Genequand, Denis

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ReviewReviewAD 165 onwards. All this forms a composite picturewhich cannot be reduced to the dramatic events ofAD 255-56.Zeugma, 400km north-east of Dura, on the borderbetween the Romans and their bellicose neighbourof the third century AD, was also destroyed bythe armies of Shapur I during the same campaign,perhaps three or four years before. Important rescueexcavations have taken place there in 2000; theywill shed new light on our knowledge of Romanand oriental military equipment of the period (seeKennedy et al. 1998; Feuge`re in print). To suchstudies, as well as to other projects on the territoryof the ancients Sassanids, the book of S. James willprove an invaluable resource. Not only does it bringa collection of extraordinary ﬁnds to the attentionof scholars, but it is also a model of clarity, carefulanalysis and impressive erudition. We have to thankSimon James for this major contribution to militarystudies as well as to eastern archaeology.ReferencesBuora, M. (ed.). 2002. Miles Romanus dal Po alDanubio nel Tardoantico (Atti del Convegnointernazionale Pordenone – Concordia Sagittaria,marzo 2000). Pordenone.Deschler-Erb, E. 1999. Ad arma! Ro¨misches Milita¨rdes 1. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. in Augusta Raurica(Forschungen in Augst 28). Augst.Feugere, M. 1993. Les armes des Romains, de laRe´publique a` l’Antiquite´ tardive. Paris.–1994. Casques antiques. Les visages de la guerre, deMyce`nes a` la ﬁn de l’Empire romain. Paris.–in press. Roman militaria from Zeugma, in R. Ergec¸(ed.) Acts of the Zeugma Symposium, Gaziantep2004.Kennedy, D.L. & M.C. Bishop. 1998. Miscellaneousartefacts: military equipment, in D. Kennedy et al.The twin towns of Zeugma on the Euphrates: rescuework and historical studies (JRA suppl. 27): 135-7.Portsmouth, RI.Vallet, F. & M. Kazanski (ed.). 1993. L’arme´eromaine et les barbares, du IIIe au VIIe sie`cle. Paris.Waurick, G. 1988. Ro¨mische Helme, in Antike Helme:Handbuch mit Katalog: 327-64. Mainz.Michel FeugereCNRS, UMR 5140, Lattes, France.JacquelineDentzer-Feydy, Jean-MarieDentzer,Pierre-Marie Blanc (ed.) with Mikae¨l Kalos &Philippe Tondon.Hauran II: les installations de SI‘ 8,du sanctuaire a` l’e´tablissement viticole, vol. I texte, vol. IIplanches (Bibliothe`que Arche´ologique et Historique164). Vol. I: 352 pages, 26 ﬁgures, 2 pullout maps,9 tables. Vol. II: 199 plates. 2003. Beirut: InstitutFranc¸ais d’Arche´ologie du Proche-Orient; 2-912738-18-0 (vol. I) & 2-912738-21-0 (vol. II) paperback€50.The primary aim of this book is to present the resultsfrom three seasons of excavations at the site of Si‘ 8in southern Syria between 1977 and 1979 by a Frenchteam led by J.-M. Dentzer. However, it goes farbeyond this scope, as it integrates several in-depthstudies relevant to the entire Near East.Si‘ is a large late Hellenistic and Roman site situatedon a hill on the north-western slopes of Jabalal-‘Arab, an area known for the large Roman cities ofSuwaydaˆ’/Dionysias, Qanawaˆt/Canatha and Shaˆhbaˆ/Philippopolis. Si‘ is famous mainly for an extensivesanctuary consisting of three temples dedicated toBaalshamin, while Si‘ 8 is a smaller monument downthe hill, close to the sacred road leading to the mainsanctuary. This set of volumes is the second of aseries on the work of the French team in this area ofsouthern Syria. The ﬁrst (Hauran I, 2 volumes editedby J.-M. Dentzer, 1985) was devoted to the basaltregion of southern Syria in general. Other volumes inthe series will present the results of excavations at thesanctuary of Baalshamin and in the nearby village,and of survey around Si‘ and Qanawaˆt.Prior to excavations, standing remains in Si‘ 8 sug-gested the presence of another sanctuary or temple-like structure. Excavations conﬁrmed this hypothesis725at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00114814Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 10 Jul 2017 at 15:08:55, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, availableReviewand brought to light two completely different phasesof construction and occupation. The ﬁrst is a lateﬁrst century AD sanctuary. The second is a largeearly Islamic winery dated to the end of Umayyadperiod (mid-eighth century AD).The book is divided into two volumes (text andplates). Volume I is organised in seven sections pre-senting and interpreting all the data from theexcavations at Si‘ 8. Part 1 presents the excavationsand the stratigraphy of the site, including all thedrawn sections and stratigraphic matrices. Sincethe excavations distinguished two main phases, twosections are more extensive, Part 2 (the sanctuary) andPart 3 (the winery). Volume II is richly illustrated withblack and white photographs, old photographs fromprevious explorers of the area, old aerial photographs,maps, plans, reconstructions, etc.Part 2 presents the architecture and