The reading of the al-Hallabat imperial edict is one of the most

The reading of the al-Hallabat imperial edict is one of the most exciting achievements of
recent research on the cultural heritage of Jordan. This hitherto unknown Greek text is of
great importance for the military history of the Limes Arabicus in the 6th century AD prior to
the advent of Islam. The production of a set of exact copies has been generously sponsored
by the
Federal Republic of Germany.
The Edict of
Emperor Anastasius I.
(491-518 AD)
An Interim Report
The Edict of
Emperor Anastasios I.
(491-518)
Interim Report
This booklet carries the number
out of 100. This exclusive edition is not distributed by the book market but given
as a present on the occasion of the inauguration of the copies
of the Anastasios Edict to The Jordan Museum.
Presented to
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------with the compliments of
The Edict of
Emperor Anastasius I.
(491-518 AD)
An Interim Report
edited by
Ignacio Arce, Denis Feissel & Thomas M. Weber
Amman
2014
This publication was produced for the German Week 2014 at Amman.
Copyright © by Deutscher Akademischer Austausch-Dienst, Amman
Edited by Ignacio Arce, Denis Feissel & Thomas M. Weber
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
editors.
Printed by
SELEX CENTER Ramzi Dallal
Tla al-’Ali, Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Made in Jordan
Front and Back Cover: Detail of the Anastasius Edict Inscription from al-Hallabat, block 81/4 (© Spanish Archaeological Mission).
Gold coin (demissis) of Anastasius I., avers: D N ANASTASIVS P P AVG, diademed, draped and cuirassed bust right; revers: VICTORIA AUGGG, Victory seated right, inscribing XXXX on shield; * left, Christogram right; CONOB (© Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.
http://www.cngcoins.com).
Contents
Introduction
The Discovery and Restoration of the al-Hallabat Inscriptions
by
Ignacio Arce, Detlev Kreikenbom & Thomas Maria Weber...................................................7
Qasr al-Hallabat:
From Late Antiquity to the Advent of Islam:
The Excavation, Restoration and Musealization Project (2002-2013)
by
Igncio Arce.............................................................................................................................11
Umm id-Djimâl
The original Location of the Anastasius Edict
by
Igncio Arce & Thomas M. Weber.........................................................................................19
Preservation and Reconstruction
The actual Location and original Arrangement of the Inscription Blocks
by
Thomas M. Weber.................................................................................................................27
The Reconstructed Text
A unique Document on Military Administration in the Late Roman East
by
Denis Feissel..........................................................................................................................33
Addresses of the Authors.......................................................................................................36
Introduction
The Discovery and Restoration of the al-Hallabat Inscriptions
by
Ignacio Arce, Detlev Kreikenbom & Thomas Maria Weber
T
he masonry of Qasr al-Hallabat preserves an
inscriptional document of outstanding importance. More than 160 reused basalt blocks are
inscribed with fragments of a coherent text in Greek
originally arranged in more than 300 lines and organized in about 70 chapters, related to the military
organization of the eastern border of the Byzantine
Empire, the Limes Orientalis. The origin of this legal
text at the council of the imperial court at Constantinople in the reign of Emperor Anastasius I (491 518 AD), was already determined by a group of
American scholars from the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria headed by Howard
Crosby Butler (Fig. 1) early in the 20th century. It was
not possible then to retrieve the text rather than in
some fragments, since the majority of the inscribed
stones were hidden under the masses of fallen ashlars
of the destroyed Qasr.
A good deal of new material came to light, when
the Department of Antiquities of Jordan under the
direction of Dr. Ghazi Bisheh (Fig. 2) undertook
clearance and excavation work at al-Hallabat between
1979 and 1982. These careful Jordanian investigations are of rather high value since they brought a
large number of hitherto unknown inscription blocks
to light. The decipherment of these new documents
was undertaken at this time by the French scholar
Jean Marcillet-Jaubert, who published an enlarged
reading of the Greek text of the Anastasius edict.
A new impetus to proceed on the reconstruction of
the text was made possible by the excavation, restoration and musealization project directed by Dr. Ignacio
Arce, Director of the Spanish Archaeological Mission
in Jordan, and funded by the Spanish Cooperation
(AECID), which took place from 2002 to 2013. This
Opposite: Archaeological map of principal sites mentioned in
this brochure, the sites of al-Hallabat and Umm id-Djimal encircled in red (© Department of Antiquities of Jordan.
project allowed the systematic collection of all the
remaining inscribed stones from this long inscription
being displayed in a new lapidarium at the Site
Museum.
The importance of the edict itself, but also the
questions on the original location of the inscription
and its reuse at al-Hallabat led to establish the Anastasius Edict Project as a branch of the main project
developed by the Spanish Archaeological Mission
during the last decade. The project was thus intended
with three main goals: Firstly to retrieve the original
text and to carry out its translation and interpretation
(exegesis); secondly to study the original location of
the inscription and the reasons for its reuse at alHallabat in the 6th C AD; and thirdly to produce several replicas that will allow not only a proper presentation of such a relevant epigraphic document on the
history of Jordan to the public in general (at the
Jordan Museum and the al-Hallabat Site Museum),
but also to be used at as a valuable resource for teach-
Fig. 1: The staff members of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria in 1904 headed by Howard Crosby
Butler (© http://www.princeton.edu/research-photographs/ archaeological-archives/ butler).
8
Ignacio Arce, Detlev Kreikenbom & Thomas Maria Weber
ing Greek epigraphy to the new generations of students at the Jordan University.
According to these goals Dr. Arce requested the
collaboration of renown epigraphists to carry out the
textual and physical restitution of the Anastasius
edict, which is being carried out by Professor Dr.
Denis Feissel, Paris, in the frame of the Inscriptions
Grecques et Latines de la Syrie project (run by the
Institut Français du proche-Orient and financed by
the CNRS), in cooperation with Professor Dr Thomas
M. Weber, German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD) Amman. Some surprising new finds of inscriptional blocks, made by a group of Jordanian students during a field course held by Th. M. Weber in
November 2013, supplemented the reconstruction
works.
The edict gives an important account on the military defense of the Limes Orientalis prior to the Arab
conquest. It regulates the duties of Byzantine officials
Fig. 2: The Jordanian excavator of al-Hallabat Dr. Ghazi Bisheh
(Photo Department of Antiquities of Jordan).
ruling in the Dioecesis Orientis. Apart from reconstructing an impressive inscriptional monument of the
Jordanian Cultural Heritage, the restituted text to be
published by Professor Dr. Denis Feissel will contribute to a clearer understanding of the history of the
country in the broader context of the Roman East.
This epigraphic research, related to the one conducted by I. Arce and Th. M. Weber on the original location of the inscription, its architectural context and
historical vicissitudes, will allow a better understanding of the transitional period which witnessed the end
of Byzantine rule and the advent of Islam. The collaboration of the Spanish experts in infography and
petrography, are enriching further the multi- and interdisciplinary approach of the project.
