Athena Review Image Archive ™
Khirbet el Fityan fort: Satellite image with el Lejjun fortress
Khirbet el Fityan: satellite image with el Lejjun (Google Images)
The large Roman legionary fortress at El Lejjun, seen at lower right in this overhead image, is located in central Jordan, at coordinates are N 31.237258, E 35.868365. 1.3 km to the northwest, overlooking a steep bank of the Wadi Lejjun, is the much smaller fort of Khirbet el Fityan (coordinates N 31.242789, E 35.856783). Two Roman roads went past the forts on the east.
The El Lejjun fortress, one of the largest in the East, dates from about AD 300, and continued in use until the sixth century. It was headquarters for the Praefectus Legionis Quartae Martiae, Betthoro, under the command of the Dux Arabiae. It contained a principia or headquarters building and several blocks of barrack rooms, housing up to 1500 legionaries (Kennedy and Riley 1990).
The smaller fort of Khirbet el Fityan has barrack blocks and cisterns identified in the interior. It was constructed in the late 3rd or early 4th century, contemporary with the neareby Wadi Lajjun fortress, and it may have served as a forerunner of the fortress.
[Source: Kennedy and Riley 1990, Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air.]
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