Day 10 – Walking the lines

Today one team walked the Hijaz railway from Aqaba Hijaz to Batn AL Ghul to explore the flanking landscape. On hill to the east they found a small observation/machine gun point with a small trench alongside. Several hundred metres further south along the same ridge were the remains of an Ottoman encampment composed of between 4 to 6 tent rings, and two U-shaped animal tethering structures, one of which produced 2 small donkey or mule shoes. Returning to the railway embankment and continuing south they spotted the remains of an intriguing structure at the base of the eastern wadi wall. Upon examination it transpired with the expert insight of one of our Jordanian colleagues that this was the partially collapsed remains of an Islamic domed building covering a well-head, which itself was probably originally Nabatean.

Most of the team were hard at work on the plateau on the top of the Batn AL Ghul escarpment. Half the excavators continued to work at Fassu-ah ridge fort, revealing two possible latrines outside the perimeter wall, while others worked on the nearby bread oven, others again excavated inside the central building. Here exciting finds included Ottoman smoking paraphernalia and uniform fragments.

Another group of excavators further along the ridge worked on the site of the Ottoman mule and donkey tethering place. The evidence revealed includes a rectangular area of clearance where animals were probably tied up, a feeding trough with possible remains of cereals fed to the animals, and a surface scatter of mule and or donkey shoes. A new dimension of the project is developing in which the logistical tale of the Ottoman army on the Arab front becomes visible to archaeological research.

In the afternoon another team made a brief exploration of the section of Hijaz railway to discover a very well preserved trench with rounded ends and side trench representing the western most defences found in Wadi Batn Al Ghul.

Meanwhile the detectorists surveyed the wide ancient path to the east of the modern railway line for evidence of metal items which would confirm the nature and scope of it's use. This flat long path represents the lead in to the traditional pilgrimage and trade route which drops down the escarment before continuing it's journey south. In a mile and a half of this ancient route many items including coins and other artifacts ranging from ancient times to the middle of the last century were discovered, thus indeed corroborating the location as being part of this ancient established route.

Day 9 – Archaeologists R&R and new horizons

After seven straight days digging and searching in the desert today was our first rest day. Our hotel is a matter of a few hundred metres from the entrance to the World Heritage and more recently New Wonder of the World site at Petra. Unfortunately all these metres, together with the 2 kilometres which eventually leads to the colonaded street at the heart of the site, are downhill all the way there and therefore uphill on the way back. The journey however is so very well worth the gradient.

Petra is an ancient city literally carved out of the Jordanian sandstone containing a myriad of historical and archaeological structures in various states of decay and completeness. It is approached via a stony pathway that leads ever downward into the stunning sandstone fissure known as the Siq, a breathtaking colourful flaw in the rock which protects and hides the city from the outside world.

Worming its way through the 75 metre high rock the Siq eventually reveals what must be the ultimate light at the end of the tunnel, the huge impressive hand-carved face of the Petra Treasury. Many of this season’s team ventured down this path for the first time today to experience for themselves the wonders of Petra.

Time and space preclude further detailed description, so let the images speak for themselves.

Meantime, three project veterans set off on field reconnaissance in a 4x4 at Shobek. There they discovered a defended halt on the branch railway line between Shobek and Unayza – the branch line that carried wood for fuel to the Hijaz railway. Further north, at Menzil, a site identified from Google Earth, the group confirmed the presence of two original Hijaz railway station buildings, beautiful preserved and alongside which were what appeared to be original rail lines, now unused. The station was defended by ring trenches on three nearby hilltops, one of which also had several fairly recent Bedouin burials on its summit. From these three redouts it would have been possible to observe the surrounding landscape for miles and to deliver devastating converging fire on any insurgence from the desert.

Finally at Unayza the team identified on the ground the two trenches which covered the approaches to the station, and also explored the Hajj route medieval and early Ottoman fort which preceded the construction of the railway.

We are discovering new sites faster than we can excavate them. The project has work for years and years to come. Exciting times ahead.

Day 8 – Mules and Seals

How did the Ottomans move supplies around the desert landscape? We think we may have an archaeological answer. Yesterday one of our detectorists spotted an unusual line of stones on the plateau to the west of the fort at Fassu-ah. Returning today, GARP archaeologists identified a large rectangular area of stone clearance, a long curving trough, and metal finds of both military buttons mule shoes and nails.