In alliance with its Jordanian, Spanish and French
partners, the Cultural Heritage Preservation Program
of the Foreign Ministry of the Federal Republic of
Germany agreed to finance copies of this edict for
future public display at the Site Museum of alHallabat, the Jordan National Museum, and the campus of The University of Jordan. The conservation
work and the copying by molds was executed on
autumn 2013 by Ms. Inga Vollmer of the RömischGermanisches Zentralmuseum in cooperation with
the Johannes Gutenberg-University at Mainz. The
work was resumed in February 2014 by the Jordanian
restorers Ms. Khairiyeh Khokhon and Ms. Myriam
Abu Taher. Until the present dedication they completed the copies of the first nine rows of blocks comprising the restituted lines 1 to 100 of the Anastasius
edict. The painstaking efforts of these three GermanJordanian restorers in producing the copies despite
various obstacles is to be gratefully aknowledged and
appreciated. The directive field work and logistic
management for this project was shared by Dr.
Ignacio Arce with his German partners, Professors
Dres. Detlev Kreikenbom (Mainz) and Thomas M.
Weber (Amman).
This innovative initiative of restoration will allow
not only a proper presentation of such a relevant epigraphic document on the history of Jordan to the public in general, but will offer as well a unique didactic
tool for younger generations of Jordanian students
learning Greek epigraphy.
The project was supported in all its practical and
idealistic aspects by various institutions and individuals in Jordan, Spain, France and Germany:
Introduction
9
Fig. 3: The German restorator Inga Vollmer with Jordanian students at the work of copying the inscription blocks at al-Hallabat in
November 2013 (© Thomas M. Weber).
• in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: by Their
Royal Highnesses Prince Ali ibn Hussein & Princess
Reem Ali, who kindly permitted the team to copy one
inscription block of the edict in their property; the
Director General of the Department of Antiquities of
Jordan, Professor Dr. Monther Dahash Jamhawi, and
his deputies, Mr. Aktham Oweidi, Head of the Directorate of Survey & Excavation, Mr. Rommel Gharaib,
Chief Inspector of Antiquities for the Zerqa District,
General Administrator of the Dabarbour Store-House
Mr. Adnan Rifaiah; by the former Director General of
the Jordan Museum Amman, Her Highness Sherifa
Nofa Bint Nasser, and the Acting Director General
Professor Dr. Zeidan Kafafi, the Deputy Director Dr.
Khairiyeh ‘Amr, the Chief Curator of Classical
Antiquities, Dr. Joshua al-‘Amri, the deputy Head of
the Department of Restoration, Ms. Nihad Hindawi;
by the Dean of The Faculty of Archaeology &
Tourism, The University of Jordan, Amman, Professor Dr. Maysoon Nahar, and the students of this university participating in the field course in November
2013; by the Dean of The Faculty of Archaeology &
Anthropology, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Professor
Dr. Nabil Bader, and the Chief Curator at The
Museum of Jordanian Heritage at Yarmouk
University, Professor Dr. Nihad Shabar; the blacksmith Yousef Malkawi (Abu Rami) with his sons
Mohammad, Achmad and Rami (Bani Kinaneh).
• in the Kingdom of Spain: H.E. Mr. Santiago Cabanas
Ansorena (Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in
the HK of Jordan); Mr. Jesus Prieto de Pedro
(Director General de Bellas Artes y Bienes Culturales
y de Archivos y Bibliotecas MEC); Mr. Alfonso
Muñoz Cosme (Subdirector General del Instituto del
Patrimonio Cultural Español IPCE), Mrs. Itziar
Taboada (Directora General de Relaciones Culturales
y Científicas, AECID-MAEC), Prof. Ricardo Aroca
(Presidente Instituto Juan de Herrera, Escuela Tecnica
Superior de Arquitectura-Universidad Politécnica de
Madrid); Dr. Concepción Martín (Jefa de sección de
Arqueología del IPCE); Mr. Ignacio Moscoso (Specialist in infography - Spanish Archaeological Mission); Drs. Rafael Fort, Miguel Lopez-Heras, Monica
Alvarez del Buergo, & Paula Lopez-Arce (Grupo de
Petrología aplicada a la Conservación del Patrimonio Departamento de Geomateriales. Instituto de
10
Ignacio Arce, Detlev Kreikenbom & Thomas Maria Weber
Geociencias. Universidad Complutense de Madrid Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC-UCM).
• the Republic of France: Professor Dr. Frédéric Alpi
(Director of the Archaeological Section, Institut
Français du Proche-Orient); H. E. Ms. Corinne
Breuze (Ambassador of France in Jordan, Amman);
Prof. Dres. Jacqueline and Jean-Marie Dentzer
(Paris), Mr. Thibaud Fournet (Acting Director of the
Institut Français du Proche-Orient in Jordan); Mr.
Eberhard Kienle, (Director General of the Institut
Français du Proche-Orient, Beirut), Ms. Brigitte
Mermoud (Institut Français du Proche-Orient),
Professor Dr. Jacques Seigne (Tours).
• in the Federal Republic of Germany: Dr. Hans-Dieter Bienert (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft,
Bonn); Ms. Kathleen Burde (Bundesverwaltungsamt,
Referat II A 6, Köln), Dr. Renate Dieterich (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Bonn) Professor Dr. Ricardo Eichmann (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Orientabteilung, Berlin); Dr. Christian
Huelshoerster (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch-
dienst, Bonn), Ms. Helena Hottenbach (Johannes
Gutenberg-Universität, Allgemeine Personalbetreuung, Mainz), Ms. Arua Husaini (Deutscher
Akademischer Austauschdienst, Bonn), Oberstleutnant i.G. Hubert Kemper (Militärattaché an der
Deutschen Botschaft Amman), Professor Dr. Annalis
Leibundgut-Maye (Wiesbaden), Ms. Silvia NissenHuelse (Auswärtiges Amt, Referat 602, Berlin), Ms.
Friederike Schomaker (Deutscher Akademischer
Austauschdienst, Bonn), Dr. Mechthild Spielmann
(Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Betriebsärztlicher
Dienst, Mainz), H. E. Mr. Ralf Tarraf (German Ambassador, Amman); Mr. Andreas Schaaf (Event
Management, Amman); Ms. Franziska Vogl (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Buchhaltung, Mainz), Mr.
Andreas Wutz (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Information Center, Amman), Hauptfeldwebel
Patrick Weiss (Militärattachéstab an der Deutschen
Botschaft Amman); Ms Sabine Wilke (Institut für
Klassische Archäologie an der Johannes GutenbergUniversität, Mainz), Mr. W. Wnendt (Direktor der
Kulturabteilung, Auswärtiges Amt, Berlin).
Thanks to all of them!
