The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia
Traditionally polygonal tower tombs dating from the Greco-Roman era, especially found in the area of Syro-Mesopotamia, have only been treated as funerary structures without discussion of their other possible purposes. In this paper we wish to inquire whether they had other functions as well. The mos...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2015-08-01
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| Series: | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| Online Access: | http://www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/II-5-W3/287/2015/isprsannals-II-5-W3-287-2015.pdf |
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| author | M. Silver M. Törmä K. Silver J. Okkonen M. Nuñez |
| author_facet | M. Silver M. Törmä K. Silver J. Okkonen M. Nuñez |
| author_sort | M. Silver |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Traditionally polygonal tower tombs dating from the Greco-Roman era, especially found in the area of Syro-Mesopotamia, have only
been treated as funerary structures without discussion of their other possible purposes. In this paper we wish to inquire whether they
had other functions as well. The most famous examples of these types of tombs are situated in Palmyra in Syria. They are built of
limestone, follow a square layout, and some exceed the height of 20 m. Similar structures are found in the Euphrates valley of Syria.
The Finnish project SYGIS that worked in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates and Palmyra during the previous decade studied some
of the structures in the region. As far as the tower tombs are concerned, our research suggests that new structural, topographical and
spatial aspects can be raised, and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) can be applied for analysing their properties for visibility.
The tendency to locate tower tombs along roads and the entrance areas of a city as well as at a mountain edge seems to indicate that
the tombs may have had observational functions serving as watch towers. The aspects of the location in terrains are emphasized in
the present study, and digital terrain models were utilized using SRTM DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data for carrying out
viewshed analyses in order to survey the observational qualities of the towers in Palmyra, on Halabiya, on Jebel Bishri in Syria and
Hatra in Iraq. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T19:17:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b8d038a1b75c4b24a60eead4bc86ab44 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2194-9042 2194-9050 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T19:17:14Z |
| publishDate | 2015-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b8d038a1b75c4b24a60eead4bc86ab442022-12-21T23:34:15ZengCopernicus PublicationsISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences2194-90422194-90502015-08-01II-5/W328729310.5194/isprsannals-II-5-W3-287-2015The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-MesopotamiaM. Silver0M. Törmä1K. Silver2J. Okkonen3M. Nuñez4Department of Archaeology, Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin, TurkeyAalto University, Espoo, FinlandIndependent researcherUniversity of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandUniversity of Oulu, Oulu, FinlandTraditionally polygonal tower tombs dating from the Greco-Roman era, especially found in the area of Syro-Mesopotamia, have only been treated as funerary structures without discussion of their other possible purposes. In this paper we wish to inquire whether they had other functions as well. The most famous examples of these types of tombs are situated in Palmyra in Syria. They are built of limestone, follow a square layout, and some exceed the height of 20 m. Similar structures are found in the Euphrates valley of Syria. The Finnish project SYGIS that worked in the neighbourhood of the Euphrates and Palmyra during the previous decade studied some of the structures in the region. As far as the tower tombs are concerned, our research suggests that new structural, topographical and spatial aspects can be raised, and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) can be applied for analysing their properties for visibility. The tendency to locate tower tombs along roads and the entrance areas of a city as well as at a mountain edge seems to indicate that the tombs may have had observational functions serving as watch towers. The aspects of the location in terrains are emphasized in the present study, and digital terrain models were utilized using SRTM DEM (Digital Elevation Model) data for carrying out viewshed analyses in order to survey the observational qualities of the towers in Palmyra, on Halabiya, on Jebel Bishri in Syria and Hatra in Iraq.http://www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/II-5-W3/287/2015/isprsannals-II-5-W3-287-2015.pdf |
| spellingShingle | M. Silver M. Törmä K. Silver J. Okkonen M. Nuñez The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences |
| title | The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia |
| title_full | The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia |
| title_fullStr | The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia |
| title_full_unstemmed | The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia |
| title_short | The possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in Syro-Mesopotamia |
| title_sort | possible use of ancient tower tombs as watchtowers in syro mesopotamia |
| url | http://www.isprs-ann-photogramm-remote-sens-spatial-inf-sci.net/II-5-W3/287/2015/isprsannals-II-5-W3-287-2015.pdf |
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