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Geoffrey & Françoise
Summers |
Surrounding the city is a 7 km long defensive circuit of, solid, dry, uncut stone, visible from space. It comprises a curtain wall pierced by seven gates and strengthened by the addition of external towers and buttresses. Enveloping the outer faces of these features is a continuous, steeply sloping, stone rampart or glacis that is flush with top of the wall and its appendages. This glacis not only binds the elements together and prevents the outer faces from falling, but it also extends below the base to prevent slipping. The sloping outer face, however, could not have deterred a serious attacking force since it is little more than 2m in height for much of its length. It is thought that the stone-work was intended as a footing for a huge mud-brick wall, one that was apparently never built. The plan of each of the strong city gates is different, being adapted to the opportunities afforded by the terrain. Towers and buttresses are likewise positioned where defensive needs were greatest. Where the stream flows through the western wall, the weakest point in the defences, extraordinary measures were taken. Why the superstructure was not built is unknown, but might suggest the withdrawal of forces in response to needs elsewhere in the empire. Unlike archetypal ancient cities, there was no acropolis and no internal defensive walls dividing urban sectors, an observation that suggests stability and harmony within and that contrasts with the military theory underlying the defensive planning of later Greek cities (Lawrence 1979).
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