decoration of thesanctuary of the last quarter of the ﬁrst century AD.The best-preserved elements of the monument are aforecourt with a tier of seats and porticoes and a mainfac¸ade with a gateway ﬂanked by two niches, makingthe interpretation of the whole structure a difﬁculttask. It could be either a monumental gate leading toa sacred space or a temple with forecourt. The discus-sion points to a temple, perhaps to a closed structureof the adyton type, well represented in the region, oran open-air platform supporting a representation ofa deity, a formula also known in the Near East. Thecarved decoration belongs to a repertoire still distantfrom the Roman imperial art of the time,more in tunewith Parthian Mesopotamia. The plan and decorationof the Si‘ 8monument are well integrated into a groupof sanctuaries in southern Syria, many among themdated roughly to the reign of Agrippa II (c . AD50-95)and representing good examples of late Hellenistic artin the Syro-Palestinian area.Part 3, devoted to the winery, is of considerableinterest for the economic history of the Near Eastduring Late Antiquity and Early Islam. The winery iswell dated to the end of the Umayyad period andbelongs to a developed type also known in otherareas of the southern Levant (Arabia and Palestinianprovinces) between the fourth and eighth centuries.It consists of small storerooms around a large centraltreading/pressing room with a vertical screw press.Nevertheless, some features not found elsewhere inthe southern Levant lead the authors to propose adifferent process of wine production, intended toproduce a wine of special quality. This part of thebook is enriched by the presentation of several otherwineries, excavated or surveyed in the immediatevicinity of Si‘ and in the north-west Jabal al-‘Arab,and by a discussion of the importance of vineyardsand wine in the rural economy of southern Syria.Part 3 ends with a welcome chapter giving the resultsof archaeobotanical studies, an approach still largelyignored by Classical and Islamic studies in the NearEast. Relying on samples from Si‘ and Bosra, itprovides a clearer idea of the ancient environmentand its changes through the Roman, Byzantine andIslamic periods. The major contribution of thesechapters is to bring to light, using archaeologicalevidence, a new wine-growing region that was, untilnow, only known from a few ancient textual sources.It is an important benchmark and it is hopedthat it will promote the investigation of remains ofrural economic activities in other areas of modernSyria, where ancient wine production, though wellknown from literary evidence, is still missing fromarchaeological reports.Parts 4 to 6 are devoted to the material culture,especially the pottery, glass and coins, as well as a fewGreek and Semitic inscriptions. It is worth noting thatthe pottery report deals only with locally producedwares and not with imported categories; these will bepublished later. Part 7 is concerned with the Romanroad network in southern Syria. The study is basedon ground reconnaissance, on a systematic inventoryof milestones and on accurate observations of aerialphotographs from the French Mandate period. It pro-vides an up-to-date picture of a complex networkprominently built for the needs of the imperial andprovincial administration and the army, rather thanfor trade.To sum up, Hauran II is an important contribution tothe archaeology and history of southern Syria and itwill interest anyone dealing with the late Hellenistic,Roman, late Antique and early Islamic periods in theNear East.Denis GenequandService Cantonal d’Arche´ologie, Geneva, CH, &Council for British Research in the LevantFriederike Hammer. Industry in north-west RomanSouthwark: excavations 1984-8 (MoLAS Mono-graph 17). xiv+186 pages, 112 ﬁgures, 90 tables.2003. London: Museum of London ArchaeologyService; 1-901992-34-9 paperback £13.95.Anyone who has excavated Roman sites in Britain willknow that one of their most striking characteristics,726at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00114814Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 10 Jul 2017 at 15:08:55, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available

Book Review: Hauran II: les installations de SI' 8, du sanctuaire à l'établissement viticole, vol. I texte, vol. II planches (Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique: Dentzer-Feydy Jacqueline , Dentzer Jean-Marie , Blanc Pierre-Marie (ed.) with Kalos Mikaël & Tondon Philippe . Hauran II: les installations de SI' 8, du sanctuaire à l'établissement viticole, vol. I texte, vol. II planches (Bibliothèque Archéologique et Historique 164). Vol. I: 352 pages, 26 figures, 2 pullout maps, 9 tables. Vol. II: 199 plates. 2003. Beirut: Institut Français d'Archéologie du Proche-Orient; 2-912738-18-0 (vol. I) & 2-912738-21-0 (vol. II) paperback €50

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