Shorapani/Sarapanis

Serving much the same purpose as Skande/Scandis and contemporary with it. Shorapani/Sarapanis is also referred to in late antique sources and played a role in the conflicts to control Lazica.

Type: Architecture
Tags: C4th-C6th, Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Late Antique, Procopius

Vardtsikhe/Rhodopolis city walls

Defences of the city of Vardtsikhe/Rhodopolis. The western and south western sections seem to be the best preserved.There has been a significant amount of restoration in modern times and in some places complete replacement of the wall.

Type: Architecture
Tags: C4th-C6th, Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Lazica, Procopius

Tsikusdziri/Petra

The castle of Tsikusdziri is believed by many to be the fortified city of Petra, (not to be confused with Petra in Jordan) mentioned in late antique sources and built by the Byzantines. This identification seems to be because a better candidate has not been located. Tsikusdziri lacks the harbour a trading centre like Petra would have required. Nevertheless the association of Tsikusdziri with Petra is mostly accepted.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Justinian, Procopius

Gonio/Apsarus

Gonio is a large rectangular fort originally built by the Romans who knew it as Apsarus. The fort has been used on and off ever since. Its strategic position has meant it's reoccupation and reuse has been frequent. Traces of modern use can be seen in the concrete gun ports built into the older defences.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Defensive Network, Fortifications, Georgia, Georgian, Late Antique, Roman

Defensive walls, Towers and town, Halabiyeh/Zenobia

Type: Architecture
Tags: Anastasius, C5th-C6th, Church, Defensive Network, Justinian, Military Architecture, Procopius, Roman, Syria

Fortifications, Zalabiyeh

The fortification of Zalabiyeh is recorded by Procopius who attributes the building of the defences to Justinian's reign. As with much of Procopius' testimony this claim must not be accepted out of hand. The remains of the defences show evidence of at least two major phases of building. The oldest phase is composed of ashlar faced walls with a rubble and concrete core, the later phase is made up of ashlars throughout. The later phase appears to have been only present in some of the towers and is certainly part of a renovation of the defences where some of the older towers needing replacing. These two different wall building techniques are mirrored across the river at the fortifications of Halabiyeh, Zalabiyeh's sister site. I have proposed that the site was not originally fortified by Justinian but was rather repaired during his reign and had older origins, potentially during the reign of Anastasius.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Anastasius, Citadel, Defensive Network, Deir ez Zor, Euphrates, Fortifications, Fortress, Halabiyeh, Justinian, Late Antique, Procopius, Syria, Zalabiyeh

Resafa City Gates and Walls

The impressively preserved city walls of Resafa are the subject of some debate when regards to their age and to who's reign their construction can be credited to. Scholars seem to be split as to whether they were constructed in the reigns of the Emperor Anastasius (491-518 AD) or the Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD). Procopius' attributes the first stone wall to the reign of Justinian. However this cannot be wholly accepted as fact as Procopius' accounts are occasionally deliberately misleading and sometimes wholly inaccurate. The most well preserved and impressive of the gates still extant is the Sura Gate on the north side of the city.
Regardless of which reign they were constructed in the defences do seem to be Late Antique. The walls, their covered galleries, the towers and gates were well preserved when I visited in 2010. As a result of the civil war their current condition is hard to ascertain.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Anastasius, C4th-C5th, C5th-C6th, C6th-C7th, C7th-C8th, C8th-C9th, Defensive Network, Justinian, Late Antique, Procopius, Resafa

Harran

Harran is a ruined city in south-eastern Turkey not far from the Syrian border. It dates back many millennia and is believed to be by many people to be the Harran mentioned in Genesis where Abraham and Sarah (then still named Abram and Sarai) settled when they left Ur of the Chaldees. The city remained resolutely pagan throughout the late antique period and was dedicated to the moon god, Sin. Perhaps this was to mark its difference from the nearby Christian city of Edessa, but Harran was later swift to embrace Islam. Today its most significant monument is the extensive ruin of Harran's vast C8th congregational mosque, the minaret of which is still extant.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Abraham, Architecture, C8th, Chaldees, Defensive Network, Harran, Minaret, Mosque, Sin, Turkey, Ur

Urfa City Walls

The traces of the west wall of the city, subsumed into buildings of many different periods.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Defensive Network, Edessa, Turkey, Urfa, Wall

Urfa City Walls

The most complete section of the ancient city walls still extant is in the north-eastern sector of the old city around what is now known as the 'Bey Gate', but which was in fact a bastion.

Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bey, Defensive Network, Edessa, Gate, Turkey, Urfa, Wall