There can be no reasonable doubt that this area represents mule lines of the Ottoman army supply system on Fassu-ah ridge. Suddenly a whole new dimension of the desert war is revealed. The railway moves bulk supplies but pack animals are then used to transport goods from the rail line to the scattered forces along the ridge, or possibly to carry the vital water resource from Fassu-ah fort at Akabat Hijaz to remote outposts. (Pictures to follow.)

Nearby in the extensive patches of tent rings and other Ottoman workings the detectorists continued to search within the stone patterns scattered across the desert. Although some of these are sketchy with many of the surface ring shaped rocks having been removed by later activity the ghosts of the tents locations can be seen. Under a rock at the edge of one of these an intact Ottoman personal seal was found.

The inscription having been ranslated by one of our party and confirmed in detail by later this turns out to have belonged to one Khalil Hasan Jhon and has been dated by our local historian to around 1907. Further investigations are ongoing to see if we can discover who exactly this person was, and why he might have been part of the forces camped on the ridge.

Below the edge of the ridge itself, and crafted into the hillside to enable control of the wind rushing over the surface, a large brick breaad oven structure can be seen. This is a remarkably well built example with the overhanging canopy expertly assembled to withstand both the heat of cooking and the ravages of the climate.

Amid all this excitement we were delighted to receive a visit from Trevor Peacock, the Australian ambassador to Jordan together with his Protocol Officer Rana Naber. The ambassador was particularly enthusiastic about the work and displayed a strong personal interest in the archaeology of Jordan and showed particular interest in what we are doing. His visit lasted two hours during which time he was given a tour of the highlights of the excavation.

Day 7 Spilt perfume in the dust

We suspect that an Ottoman officer stationed at Fassu-ah ridge during the first world war had a penchant for German perfume – judging by our discovery of the metal lid and spray mechanism of an expensive perfume bottle dating to between 1906 and 1913.

Lawrence reports trainloads of luxury goods coming down the Hijaz railway heading for the Ottoman forces and being eagerly looted by his Bedouin irregulars. In these remote desert garrison posts there was it seems at least a whiff of the decadent Istanbul high life.

In other respects Fassu-ah ridge was bleak outpost, though one located with stunning views which reflected its commanding position overlooking the Wadi Batn Al Ghul and the Hijaz railway. Several teams have been busy excavating trenches and surveying the fort, and a picture is building is emerging of a multi-phase complex probably with a medieval core and later substantial late Ottoman re-modelling.

A metal detecting team moved west along Fassu-ah ridge to explore several more suspected Ottoman camps and associated ruined structures both on the scarp face and on the plateau. One of these sites, located 1.5 km away from the fort, is an avenue of parallel 22 tent rings of similar form to ones we’ve encountered at previous locations. Detecting these revealed a typical array of Ottoman uniform buttons and the associated paraphernalia typical of such a camp.

At other locations it appears that large stones from Ottoman tent rings have been removed and replaced in new positions at a much later date, as these revealed little or no metal activity. However the shadowy remains of these original rings revealed yet more convincing evidence of the scattering of the Ottoman forces along this terrain. This included a hitherto unseen variant of the common Crescent and Star Ottoman uniform button, with a brass back and for the first time a manufacturer name in Arabic.

Towards the end of the day back at the fort there was much discussion concerning the architectural development of what we are referring to as the Officers Mess area. It may prove to be that the arrangement of several apparently ceremonial paths leading from a putative flagpole (since disappeared) might clarify the relative sequence of construction of these buildings.

Day 6 – A Ridge Too Far

Work shifted today to Fassu-ah ridge, the hilltop enclosure which overlooks Batn Al Ghul camp and offers commanding views down the Wadi Batn Al Ghul and the Wadi Rutm beyond.


Though ruinous and much damaged by gold digging holes, the site is an impressive combination of central strongpoint and large walled enclosure. Early Islamic pottery has been found nearby and the fortification itself almost certainly has a medieval origin. We suspect it served and protected the traditional routeway of trade and pilgrimage dating back thousands of years, and that camel caravans may have overnighted inside the enclosure.

Finds from the site confirm Ottoman re-use during the Arab revolt. These include Ottoman military buttons and fired Mauser rounds. In addition our metal detectorists recovered a British Army button and there was speculation as to which British Liason officer serving with the Arab forces Officer on site might have lost his button!

