Three previously unknown Roman forts have been identified in the bleakness and isolation of the Arabian Desert. First located via Google Earth, they are in the southeast part of present-day Jordan, adjacent to Saudi Arabia. As reported in Sky News and elsewhere, the discoverers and authors of a new study believe the forts were built in support of the Roman takeover of the Nabataean kingdom after the death of its king in 106 AD.
The discovery is another example of the realization in recent decades that the Roman expansion into Arabia went much further than thought by earlier scholars. On the map above, you can see Dumat al Jandal in the far southeast, an oasis deep within the desert. We now know that Roman centurions were stationed here during the second century AD to monitor and police trade routes between the Persian Gulf and Nabataea.
More on the history of the Nabataean Kingdom and the Roman penetration into Arabia and the Red Sea can be found in The Farthest Outpost.
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