Qasr al-Hallabat
From Late Antiquity to the Advent of Islam:
The Excavation, Restoration and Musealization Project (2002-2013)
by
Ignacio Arce
Introduction
T
he excavation and restoration of Qasr al-Hallabat
complex has allowed the recovery of one of the
most outstanding and representative early Islamic
monuments in the Levant. This project funded by the
Spanish Agency for International Cooperation
(AECID), and carried out by the Spanish Archaeological Mission in collaboration with the Department
of Antiquities, under the scientific and technical
direction of Dr. Ignacio Arce, has involved twelve
years of uninterrupted work and has encompassed the
full excavation and restoration of the major components of the complex: The Qasr (a former Roman fort
reused, Fig. 5), the Mosque (Fig. 6), and the bathhouse at Hammam as-Sarrah (Fig. 8), plus the creation of a unique site museum (Fig. 9) and visitors'
centre. It is certainly one of the most important and
ambitious projects devoted to the restoration of Early
Islamic architecture in the Levant.
Its goals have been the excavation, restoration and
presentation to the public of the complex, not merely
Fig. 4: The phases of development of the Qasr al-Hallabat from a Roman forteress to an early islamic residence (© Spanish
Archaeological Mission to Jordan).
12
Ignacio Arce
Fig. 5 (right page): The Restoration and Presentation of the al-Hallabat Complex: The Qasr, (© Spanish Archaeological Mission to
Jordan).
as an academic endeavor, but as a way to generate
public awareness to regain the collective memory of
the local community and to foster the economic
development of the region and its inhabitants through
the promotion of cultural tourism. The project has
sought the strengthening of the ties of the local population with the site, pursuing the appropriation of the
monuments by them as the best way to reinforce their
identity, and to guarantee the conservation of the site
and the sustainability of the intervention, while making out of it an engine for their social and economic
development.
Public Awareness and Knowledge Dissemination
We strongly believe that the main responsibility of
archaeology and its actual social value relies on its
capacity to convey to the Society the information
Qasr al-Hallabat
gathered and the knowledge achieved through scientific research, promoting public awareness and dissemination of that knowledge and of the values of all
kind embodied in this heritage. Accordingly, and in
order to present to the local community and the visitors these values, the history of the site and the links
with the local population, it has been devised and
built a visitors’ centre and a site museum with indoor
and outdoor displays (Figs. 8 and 9).
We also think that Museums are not mere stores of
beautiful artifacts but tools to transform information
into true knowledge to be conveyed to the present and
future generations. Thus, the results of scientific
research have been presented using state of the art
museologic and museographic techniques, which
include a full electronic catalogue of findings, three
dimensional virtual reconstructions and didactic
videos to facilitate the understanding of the site to the
general public. These videos which present the virtual reconstruction of the site throughout its history,
allow the visitor better understanding the appearance
and significance of the site without attempting notverifiable reconstructions. Actually, only it has been
carried out the anastylosis (restoration using original
elements) of those architectural elements of which we
had full certainty about its original configuration,
without compromising the authenticity of the site. In
this regard the stratigraphic analysis of the whole
complex, which allowed retrieving the sequence of
physical transformation and change of uses of the
built structures, has been used as tale-teller to preserve the documental and historical value of these
built structures.
Retrieving the Historical sequence
of the monument
Qasr al-Hallabat Complex is thus, more than a
remarkable monument; it is a unique built document,
which embodies on its walls and on the material evidences retrieved, the record of its own History and
that of the Region specially during the transition
between the end of the rule of the Roman Empire and
the arrival of Islam, allowing us to better understand
this key period of History.
The research conducted during the project of exca-
13
vation and restoration carried out by the Spanish
Archaeological Mission, is offering a new and
renewed view of the period between the end of the
Roman rule and the advent of Islam to Bilad as-Sham,
using the architectural remains as evidence to elucidate and better understand the social and political
context that determined this key transformation in the
history of mankind. This transitional period usually
neglected (as an academic "no-man’s-land" in the
scholar border between Classical and Islamic studies), is becoming an increasingly relevant area of
research. Thus, the results achieved by this project,
offer new perspectives to the study of Early Islamic
Art and Architecture, but also to the history itself of
this transitional period between Rome and Islam,
offering a revealing insight of the role played by the
Arab elites in this transition.
The complex had been partially excavated and
studied previously by Dr. Ghazi Bisheh (Fig. 2) who
demonstrated that the last phase of use of this complex corresponded to the Umayyad period. However,
the recent research conducted on Qasr al-Hallabat has
provided extensive evidence of the transformation of
this former Roman Fort from the Limes Arabicus (the
Arab Frontier) into a palatine and monastic complex
in the 6th century AD by the Ghassanid phylarchs,
prior to its final refurbishment into an Umayyad qasr
in the 7th-8th centuries AD, and before its ultimate
destruction and abandonment in AD 749. The detailed
analysis on the material evidence has provided not
only an accurate sequence of uses, building activities
and related building techniques employed, but also of
the decorative linings and their patterns (mural paintings, carved stucco, marble linings, floor mosaics,
etc). This research has been carried out diachronically linking the physical transformation of its architecture to the changes of use that took place from Late
Antiquity to Umayyad period.
The historic significance of the site
Qasr al-Hallabat is perhaps one of the most representative and important sites to understand the sociopolitical and cultural changes that took place in the
Levant during the transitional period from Late
Antiquity to Early Islam. The research conducted has
14
Ignacio Arce
allowed understanding the historical sequence of the
site and that of the region (Fig. 4):
Originally al-Hallabat was a small Roman fort
built in Severan period on a Nabatean outpost, to protect the lands of the Provincia Arabia after the annexation of the Nabatean Kingdom in 106 AD. This fort
was actually part of the Limes Arabicus (the Arabian
frontier) that had been set to protect the cities and the
agricultural lands located to the west, from the double
threat of Persian Armies and pastoralists’ raids.
Following the increasing insecurity from 3rd century
AD onwards, this small fort was enlarged and transformed into a quadriburgium (a fort with four corner
towers) in the Tetrarchic period (4th century AD), most
probably under Diocletian. It was manned by limitanei (troops defending the frontier or ‘limes’, mainly
auxiliary cavalry units). Apparently, the fort was
abandoned and then heavily damaged by the devastating earthquake that hit the region in 551 AD, being
transformed afterwards into a monastery and a palace.
At the beginning of the 6th century AD a major
change was operated in the defensive strategy of the
eastern frontier of the Roman Empire to cope with the
new threat posed the light cavalry of the Lakhmids
(Arab vassals of the Persians that had started to raid
the Roman provinces using a guerrilla-like warfare).
These changes would deeply affect to all the structures of the Limes Arabicus in general, and to Hallabat in particular. Emperors Anastasius first and Justinian later, realised the need for a new strategy that
would involve the removal of the limitanei troops garrisoned in the forts of the Limes Arabicus, which have
proved not to be efficient enough to neutralize and
reject the attacks of such a mobile army. They understood the need to face this threat with a similar mobile
army, which could only be provided by these allied
(foederati) Christian Arabs, using the same strategy
and tactics adopted by their enemies. Accordingly, the
role of the Christianised Arab elites in the defence of
the frontier started to be determinant: Firstly the
Tanukh, afterwards the Salih and finally the Ghassanid were entrusted with the task of defending the border. They did not need to garrison troops in forts: As
a mobile army they just needed a reliable logistic support, which in many cases was offered by the monasteries which were patronised and defended from the
Persian raids by them.
