The Towers on the Roman Coptos-Myos Hormos Road in Egypt: Communication Signals or Surveillance Towers?
Fiche du document
2024
- ISIDORE Id: 10670/1.e62ea5...
- hal: hal-04803887
Ce document est lié à :
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement//759078/EU/Desert Networks: Into the Eastern Desert of Egypt from the New Kingdom to the Roman period/Desert Networks
Sujets proches
Clock-towers Church towersCiter ce document
Bérangère Redon et al., « The Towers on the Roman Coptos-Myos Hormos Road in Egypt: Communication Signals or Surveillance Towers? », HALSHS : archive ouverte en Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société, ID : 10670/1.e62ea5...
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
This paper explores the role and chronology of the towers along the Roman Coptos-Myos Hormos road in Egypt, using visibility analysis. This study concludes that their primary role was to monitor traffic rather than to transmit messages across the desert. Initially, a single tower was built next to each fort on the road as an integral part of their defense and surveillance system. However, as insecurity increased in the first half of the second century CE and nomadic attacks multiplied, a full-scale network was created in the second half of this century, providing complete visibility over the road and the adjacent wadis, and guaranteeing optimum security. This is an innovative system in the Roman world as its aim was to protect a route rather than a border, reflecting the importance of the Coptos-Myos Hormos road as a vital link between the Roman world and the Red Sea.
