Note on Remains of the Roman Limes in North-Western 'Iraq

IN an article published in the Journal for January 1936, on the work of Pere A. Poidebard, s.j., La trace de Rome dans le desert de Syrie,,, I had given an account of the very fruitful investigations, important in both their antiquarian and geographical results, which that distinguished French scholar had carried out in 1925-32 on the remains of the Roman Limes or defensive road system once protecting the eastern borders of Syria. In concluding my remarks on this masterly survey, effected largely from the air with the help of the French Air Force in the Levant and under the auspices of the Academie des Inseriplions and the French Haut Commissariat in Syria, I had pointed out how desirable it was that these researches should be extended to adjacent portions of the Limes situated in territories which are or until recently had been under the British mandate. Owing to the character of the ground, chiefly desert, on which these remains of Rome's easternmost frontier defences had to be looked for, the assistance of the Royal Air Force in aerial reconnaissance and photography appeared from the start an essential condition for the execution of this task. It offered a special quasi-personal attraction to me in view of the fact that in the course of my second and third Central Asian expeditions I had discovered and explored the remains of the oldest archaeologically attested Limes line. It lay along the route opened at the close of the second century B.c. by the Han Emperor Wu-ti from westernmost China into Turkistan. The support accorded to the plan by the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries, and the Royal Geographical Society enabled me to secure the help of the Royal Air Force for the proposed task in a generous measure. For this I cannot feel too grateful. Archaeological examination on the ground was needed to check and supplement all observations from the air. For this the 'Iraq Petroleum Company, interested in the area to be searched, was kindly induced by Lord Cadman's recommendation to grant valuable facilities by the loan of a competent topographical assistant in the person of Surveyor Iltifat Husain, late of the Survey of India, and of the requisite motor transport. A variety of considerations led me to select for the initial portion of my task that section of the Limes between Tigris and Euphrates which, situated situated in 'Iraq territory, had remained outside Pere PoidebardJs researches. But the exact indications his work furnished as to the Roman routes leading up to the present Syro-'Iraq border proved throughout very helpful also beyond it. The permission for the survey was readily granted by the 'Iraq Government. For this and the local assistance received through the friendly intercession of Mr. C. J. Edmonds, Adviser in the 'Iraq Ministry of the Interior, I feel duly grateful. Owing to limitations of time and other reasons no excavations were included in the programme. The search made proved the area containing remains of the Limes to extend roughly over more than 120 miles from north-east to south-west and about 90 miles in the opposite direction. It would have been impossible to carry

Ancient history · Geography · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and Historical Studies · History

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