Battles in Basalt: A Study of the Weaponry Depicted in the Safaitic Rock Art of Jebel Qurma, North-Eastern Jordan

In the north-east of Jordan lies the badia, a harsh and barren landscape that can be divided in the basalt uplands of the harra and the gravel plains of the hamad. Although the area seems uninviting, it holds a wealth of archaeological remains. The Landscapes of Survival project is one of the several research projects that studies these remains, and focusses on the pastoralist archaeology of the Safaitic time period in the Jebel Qurma region. A large part of the archaeological record at Jebel Qurma is made up of rock engravings. Part of these rock engravings contains depictions of weaponry. This thesis aims to shed light on the relationship between these weapons and the people that once carved them using iconographic research, literary sources, ethnographic accounts and epigraphic evidence. The broad main question “what can the depictions of weapons on the rock art of Jebel Qurma tell about the people that once lived here?” will be answered using sub-questions that aim to classify...Show moreIn the north-east of Jordan lies the badia, a harsh and barren landscape that can be divided in the basalt uplands of the harra and the gravel plains of the hamad. Although the area seems uninviting, it holds a wealth of archaeological remains. The Landscapes of Survival project is one of the several research projects that studies these remains, and focusses on the pastoralist archaeology of the Safaitic time period in the Jebel Qurma region. A large part of the archaeological record at Jebel Qurma is made up of rock engravings. Part of these rock engravings contains depictions of weaponry. This thesis aims to shed light on the relationship between these weapons and the people that once carved them using iconographic research, literary sources, ethnographic accounts and epigraphic evidence. The broad main question “what can the depictions of weapons on the rock art of Jebel Qurma tell about the people that once lived here?” will be answered using sub-questions that aim to classify weapon types, look at weapon trade networks, identify patterns in weapon usage, and place data acquired at Jebel Qurma in a regional and ethnographic framework.Show less

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Battles in Basalt: A Study of the Weaponry Depicted in the Safaitic Rock Art of Jebel Qurma, North-Eastern Jordan