As a consequence, regular Roman Army troops
were withdrawn from these forts, which were occupied in many cases by monastic communities, very
active in the conversion of the pastoralist inhabitants
of the pre-desert steppe or Badiya (the nearby agricultural exploitation seems to date to this period).
These monastic communities took advantage of the
strategic location of these forts (near crossroads,
water sources, or other places of gathering for the
semi-nomad population of these regions) to widespread the Christian faith (and in many cases, to offer
the aforementioned logistic support required by these
foederati troops). The monasteries, especially those
following the Monophysite faith (that only recognises one divine nature in Christ, in contrast with the
Diophysite faith that accepts the double nature, divine
and human) enjoyed the decisive support of the
Ghassanids, the federate Christian Arabs that had the
effective military command of the area in the 6th century AD. Their increasing military and political
importance was sanctioned in the agreement (‘foedus’) of 530 AD signed with Emperor Justinian that
recognised the Ghassanid rulers as Archiphylarchs (=
“primary leaders of tribes”) and Basileis (= “kings”)
of these Christian Arab foederati (that unlike the
Palmyrenes and the Nabateans were not citizens of
the Roman Empire). This new ‘royal’ status of the
Ghassanids meant that they needed theatres of power
to play their new role. In many cases, like at al-Hallabat, they chose some of these same abandoned forts
transformed into monasteries to set their audience
halls to carry out their clientele policy addressed to
those inhabitants of the Badiya, which was intended
to gain their political and military support, while they
achieved their conversion to Monophysite faith.
The importance of al-Hallabat relies actually in the
fact that the fort was divided and used simultaneously as a Monophysite monastery and a palace, a clear
expression of the political and religious agenda of the
Ghassanid phylarchs. Although vassals of the Byzantine Emperor, their increasing autonomy in military,
political and religious grounds gave rise to a mutual
distrust that was the source of many conflicts and was
one of the reasons of the break of the alliance and the
final withdrawal of the Ghassanid support, which was
apparently related, firstly to the success of the Persian
invasion of 614 AD and latter to the defeat by the
Qasr al-Hallabat
Fig. 6: The Restoration of the al-Hallabat Complex: The Mosque (© Spanish Archaeological Mission to Jordan).
15
16
Ignacio Arce
Fig. 7: North elevation of the Qasr with the bichromatic decora
Fig. 8: The Restoration of the Qasr al-Hallabat Complex, Hammam as-Sarrah and Site Museum (© Spanish Archaeological Mission
to Jordan).
Qasr al-Hallabat
ative pattern using basalt and limestone combined in rows (© Spanish Archaeological Mission to Jordan).
Fig. 9: The al-Hallabat Site Museum, view of the interior exhibition hall (© Spanish Archaeological Mission to Jordan).
17
18
Ignacio Arce
Muslims of the Byzantine armies in 636 AD at the
battle of Yarmouk (after Emperor Heraclius had
defeated the Persians and regained the land lost a
decade earlier).
In many aspects the Ghassanids can be seen thus as
forerunners of the Umayyads, especially when dealing with their patronised building activities. These
were related to their respective political and religious
agendas, different in their scale and final aims but following a very similar strategy based in that clientele
policy played with the inhabitants of the desert steppe
Badiya, in order to gain their political and military
support.
On top of that, Qasr al-Hallabat stands as witness
and material evidence through which we can learn
about the historical role played by this region and the
populations who inhabit them, not only as a border
between mighty rival empires and a place of political
and military confrontation, but also as the theatre of
fruitful cultural and commercial interchange. This is a
unique region where not only these rival empires
encountered and traded with each other, but also
where two different landscapes and two different
groups of people with contrasting lifestyles coexist
and live side by side: On the one hand, settled people
living in villages and towns, mainly farmers
(Fellahin) who cultivate the narrow strip of fertile
land to the West; On the other hand semi-nomad pastoralists (Bedouin) who graze their flocks of camels,
goats or sheep in the neighboring steppe eastwards of
the agricultural lands, and who take advantage of
their command of travelling across the steppe and the
desert, controlling the long distance trade in the
region, easing commerce and interchange. This coexistence of different ways of life has alternated historically between fruitful coexistence and occasional
conflict whenever crisis and famine occurred. We can
say that the political frontier was superimposed
almost exactly onto this natural, social and cultural
borderline between these two different cultural landscapes defined by essentially different lifestyles and
environs. This fact is crucial to understand the history of the region and the materialization of this sociocultural intercourse at al-Hallabat, and makes out of it
a site of paramount importance for the history of
Islam.
Umm id-Djimal
The original Location of the Anastasius Edict
by
IGNACIO ARCE & THOMAS M. WEBER
The Anastasius Edict at al-Hallabat: Why? When?
T
he presence of the fragments of the Anastasisus
edict inscription at al-Hallabat represents one of
the most valuable cultural resources of this monumental complex, as it is probably one of the most
important imperial edicts from Late Antiquity.
Besides, this unusual location has posed to the scientific community one of the most interesting and
demanding questions about its original location, and
the reasons for the reuse of its spolia at al-Hallabat.
It was clear that the dozens of inscribed blocks of
this Imperial Edict, which presents the administrative
reorganization of the defence of the Limes Arabicus
could not have been originally displayed in a small
fort like this at al-Hallabat. On the contrary, it should
have been located at a more important place. But
then, which was this original location of the edict?
And when and why was it transported and reused at
al-Hallabat?
The first researchers who dealt with Qasr alHallabat thought that the reuse of the spolia of such
an important imperial inscription dating from the
beginning of the 6th century AD could only have taken
place in Umayyad period, due to the sort time passed
since it was issued and displayed. This idea led to the
Fig. 10: The basalt city of Umm id-Djimal (© Spanish Archaeological Mission).
20
A (obove)
Ignacio Arce & Thomas M. Weber
B (below)
Umm id-Djimal
C (above)
21
D (below)
22
Ignacio Arce & Thomas M. Weber
Fig. 12: The Western Church at Umm id-Djimal, elevation (© Spanish Archaeological Mission).
Fig. 13: The Western Church at Umm id-Djimal, condition of
the ruin in 1988, view from north (© Thomas M. Weber).
assumption that the refurbishment of the Roman Fort
in which the basalt blocks were used (and the inscription fragments inserted in the walls of the building)
should be dated in Early Islamic period.
Surprisingly, the stratigraphic research conducted
by Dr. Ignacio Arce concluded that the reconstruction
using these basalt stones (including the fragments
with the inscription), had actually taken place in the
6th century AD, after the abandonment of the Roman
Fig. 11a-d (previous double page): Four infographic reconstructions of the palace: a-b: Appearance of the courtyard in the
6th century AD; c-d: Canopy at the entrance of the palace’s audience halls richly re-decorated in Umayyad period (© Dr. I. Arce
& Mr. I. Moscoso, Spanish Archaeological Mission).
fort and the earthquake that devastated the region in
551AD. The fragments of the inscription together
with other hundreds of plain basalt blocks were
brought from some distance (from a place where the
effects of that same earthquake provoke the collapse
of the original structure where they were originally
inserted), and were used thus in the reconstruction
and transformation of the fort into a monastery and a
palace by the Ghassanid phylarchs carried out in the
2nd half of the 6th century AD.
