstone door.
  • Level 2: a complete church layout with graves and living quarters.
  • Level 3: Kitchens, Storage rooms with Presses for Olive Oil or Wine.
    • There is a Smithy for working Copper using a block of Andesite stone drilled with 57 holes. Copper was then placed in each of the 10 cm wide holes and hammered until it achieved strength.
  • Level 4: Storage rooms for Earthenware Jars.
  • Levels 5-8: Closed to the Public.

Construction

  • The tunnels were protected by huge circular millstones in niches that could be rolled into a blocking position to close the tunnel, or rolled back into the niche to reopen the tunnel. They could only be leveraged from the inside via a hole through which outsiders could also be viewed.
  • The rooms are grouped around vertical air shafts, and also had deep wells in order to remain self sufficient.

History

  • The underground cities possibly date as far back as 1,500 BCE, during the Period of the Hittite Empire.
  • To conceal themselves from invading armies the population built an underground city of 100 tunnels built out of the soft tufa rock, below their existing city.
  • Tunnels connect the underground cities to each other.

Sources

  • Xenophon (431-360 BCE)
    • The underground cities are mentioned by Xenophon in his ‘Anabasis’.

 

Kaymakli underground city, Turkey

Mount Sinai

  • Mount Sinai is located in the south of the Sinai Peninsular, in Egypt.
  • It is possibly the Mount Sinai of The Bible, mentioned in Exodus, where Moses received the Ten Commandments.

St. Catherine's Monastery

  • St. Catherine’s Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox Monastery located at the base of the Biblical Mount Sinai in Egypt. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • It was built between 548-565 CE by Justinian I (527-565 CE) and is a sacred Landmark in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

 

 

 

Mount Sinai, Egypt

Derinkuyu

  • Derinkuyu is an underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey, dating back to 1500 BCE. It has eight levels and could accommodate 20,000 people and is open to the Public.
  • It is connected by a 5 mile (8km) tunnel to another underground city called Kaymakli.

Visits

  • Derinkuyu has been open to the Public since 1969.
  • Currently, only half of its levels can be visited.

Construction

  • The tunnels were protected by huge circular millstones in niches that could be rolled into a blocking position to close the tunnel, or rolled back into the niche to reopen the tunnel. They could only be leveraged from the inside via a hole through which outsiders could also be viewed.
  • The rooms are grouped around vertical air shafts, and some of which are deep wells in order to remain self sufficient.

History of Derinkuyu Underground City (1500 BCE)

  • Derinkuyu, along with Kaymakli, is one of 36 Underground Cities located in the Province of Cappadocia. in modern Turkey. The Underground Cities had tunnels connecting to each other. Derinkuyu is connected to Kaymakli by an 8 km tunnel.
  • The underground cities possibly date as far back as 1500 BCE during the Period of the Hittite Empire.
  • The Underground Cities are mentioned by Xenophon (431-360 BCE) in his ‘Anabasis’.
  • To conceal themselves from invading armies the population built an underground city of hundreds of tunnels built out of the soft tufa rock, below their existing city.
  • Derinkuyu is the deepest Underground City with 8 Levels going down 85 m, and able to accommodate around 20,000 people.

 

Derinkuyu Underground City