ul 2004
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Remote
Orlando
F Digital
^s of the
ngress ,
Nilsen,
st "Inte-
'roceed-
ition for
. Report
an n°43,
DIFFERENT IMPLICATIONS OF A SPATIAL BOUNDARY
Jebel Bishri between the Desert and the Sown in Syria
M. Lónnqvist, PhD* M. Tórmà, Lic.Tech. ^
"Project Leader, Institute for Cultural R esearch, Department of Archaeology,
? POB 59, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland - minna.lonnqvist(thelsinki.fi
Research Scientist, Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing,
Helsinki University of Technology, Otakaari 1, 02150 Espoo, Finland
- markus.torma(chut.fi; the website of the project: www.helsinki.fi/hum/arla/sygis
KEY WORDS: Archaeology, Environment, Satellite, Spatiality, Photogrammetry, Human Settlement, Agriculture, Development
ABSTRACT:
The mountain of Jebel Bishri forms a strategically important natural bastion on the Middle Euphrates in Syria. The mountain has
been a natural, economical and political border zone for different cultures and empires. The area is environmentally limited with the
Syrian desert and the irrigated fields of the river plain. The neighbourhood is the cradle of agriculture: the earliest cultivation at the
village of Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates dates to ca. 9000 B.C. Remote sensing methods reveal the character of this natural frontier,
which during the past decades has been combating against increasing desertification. Satellite images have been used in mapping and
monitoring the area of Jebel Bishri. A 3-D-model of the area has been constructed fusing radar and satellite images. Environment has
stimulated different formation processes and spatial patterning of the sites on the mountain compared to those of the riverine zone.
The cycle of nomadism and sedentism is reflected on the lifestyle still today. The mountain is exemplified with the flimsy remains of
mobile societies detectable only with the satellite images offering high spatial resolution. With the satellite images numerous tells,
ruined towns or villages, have been detected in the green river valley that reflects the sedentary way of life and trading activities.
Archaeology provides a long-term perspective to subsistence patterns and site development processes that helps to understand and
plan enduring development in the area.
1. FOCUSING ON JEBEL The Finnish archaeological survey and mapping project SYGIS
BISHRI IN CENTRAL SYRIA is focusing its explorations on the mountain of Jebel Bishri for
archaeological reasons in order to survey and map ancient
remains in the area (see Lonnqvist — Tormd, 2003). The area has
earlier remained virtually unexplored by archaeological means.
With the aid of remote-sensing data we have been able to cover
large areas and to choose different types of environments for
our field surveys on the ground. Global grids, such as UTM, can
be used as spatial units in archaeological research strategies as
they offer objective areas to retrieve varied information. But
natural formations, like mountain edges or rivers, may also
serve as transect lines offering specific archaeological data
within different natural boundaries on the ground.
More frequently archaeological research designs have a global
perspective to cast light on people in their environment.
Archaeology can be brought to study human beings in their
environmental context through long-term perspectives in order
to approach present environmental problems and make forecasts
for the aid of enduring development.
Jebel Bishri is a mountain covering ca. one million hectares and
forming a natural border zone in Central Syria. The highest
peak of the table mountain reaches 865 m. The eastern
piedmont areas start already from the suburbs of the city of Deir
ez-Zor on the Euphrates River. The mountain itself consists of
desert-steppe; the Syrian desert opens to the south while the
northern and eastern side beneath is covered by flooded and
irrigated plains of the Euphrates. The mountain consists of
limestone and sand stone, but there also exist basalt outcrops
and marl terraces on the edges of the alluvial zone. Tectonic
activities are distinctly visible in the basalt outcrops, such as the
cape of Halabiya. (Wirth, 1971).
The purpose has been to catch information of human occupation
and its relationship to the environment. The ancient remains are
the target of our study not only for their own sake as material
remains marking early human activities in the area, but also in
order to understand long-term development through the
remains. Environment is a significant context in which changes
occur, and the region of Jebel Bishri is a mosaic of different
environments.
Jebel Bishri is a natural bastion that has been not only an
economic but also a socio-political border between nomadic
pastoralists and village agriculturalists for millennia. The
development and relationship of nomadic and village cultures
through time are of special interest. Nowadays the groups
identified as nomads consist of Bedouin tribes grazing their
flocks on and around the mountain, and peasants are identified
as Fellahin engaged in agriculture and village life in the plain
regions.
The yearly precipitation in the area of Jebel Bishri hardly
reaches 150 mm; only once in ten years the amount of rainfall
extends to 250 mm. Farming is restricted to irrigated fields in
the riverine valley beneath the mountain or in oases and wadis
of the desert-steppe. According to the UNESCO global
definition, the arid zones receive 80-350 mm rainfall within the
range of 50-100 mm interannual fluctations. Grazing but not
continuous dry farming can be maintained in this zone.
(Beaumont, 1993). The Euphrates flowing beneath Jebel Bishri
has been a source of incipient farming and the oldest
civilizations in the world. The river has always served not only
as a natural border but also as a means for transportation and
flow of information.
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