The origin of these basalt stones would be accordingly in an important city from the nearby volcanic
area of the Hauran (Classical Auranitis), where the
effects of the 551 AD earthquake were also devastaing like at al-Hallabat. The most logical option for
this original is Umm id-Djimal due to its proximity to
al-Hallabat (just 20km), its relative importance, and
also due to the circumstantial evidence that several
blocks of the same inscription were still present there
in secondary use.
Still it was not clear why such a big amount of
basalt stones were brought painstakingly from such a
distant place, when at al-Hallabat itself it is available
the best quality limestone from all Jordan. It was clear
that there should be a very good reason to justify such
a “tour de force”, and the related expenses and logistic difficulties for bringing all those basalt blocks
from Umm id-Djimal.
The solution to this enigma came as a result of the
Umm id-Djimal
23
Fig. 14: The Pretorium at Umm id-Djimal, elevations (© Spanish Archaeological Mission).
infographic reconstruction of the palace in Ghassanid
period carried out by Dr. Arce and Mr. I. Moscoso,
which showed that in the construction (and decoration) of this palatine and monastic Ghassanid complex, it had been deliberately sought a bi-chromatic
imagery (in black and white), with the application of
white plaster decoration over a black basalt background (Figs. 7 and 11a-b).
Furthermore, this same bi-chromatic pattern had
been devised for the reconstruction of the external
walls of the structure, including complete rows of
black basalt blocks within the otherwise white fabric
built with local limestone. Parallels of both building
and decorative traditions can be found, not only in the
Hauran area (the area under the control of the
Ghassanids), but also in Yemen, where the Ghassanids came from to the Levant in the late 5th century AD.
As a result of the research conducted, we can conclude that the Ghassanids relayed not only on the
Byzantine imagery but mainly on their own Arab tra-
Fig. 15: The Pretorium at Umm id-Djimal, condition of the ruin
in 2012, view from south (© Thomas M. Weber).
ditions (from Yemenite origin) when they attempted
to create a visual culture of their own, to be used in
the construction of their new palatine venues at Bilad
es-Sham, aimed to support their new status and political agenda. This can be ascertained and witnessed,
not only at al-Hallabat but also in other sites and cities
of the Hawran like Umm id-Djimal, Bosra, and at the
24
Ignacio Arce & Thomas M. Weber
Fig. 16 a-c: Three of inscription blocks of an imperial edict at Umm id-Djimal (© Spanish Archaeological Mission &
Thomas M. Weber).
dozens of fortified monasteries they built in the heartland of their new domains in Bilad al-Sham (like
Mallah, Buraq, etc. now in southern Syria). This
deliberate attempt to reproduce a certain south Arabian visual culture and architectural imagery,
would be thus the ultimate reason and motivation in
the reuse of this black basalt blocks brought from the
Hauran region nearby.
Qasr al-Hallabat becomes thus a clear example of
the importance of the creation of a visual culture for
political and religious propagandistic aims, as can be
ascertained in two successive and crucial moments of
History of the site: under the Ghassanid Phylarchs
(Figs.11a-b) and the Umayyad Caliphs (Figs.11c-d).
Accordingly, color combined with decorative patterns
and an increasing complex catalog of formal and
architectural resources, defined different and specific
visual cultures which represented a basic element to
affirm a political identity, and to convey a political
and religious message with clear propagandistic aim.
The increasing control in the use of light (both natural and artificial) to enhance the visual resources
offered by the architectural elements and decorative
linings of these palatine and religious venues represent a further step in this direction that has been elucidated in the excavation, analysis and restoration of
the monument, offering new insights to the history of
pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Architecture and Art of
Bilad es-Sham.
The Umayyads, not anymore vassals but rulers of
a truly new empire of their own, following in many
aspects the footprints left by the Ghassanids, built a
new culture that was drawn upon that of the two
empires they had defeated, that of the Persian
Sassanians and that of Byzantium. But it was also
built on the basis of that strong Arab identity shared
and already affirmed in these lands by the
Ghassanids. It is not a mere coincidence that many of
the ‘Umayyad palaces’ were built (as happens with alHallabat, Qasr al-Hayr al Gharbi, Qastal, Djabal Says,
Burqu, etc.) on previous Ghassanid settlements. In
our case the intervention on the Qasr was aimed to the
reuse of the palatine halls keeping their function and
transforming the monastic dependences into functional stores for the palace. The building activities consisted mainly on the removal of any lining that would
carry any political or religious meaning linked to the
previous Christian lords. A new set of mosaics, mural
paintings and stucco friezes were applied to the floors
and walls of the audience halls, bearing the new message to be conveyed to the observer. Interestingly a
mosque was built outside the existing premises, not
reusing the humble setting of the inner monastic
chapel, but placing it in an outstanding and commanding location so that it could be seen from the distance.
This dual intervention (refurbishing and reusing
the Ghassanid palace, and the construction of an
extramural mosque), which replaces both the political
and religious significance and focus of attraction to
which the site had been linked until that moment, is
also very important and illuminating. It demonstrates
the double seizure, political and religious, that actually took place, but also demonstrates the interest in
Umm id-Djimal
seizing something even more important: the ascendant and influence both on political and religious
terms upon the pastoralist population that used to
flock to these places, as they would be, once more, the
main support for the new rulers.
The Umm id-Djimal Hypothesis
This historical and cultural context unveiled, provides
further relevance to the fragments of the Anastasius
edict inscription, as they are closely related to the last
stages of the Roman rule and more specifically to the
administrative defence of the Roman Frontier, which
is the main content of this inscription.
The circumstantial evidences point out at Umm idDjimal as the most probable candidate to have hosted
originally this inscription. This assumption is supported by the presence of four inscriped blocks of
appeance rather similar to those at al-Hallabat (Fig.
14). They do not only correspond in sizes and style of
chiseling, but also in their shapes of letters and the
arrangement in numerous lines. According to a preliminary reading by Denis Feissel, three of these
blocks fit together and preserve a coherent text fragment. The fourth block hypotheticaly would fit without lacuna to a stone in the last row of the al-Hallabat
inscription (see Figs. 16a-c and 21). This preliminary
evidence supports the hypothesis that Umm id-Djimal
has been the original location of the al-Hallabat
Anastasius edict.
It remains, however, still unclear on which building at Umm id-Djimal could have been displayed the
inscription: Two main hypotheses have been put forward: The first one would correspond to the West
church (Figs. 12-13): a martyrial extramural church
partly demolished, which is placed in the crossroad
where the branch road which leads to the city gate of
Umm id-Djimal stems off the via militaris which runs
E-W beside the town. The huge north wall of the
church (nowadays collapsed and looted) which was
erected alongside this access road, would have been
the ideal candidate for the hypothetical original location of the inscription: It offers an ideal location for
easily reading this monumental document.
