LP 278

Interpretation

Provenance: Al-Namārah itself is an "island" in a basin at the confluence of the Wādī al-Ṣawṭ and the Wādī al-Shām. The island rises to a considerable height above the Wādī bed. On it's top are the ruins of a Roman fort the outlines of which, and the square north-east and south-west towers, can still be made out. However, much of the masonry has been reused to build a mediaeval mausoleum, including a lintel with an unfinished Greek inscription mentioning Marcus Aurelius (Waddington 1870: no. 2264) and stone doors. There are many Safaitic, Greek and two Latin graffiti on the slopes of the island and the banks of the Wādī. In antiquity, there were small dams, cisterns, wells and diversion channels to trap the water and to lead it to nearby fields, see Macdonald 2009.

Littmann, E. Safaïtic Inscriptions. Syria. Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904–1905 and 1909. Division IV. Section C. Leiden: Brill, 1943.
Waddington, W.H. Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie recueillies et expliquées. Paris: Firmin Didot, 1870.
Macdonald, M.C.A. Transformation and continuity at al-Namarā: Camps, settlements, forts, and tombs. Pages 317-332 in K. Bartl & ʿA. Moaz (eds), Residences, Castles, Settlements. Transformation Processes from Late Antiquity to Early Islam in Bilad al-Sham. Proceedings of the International Conference held at Damascus, 5–9 November 2006. (Orient-Archäologie, 24). Rahden/Westf.: Leidorf, 2008.