Athena Review Image Archive ™
Sergiopolis [Resafa]: satellite view of Byzantine fortified town
Sergiopolis [Resafa]: satellite view of the fortified town (Google Images; Athena Review Image Archive)
This aerial view shows the massive fortifications dating from the early Byzantine era which surrounded the town of Resafa, renamed Sergiopolis for St. Serge. The town, located about 10 miles south of the Euphrates River, was from the 9th century BC onward a major stopover on trade and caravan routes which crossed the Euphrates en route to Damascus, Aleppo, and Palmyra. Northeast of Resafa was a major ford at Nicephorium [ar-Rakka].
The site was fortified by the Romans against the Sassanid Persians, and used as a station on a major east-west road, the Strata Diocletiana. In the 4th century, it became a pilgrimage town honoring Saint Sergius, a Christian Roman soldier martyred under Diocletian. A church was built to mark his grave, and the city was renamed Sergiopolis.
In the 6th century AD, as reported by the Byzantine historian Procopius, the town was made into a major fortified stronghold by Justinian in his wars against the Persian king Khusros I. The defensive walls of Sergiopolis included a series of 29 two-story guard towers. After AD 635 Muslim rulers occupied Resafa, including the 8th century Umayyad Caliph Hischam ibn Abd al-Malik, who in AD 724–743 built several palaces around the town.
Structures identified in this image include the main, northern gate (one of three in the walls), the main north-south street in the town (called the via recta), three churches including that dedicated to St. Serge, remains of several massive underground cisterns in the southwest corner, and a khan or inn.
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