The second hypothesis would correspond to the
perimetral wall of the so called “pretorium” (Figs. 1415) It is the only public building which offers enough
25
surface, and public space in front of it, so as to allow
the reading of such a relevant document.
Umm id-Djimal was lyrically praised as a “gem of
the black desert” by the British traveler Gertude Bell.
The ancient name of the site remains obscure since H.
C. Butler's identification with Thantia of the Tabula
Peutingeriana has been rejected by E. A. Knauf with
convincing arguments. A suggestion by H. MacAdam
of the name Surratha, a north Arabian town in
Ptolemy’s Geography, also remains no more than a
possibility. The period of greatest prosperity, however, came after the reign of the Roman emperors in the
2nd or 3rd centuries AD, as Umm id-Djimal at that time
had more the character of a fortified post and agricultural hamlet some miles east of the major trading
route, the Via Trajana Nova. The site was occupied
for 700 years from the 1st to the 8th centuries AD, and
again early in the 20th century. The area of the ruins is
of considerable size positioned on the southern limit
of the Southern Syrian basalt plateau. In contrast to
al-Hallabat, here the dark black-blue volcanic stone
prevails. Umm id-Djimal is not far from the ‘Azraq
oasis and the funnel-shaped entry to the Wadi Sirhan,
one of the main trade roads leading up from the central Arabian peninsula and the Gulf littoral.
The site today still offers pleasant pastures after
the winter rains; in antiquity it provided a favourable
resting place for camels, and its role as a caravan station might be reflected in its Arab name (“mother of
the camels”).
Various tomb inscriptions testify to the strong
influence of Nabataean traders from the 1st BC century onwards. In contrast to the Hellenized cities of
Southern Syria, Arabia and Palestine, the irregularity
of Umm id-Djimal’s layout conserves its indigenous
character well: No straight central roads, no sub-division into rectangular housing insulae. Instead a chaotic agglomeration of larger and smaller buildings both
public as private in purpose survives in the presentday ruins. The enclosure wall may date back to the
late 2nd century AD, as indicated by an inscription of
AD 177-180 found in the ruins of the western gate.
Honouring the then reigning Roman Emperor Commodus, the Latin inscription fragment found by
American epigraphists of the Princeton University
Archaeological Mission was probably part of the
entablature above the gate arch, describing the urban
defensive system as an opus valli perfectum. A large
26
Ignacio Arce & Thomas M. Weber
castellum in the north-eastern sector of the town was
constructed during the years of the Tetrarchy (end of
the 3rd, begin of the 4th century CD). In the course of
the 5th century this was replaced by smaller barracks,
a Byzantine fortress only 20% as large as its Tetrachic
predecessor (probably used as a fortified monastery
itself).
The first Roman garrison was probably established
after the year AD 106. A Late Roman administrative
office, the so-called Praetorium, later converted to a
domestic dwelling, still survives at the site. The military unit at Umm id-Djimal was outposted from legio
III Cyrenaica which originated in the north-west
Egyptian oasis of Siwa in the early 2nd century AD.
Further Inter-disciplinary Research
In addition to previous, admittedly hypothetical evidence to answer the question of the original location
of the inscription has lead to set a new “scientific
branch”, in order to carry out the petrographic analysis of the basalt stone used, which can offer scientific
evidence in this quest. For this reason, the team of
petrologists led by Prof. Rafael Fort from the
National Council for Scientific Research and the
Complutense University of Madrid (Grupo de
Petrología aplicada a la Conservación del Patrimonio Departamento de Geomateriales Instituto de
Geociencias - CSIC-UCM) was invited to join the
project and participate in this joint research. Their
role is to analyse and compare the composition of the
basalt from the inscribed blocks with that of the build-
ings where it could have been originally located, and
with that of the nearby quarries. The nature of the
basalt has forced to conduct X-ray diffraction analysis, which has been combined with the research of the
mortars used in combination with other test and scientific analysis, and the study of the related building
techniques identified by Dr. Arce in the different
phases of not all the structures involved.
Simultaneously, Dr. Ignacio Arce is working in
collaboration with the specialist in infographic reconstruction from the Spanish Archaeological Mission
(Mr. Ignacio Moscoso) in the reconstruction of the
original appearance and lay-out of the inscription in
its original lay-out and location, paying attention to
the building techniques of the period, and confronting
the two aforementioned hypotheses. This work would
allow not only to identify with more certainty the
original location of the inscription, but also is offering
guidance in the organization of the sections of the
Edict itself, once they have been translated: The disposition in the fabric of the building of the blocks,
according to the rules of the building techniques used
and the shape and dressing of the blocks, is offering
thus information on their relative location, and
accordingly on the organization and relative sequence
of the sections of the text, the exact order of which
would be otherwise not conclusive.
The pioneer interdisciplinary approach of the project is offering relevant results and promoting a new
trends for archaeological research, enriching mutually the work of the specialists in the different areas of
knowledge from all these different perspectives, and
offering new and enriching insights to study the history of this transitional period.
Preservation and Reconstruction
The actual Location and Original Arrangement of the Inscription Blocks
by
THOMAS M. WEBER
T
he main clue for recognising the long text of the
edict was the re-use of the inscription block for
the rebuilding of the Qasr at al-Hallabat. It is evident
that this happened when the text was not anymore of
common value. A desastrous earthquake shook the
geographical zone in 551 AD and it may be assumed
that the re-building activities at al-Hallabat have been
caused by this event. The same catastrophe may give
also a clue on the fate of the construction on which
the inscription originally had been displayed. After
having collapsed, the ashlars of the relevant wall provided building material for new projects. They could
be easily collected on the spot and transported by
beasts of burden to the place of their future destination. The near-by traffic line of the Via Nova Traiana
certainly played an essential role in this endeavor.
Fig. 17 a-b: Outer façade of Room 4 in the northeastern sector
of the interior of Qasr al-Hallabat with 10 re-used inscription
stones from the Anastasian edict (a). The sketch elevation
locates these stones in their actual position with the indication
of the relevant catalogue numbers (© Thomas M. Weber).
The masons and stone-workers at al-Hallabat recut and partly smashed the blocks disregard the Greek
letters, in order to fit into the new masonry. This is the
reason, why some of the stones in one and the same
vertical settings are smaller in size than the neighboring ones. In addition, the outer surfaces of the stones
had been partly covered by light-brown plaster of
which traces still remain. Several chipped pieces with
single letters have been found but only few of them
could be attributed to their original place. The blocks
integrated into the masonry concentrate mainly to the
interior of the Qasr, especially in the four rooms in the
northeastern corner of the late antique tetrapyrgion
(quadriburgus). Their setting is irregular, sometimes
the blocks have been fitted upside-down. The possibility that the inscribed sides of the ashlars are direct-
28
Thomas M. Weber
Fig. 18: Display wall (lapidarium) of the original blocks belonging to the Anastasius edict collected by the Spanish Archa
ed to the interior to the walls (and thus invisible
today) can be excluded with certainty due to constructional features of ancient masonry of the Syrian
and Jordanian basaltic zone. The walls do not consist
of solid cubic blocks but their ashlars have only from
their exterior sides rectangular faces. In the interior of
the wall the stones remained as raw broken wedges,
indented with each other and casted is a massive
package of concrete. The smoothened and rectangular
or square cut surfaces, on which the inscription had
been chiseled, thus form exclusively the exterior elevations.
