Encyclopedia of society and culture in the ancient world ( PDFDrive ) 959

886 roads and bridges: Asia and the Pacific after winter rains would have washed boulders and other debris into pathways This event is also mentioned in the Jewish text the Talmud The 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 Thanks 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 describe engineers with picks widening routes through stone so that the army could pass Mention is also made of roads being so narrow that the king’s horse could not fit on the path and of terrain that was too treacherous for horses to pass The widened roads were still of use to the Persians, who seem to have followed the Assyrian roads through the area The 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 occasion 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 Typically, 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 The royal road ran through Ninevah on its way to points west The best-known paved road in Mesopotamia was Aiburshabum, the processional street of Marduk 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 yards as it approaches the temple The method of construction of paved streets varied A number of different styles are evidenced in Iron Age Israel These 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 Local governments were responsible for roads in their territory, while the overall road network was the product of the central government The width of roads naturally was determined by their function and usage Roads were at their widest in cities, evidenced by Aiburshabum street in Babylon Other recovered streets in Babylon were from to 11 yards wide, usually in the range of to yards The royal road through Ninevah widened 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 Mountain roads often were narrower There is evidence of way stations beginning with the reign of Shulgi (ca 2094–ca 2047 b.c.e.) throughout the ancient Near East Some of them may have been private capitalist 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 They also provided 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-Assyrian texts The 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 five 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 There are Neo-Babylonian contracts preserved concerning bridge ownership The surface of these bridges often consisted of logs or dirt, occasionally having guide ropes The 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 Byzantines, bridges became a more common sight Syria and Palestine 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 They demonstrated that Roman rule brought tangible benefits, a key hurdle in trying to maintain 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 Pacific it is important to understand the distinction some archaeologists make between paths and roads Paths are ways that are worn by foot traffic, but roads are the products of construction They may follow an old path, or they may, through human effort, create new avenues for traffic They may even be intended to send traffic in new directions The Silk Road, contradicting 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-