Campaign accounts recount the frustration of Assyrian kings in encountering narrow roads in mountainous terrain.. a number of paved roads were built in Assyrian cities.. Th e best-known
Trang 1aft er winter rains would have washed boulders and other
de-bris into pathways Th is event is also mentioned in the Jewish
text the Talmud Th e Greek historian Xenophon (ca 431–ca
352 b.c.e.) also refers to the necessity of clearing the Persian
Royal Road and the problem of mud in the spring
Th anks to the Assyrians, the Iron Age was a period of
expansion in road construction throughout the region Paved
processional routes cropped up in cities Campaign accounts
recount the frustration of Assyrian kings in encountering
narrow roads in mountainous terrain Many accounts
de-scribe engineers with picks widening routes through stone so
that the army could pass Mention is also made of roads
be-ing so narrow that the kbe-ing’s horse could not fi t on the path
and of terrain that was too treacherous for horses to pass
Th e widened roads were still of use to the Persians, who seem
to have followed the Assyrian roads through the area Th e
Persian army was employed in road building According to
Xenophon, Persian spearmen carried axes, bowmen carried
mattocks, and slingers carried shovels
Evidence of urban paved roads has been found on
occa-sion Cobbled streets appeared in towns in the Halaf Period in
Mesopotamia (ca 5500–ca 4500 b.c.e.) An Early Bronze Age
(ca 3800–ca 2000 b.c.e.) paved street has been discovered at
Beth Yerah in Israel, and a Middle Bronze Age (ca 2000–ca
1500 b.c.e.) street has been found at Nābulus in Israel
Typi-cally, urban paving was restricted to processional ways to
temples, areas around gates, and occasionally other major
streets Few have been preserved During the Neo-Assyrian
Period (ca 1000–ca 626 b.c.e.) a number of paved roads were
built in Assyrian cities Th e royal road ran through Ninevah
on its way to points west Th e best-known paved road in
Mes-opotamia was Aiburshabum, the processional street of
Mar-duk in Babylon, built in the Neo-Babylonia Period (625–539
b.c.e.) It has been unearthed For the bulk of its length, the
street is approximately 22 yards wide, narrowing to under 7
yards as it approaches the temple
Th e method of construction of paved streets varied A
number of diff erent styles are evidenced in Iron Age Israel
Th ese methods included paving consisting of reeds and clay,
shards and pebbles, rubble and plaster, and wedge-shaped
cobbles, with the point of the wedge inserted in plaster In
Mesopotamia the preferred method of construction consisted
of setting bricks in a layer of asphalt and then topping the
roads with limestone slabs, which were sealed with asphalt
Maintenance of the roads was a function of governments
Lo-cal governments were responsible for roads in their territory,
while the overall road network was the product of the central
government
Th e width of roads naturally was determined by their
function and usage Roads were at their widest in cities,
evi-denced by Aiburshabum street in Babylon Other recovered
streets in Babylon were from 2 to 11 yards wide, usually in the
range of 3 to 6 yards Th e royal road through Ninevah
wid-ened by Sennacherib (r 704– 681 b.c.e.) was 33 yards wide
Archaeologists assert that a road needed to be at least 2.6
yards wide for two small two-wheeled carts to pass Moun-tain roads oft en were narrower
Th ere is evidence of way stations beginning with the reign of Shulgi (ca 2094–ca 2047 b.c.e.) throughout the an-cient Near East Some of them may have been private capi-talist ventures, especially those closer to urban centers In open areas these stations provided protection from raiders, gathered intelligence on both traveling parties and locals, and helped the government collect duties and tolls Th ey also pro-vided lodging, food, drink, and prostitutes for travelers Bridges in the ancient Near East were rare prior to Roman rule A number are mentioned in the Neo-Assyrian Period Sennacherib built one of bricks and limestone in Ninevah Bridges are mentioned in a number of places in Neo-Assyr-ian texts Th e remains of a bridge in the city of Babylon have been uncovered, presumably built by Nebuchadnezzar II (r 605–562 b.c.e.), consisting of fi ve to seven piers It is cited
by the Greek historian Herodotus (ca 484–between 430 and
420 b.c.e.) Nebuchadnezzar claimed to have built a bridge of wood over the East Canal in Babylon, in turn covered with bricks supporting Aiburshabum street
Most bridges in the ancient Near East were pontoons rather than permanent structures Ownership of a bridge was the source of serious income, as tolls would be charged for access Th ere are Neo-Babylonian contracts preserved con-cerning bridge ownership Th e surface of these bridges oft en consisted of logs or dirt, occasionally having guide ropes Th e pontoon bridge built across the Hellespont (the strait that separates Anatolia from Greece) by the Persian king Xerxes (r 486–465 b.c.e.) had not only dirt over logs and guide ropes but also a fence
With the coming of the Romans and then the Byzan-tines, bridges became a more common sight Syria and Pales-tine were fully integrated into these societies, as is evidenced
by the wide network of roads Roads further had a symbolic value, as Roman engineering conquered nature, evidenced in paving and bridge building Th ey demonstrated that Roman rule brought tangible benefi ts, a key hurdle in trying to main-tain control over a conquered region
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY KIRK H BEETZ
In looking at the history of roads and bridges in Asia and the Pacifi c it is important to understand the distinction some ar-chaeologists make between paths and roads Paths are ways that are worn by foot traffi c, but roads are the products of con-struction Th ey may follow an old path, or they may, through human eff ort, create new avenues for traffi c Th ey may even be intended to send traffi c in new directions Th e Silk Road, con-tradicting its name, consisted of several interconnected paths that led in a general east-to-west direction from northwestern China through central Asia to northern India or through the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean world, followed for the purposes of trade Trade along the Silk Road was a signifi
-886 roads and bridges: Asia and the Pacific