A large number of inscription stones re-used in the
lower rows of the masonry are still in place (Fig. 17
a-b). Those of the upper rows, however, have fallen
in majority when the castle suffered destruction and
progressive decay thru the centuries. Many of the fallen inscribed blocks were mixed with the debris of the
ruin and hidden by accumulating materials such as
rubble and sand (Fig. 19). For this reason, the early
investigators of the Princeton University Archaeo-
Fig. 19: North eastern interior building inside the Qasr al
Hallabat with heaps of fallen masonry ashlars, condition of the
ruin in 1988 (© Thomas M. Weber).
logical Expedition to Syria could only report the then
accessible objects. Clearance and excavations work
from the 1970s onward retrieved these hidden documents step by step as isolated blocks. Already during
the British Mandate, single blocks were removed
from the site and found their way into public and private collections in Jordan. Several of them today are
preserved in the archaeological museums of the
Yarmouk and Mu’tah Universities and in the gardens
of the Prince Faysal Technical College of the Royal
Air Force at Marka Airport. One of four blocks of a
strikingly similar inscription found at Umm id-Djimal
filled a lacuna in the al-Hallabat text. This fact confirmed previous argues that the original place of display was the basalt town of northern Jordan.
Unfortunately, some of the al-Hallabat blocks got lost
after their discovery. In total, the missing pieces are
estimated less than 20% of the complete original document.
The work by Spanish Archaeological Mission
under the directorate of Dr. Ignacio Arce was decisive. He achieved a relatively complete set of the documents by the above described clearance and restoration activities. These isolated blocks deriving from
the fallen debris were carefully collected and consolidated by their exhibition in a lapidarium at the site's
visitors center (Fig. 18). This assemblage was supplemented by accidental finds in November 2013,
recorded by students of the University of Jordan visiting the site with the present author, and by new other
fragments which have appeared in different locations
throughout Jordan (Royal Jordanian Air Force Base at
Marka, various Jordanian Universities and Museums,
private collections, etc.). They all have been recorded
and added to the corpus of research.
The present arrangement of these original documents could not been otherwise done than in a rather
arbitrary manner since a number of blocks necessary
Preservation and Reconstruction
29
aeological Mission in the terrain inside and around the Qasr al Hallabat (© Mohammed Adee, The University of Jordan).
for the reconstruction remained in the ancient walls or
were not available at the site. In respect of this situation, the idea grew up to produce exact copies in scale
1:1 in order to organize them in the sequence of the
original inscription screen. The technique of copying
would offer a further advantage: A number of replicas
could be produced in order to be exhibited at other
locations for a wider audience. At first place the
Jordan Museum as the central location for the presentation of the Kingdom’s cultural heritage was chosen.
Another replica will be erected on the campus of the
Jordan University for the benefit of future generations. The inscribed blocks of this long coherent text
provide an excellent medium for academic teaching,
especially in respect of the important training in
ancient Greek language. Two other copies of the reconstructed epigram would be foreseen for the
archaeological sites of al-Hallabat and Umm idDjimal in order to increase their attraction for touristic and scholarly visitors.
The reconstructed arrangement of the copied
blocks bases exclusively on the textual reading of
each single document by Professor Dr. Denis Feissel,
the world-wide leading specialist in Byzantine epigraphy. The full publication of the document including
commentaries and historical evaluation will be due to
him. It was his liberality and capability of cooperation
that this result could be achieved. Research on the
text, however, is still in flow. At present, seven Parts
of the text could be restituted of whose the first one
(Figs. 20-21) is the longest and most complete one.
These parts cannot be connected to each other yet and
figure thus isolated fragments of the coherent edict.
Their textual sequence, however, can be determined
by their contexts: Part one starts with the preamble
(“emperor Anastasius gave the following orders...”)
to which the following chapters are grammaticaly
related by the consecutivum “that”. This first part
comprises 135 lines of text organized in 21 chapters.
Part VII (Fig. 27) most probably constitutes the end
of the edict. Even small details given by new finds
may lead to slight modifications in details. For this
moment, Denis Feissel agreed with the author to
present of the reconstructed text of the first 101 lines
(Figs. 20 and 28) which is relatively secure to the
Jordanian Public.
Fortunately, the Government of the Federal
Republic of Germany could easily be convinced
about the outstanding value of the Anastasius Edict
for the cultural cooperation with Jordan. The cultural
department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided
to sponsor two campaigns of work in November and
December of 2013, and in February, March, April and
May in 2014. The results of this initial initiative are
presented on 11th of May 2014 in the context of the
German week organized by the German Embassy
Amman. The present display is preliminary only.
Beside the physical object presented now in the
Museum of Jordan, the project had a number of sideeffects such as the practical training of two Jordanian
conservators specialized in silicon copying and gypsum acrylic casting, and in the awareness of the textual document by Jordanian students for the military
history of their country.
Further work is required to achieve the final goal
of producing the inscription in full length and providing two further sets of copies for the campus of the
Jordan University and for the visitor centre at alHallabat. After the experiences of the past campaigns,
two to three years must be taken into account. The
planned great Jordan exhibit at Mannheim and Berlin
2018 would provide a good occasion to present this
outstanding monument to the people of the sponsoring country Germany as a proof of the cultural wealth
of the Kingdom and the partnership in cooperation of
both countries.
30
Thomas M. Weber
Part I: Lines 1-101
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
Fig. 20: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part
I, line 1-101, scale approximative (© Thomas M.
Weber).
Preservation and Reconstruction
11/71
79/7
20/49
80/16
105
31
Fig. 21: Reconstruktion of the
Anastasius edict, Part I, lines
101-137, on scale, the stone in
the middle of the lowest line was
found at Umm id-Djimal, see
here Fig. 16 c (© CNRS).
79/30
110
11/45
20/27
20/28
20/29
20/30
115
120
11/18
20/38
79/5
11/36
20/39
84/3
125
20/20
130
One or two blocks
with approx. 13 letters
missing
20/21
20/22
20/23
135
Umm id-Djimal
Part II
Fig. 22: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part II, scale approximative (© Thomas M. Weber).
32
Thomas M. Weber
Part III
Part IV
Fig. 23: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part III, scale approximative (© Thomas M. Weber).
Fig. 24: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part IV, scale approximative(© Thomas M. Weber).
Part V
Fig. 25: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part V, scale approximative (© Thomas M. Weber).
Part VI
Part VII
Fig. 26: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part VI, scale approximative (© Thomas M. Weber).
Fig. 27: Reconstruktion of the Anastasius edict, Part VII, scale approximative(© Thomas M. Weber).