While our landscape archaeologist and two assistants produced a ground plan of the site, the rest of the team excavated a number of carefully targeted trenches designed to answer questions about the date and purpose of different parts of the complex. In one room of the central strongpoint we may have found the remains of the Ottoman cookhouse.

While all that was going on another team investigated two sites containing potential Ottoman soldier burials. After several hours excavation it became clear that while superficially interesting in the event no evidence supported the prior theory.

Subsequently the same team trekked up a previously unexplored ridge to the north north east of Batn Al Ghul station. This geographical feature would have been strategically important for observing any enemy approaching the station from this direction. No obvious military structures were found but it is likely that the fractured geology would have been used by a number of Ottoman observers to give advance warning of any oncoming enemy.

Day 5 – Station debris, burials and another camp

Today one team explored the western side of the modern railway embankment which loops around the plateau and encompasses many of the main tent rings. One team member identified what appears to be a small surviving section of the original Hejaz railway embankment, now superseded by the modern railway. Adjacent to this were what appeared to be five individual burials and a possible mass burial.

The same team then yomped down into the wadi at Batn Al Ghul and headed south along the line of the old Hijaz railway to re-visit a small fortified hill which projects out into the wadi. Re-examination of the fortifications revealed two possible loopholes, (man-made slits in the rock designed for firing rifles through), and perhaps the circular foundations of an Ottoman army tent. Following on south down the slope they re-visited half a dozen or so tent rings and discovered within one a human shaped low mound which had been recently disturbed. There was no indication of human remains or any other finds. From this point they trekked back for an hour to the main working site.

Later this team went north to a large hill overlooking the main camp site on the beginnings of the Fassu-ah ridge and encountered another small encampment with what looked like associated burials.

Each day the landscape archaeologists add more insights into the sheer scale of the Ottoman militarisation of this landscape, almost all of which would merit further detailed study. We hope to be able to spend some time at least some of these this season.

Meanwhile, as the main group further examined the sieved extractions from the tent ring floors, the detectorists carried out a final sweep of that site, picking up further finds including numbers of the now often found Crescent and Star buttons.

Later this team crossed the railway line to examine the rubble and surrounding area of the former station at Batn AL Ghul. The seriously damaged site, with barely a fraction of one wall of the building remaining, was heavily strewn with metallic debris, some relatively modern, including wire, steel banding, waste tin cans and bits of railway paraphernalia. This made the detecting of that part of the site virtually impossible.

Moving further out into the flatter landscape in front of the ruined building however the detectorists did discover some evidence of military activity. Together with several fired cartridge cases and at least three different incoming rounds a large fragment of an expended Ottoman grenade was found. Whilst indicating that this site almost certainly did experience some form of military conflict these finds do not provide significant evidence for a major attack on the station. However the land around the station is so heavily disturbed by modern activity that it is possible larger scale conflict occurred, the physical remains of which has since been removed, destroyed or buried.

Day 4 - Soft Beds and Missing Buttons

Excavation of the tent ring at Batn Al Ghoul camp has now revealed evidence for deliberate deposits of soft sand in tent interiors. Today A vertical section was cut through one tent ring and this showed that a flat bottomed hollow had been cut and this appears to have been filled with the soft sand. We assume this was done because the occupants slept on the ground. We have found objects and food remains throughout these sand layers but especially towards the top.

Our plotting of finds inside the tent rings has shown the distribution to be random. Therefore the time has come to speed up the work. Tomorrow heavy tools will be used to remove the sandy fills while sieving for any last finds within the currently worked rings. Our plan then will be to move up to Fassuah ridge fort.

Meanwhile our metal detectorists have been working on the opposite side of the former Hizaj railway. In this area, where there are many more tent rings, now dubbed by us the Southern Camp, our metal detectorists have continued to find large numbers of lost military buttons. Speculation as to the reasons for the Ottoman military’s propensity to lose their buttons is rife.

Our landscape archaeologist, roaming the landscape of Batn Al Ghoul as usual, finally stumbled upon the remains of the late Ottoman railway station, which we had been seeking for two years. Amid great heaps of bulldozed rubble could be seen the remains of the lower courses of a single surviving wall. Projecting from the rubble was a single piece of Hijaz railway track.

For those interested the operational sites for this season are to the south of Ma'an in the map below.