The Reconstructed Text
A unique document on military administration in the Late Roman East
by
Denis Feissel
ollowing an antique tradition, laws of Late
Roman emperors could be inscribed on stone
until the 6th century, in order not only to be accessible
to contemporary readers, but also to be transmitted to
future generations. Under the reign of Anastasius I
(491-518), who thoroughly reorganised the fiscal system, imperial law especially aimed at controlling the
heavy expenses devoted to the army even in peace
time. Beside the Code of Justinian (published 534)
who reinforced much of the military legislation of his
predecessor, two long juristic inscriptions on these
topic have been discovered in distant parts of the
empire: the first one in Libya where three copies of
the same text are still extant, the second one in the
Near East where four copies of an other law have
been discovered, including two copies in southern
Syria (at Bostra and Imtan) and one in Jerusalem. The
F
great inscription of Umm id-Djimal, then reused at
Qasr el-Hallabat, is by far the best preserved of all.
However, though a majority of copies were found in
the Roman province of Arabia, this law was equally
valid for all provinces on the Eastern border of the
empire, the so-called “limes” extending from Mesopotamia in the North to Palaestina in the South, as
special provisions for some of these provinces make
clear. Only one place in Jordan has been singled out
in a rather surprising way: the city of Pella, where a
church of Saint Sergius had to be subsidized from
military founds.
The heading of the inscription (Figs. 20 and 28)
leaves no doubt about the authorship of this law, by
attributing all following provisions to Anastasius I. A
more exact dating under his reign is ambiguous, since
references to a first fiscal year (the so-called indic-
Fig. 28: The copied Anastasius edict, first half of Part I: Lines 1-51, arrangement in the course of the work (© Thomas M. Weber).
34
Denis Feissel
Fig. 29: Handwritten military report on the strength of a task force in the Byzantine army, addressed to the duke of Thebais in Egypt,
end of the 5th - begin of the 6th century AD. (© Wien, Osterreichischische Nationalbibliothek, Papyrusmuseum und Papyrussammlung,
after: Byzanz - Pracht und Alltag, Exhibtion Catalogue Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Bonn, Munich
2010: 295 no. 361).
tion) based on a 15 years cycle may correspond either
to AD 492 or 507. Though some chapters of the law
have been entirely lost (maybe less than 20 %), we are
now in a position to reconstruct its first part whithout
interruption for 135 lines amounting to some 1400
words. The two following parts, though not directly
fitting to each other, still amount to 47 and 23 lines
respectively, whereas four shorter disconnected sections totalize only 30. The entire text is clearly divided into chapters. Though they are not numbered,
which would have made the reconstruction an easy
task, every chapter begins with the same word (“we
order that”). More than 40 chapters can thus be identified. Though their concatenation does not appear to
be entirely logical, we will attempt to briefly summarize their content the way they follow each other. As
a whole, the common purpose of these many rules is
to (re)organise the public financing of the military
administration on one side, and of the frontier troops,
the so-called “limitanei”, on the other side.
Part I chapter 1 (lines 3-7, Figs. 20 and 28) confirms older regulations about the salary of the dukes
(military governors) of the Oriental provinces. Special provisions were made in favour of two of them,
the duke of Mesopotamia and the duke of Palestine,
who were entitled to an additional income originating
from commercial taxes.
Chapters 2-10 (lines 7-43, Figs. 20 and 28) extensively describe the hierarchy of office-holders who
assisted the duke and the rules of nomination and promotion (by seniority only) in the various branches of
the military administration. The departmental heads
were five in each province, each one bearing a title of
Latin origin: subadiuva, adiutor, commentariensis (in
charge of the judicial branch), subscribendarius,
numerarius (in charge of the financial branch). Three
The Reconstructed Text
of them had two assistants to help them, who could
not stay in charge for more than five years. Lower
office-holders also followed a well defined career,
though chapters 8-10 are too poorly preserved to
make every detail clear.
Chapter 11, still in part I (lines 43-75, Figs. 20 and
28), is the longest of the whole dossier, setting a very
detailed calendar of the fiscal year (beginning on
September 1st) for the levy of taxes on one hand, and
for the pay of the soldiers on the other. The key person responsible for both is the so-called erogator (litterally “distributor”), whose duty is to receive the
money from the tax-payers in three installments, ending in August of each year, in order to start immediately to pay the soldiers in September. Various reports
(cf. Fig. 29) have to be produced at different stages of
this process, first from the ‘erogator’ to the civil governor of his province, then from the civil governor to
the duke, and finally from the duke to the military
head-quarters in Constantinople. Chapters 12-13
(lines 75-90, Fig. 20) set out heavy fines against civils
governors or dukes who would not draw up those
reports and send them out properly. Chapters 14-19 (l.
91-124, Figs. 20 and 21) contain additional provisions about the duties of the “erogator”, in order to
protect the soldiers against every kind of malversation. Inversely soldiers who proved unfit should
receive no money at all (lines 110-121, Fig. 21).
The nine chapters of part II (Fig. 23) are mostly
dealing with the rights and duties of the soldiers and
of their officers. Chapters 4-6 prevent officers to take
advantage of soldiers when granting them a leave.
35
Chapters 8-9 set out special provisions for the allowance of horses and dromadaries belonging to some
soldiers. As for the pay of the soldiers themselves,
reports showing the number of horses and dromadaries have to be sent to the civil governor and the
duke.
The five chapters of part III (Fig. 24) are of a more
miscellaneous nature. Chapter 1 deals with public
grants attributed to some churches and monasteries,
notably the church of Saint Sergius at Pella. The
emperor confirms the amount of such grants has to
remain undiminished according to former regulations.
This money should not serve military expenses.
Chapter 2 sets a low level of judicial fees whenever a
soldier is brought before a court. Chapters 3-5 deals
with the correct book-keeping whithin every military
unit, which has to be controlled by the local officers
on a four months basis.
The two chapters of part IV (Fig. 25) once again
aims at protecting the soldiers against any extortion.
No fee shall be required from them when they are
promoted. They shall bear no special charge whenever the duke and his retinue visit their camp.
Various arguments strongly point to the assumption that part VII forms the end of the text, as for
instance the large empty space below the last line of
the text. As mentioned above, research on the entire
corpus of inscription will go on. For the sake of their
own cultural heritage, to be preserved and scholarly
interpreted for the future generations, every hint by
the people of Jordan on still unknown or lost blocks
of the Anastasius edict will be very precious
Addresses of the Authors
Dr. Ignacio Arce
Director of the
Spanish Archaeological Mission to Jordan
Co-Director of the Anastasius Edict Project
Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Denis Feissel
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Paris, Republique de France
e-mail: [email protected]
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Detlev Kreikenbom
Co-Director of the Anastasius Edict Project
Institute for Classical Archaeology
Johannes Gutenberg-University
Mainz, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
Prof. Dr. Thmas Maria Weber
Co-Director of the Anastasius Edict Project
Lecturer of DAAD in Archaeology
Faculty of Archeology & Tourism
The University of Jordan
Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
e-mail: [email protected]