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THE BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA AND THE QUESTION OF VISIBILITY ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 October 2021

Michał Marciak Open the ORCID record for Michał Marciak [Opens in a new window] ,
Bartłomiej Szypuła Open the ORCID record for Bartłomiej Szypuła [Opens in a new window] ,
Marcin Sobiech  and
Tomasz Pirowski Open the ORCID record for Tomasz Pirowski [Opens in a new window]
Michał Marciak
Affiliation:
Department of Jewish Studies, Faculty of HistoryJagiellonian University in Kraków, Polandmichal.marciak@uj.edu.pl
Bartłomiej Szypuła
Affiliation:
Institute of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences,University of Silesia in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Polandbartlomiej.szypula@us.edu.pl
Marcin Sobiech
Affiliation:
EXGEO Professional Map87-100 Toruń, Polandmarcin.sobiech.map@gmail.com
Tomasz Pirowski
Affiliation:
AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mining Surveying and Environmental Engineering,Department of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing of Environment and Spatial EngineeringAl. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Kraków, Polandpirowski@agh.edu.pl
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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the long-standing topographical enigma of the identification of Gaugamela. In this study, a GIS method known as viewshed analysis is employed to solve a certain historical problem.1 According to ancient sources, on the eve of the battle the approaching Macedonian army and the Persian troops that were waiting on the battlefield could not see each other because of intervening hills at a distance of c. 12 km. However, the two armies gained a full view of their respective positions once the Macedonians reached the hills c. six km away from the Persian positions. Our analysis shows that the identification of the battlefield near Tell Gomel, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is consistent with the visibility requirements of the ancient sources, while the previous identifications of the battlefield in the vicinity of Karamleis and Qaraqosh (Stein 1942; Sushko 1936; Zouboulakis 2015, 2016) feature poor results in terms of expected visibility.

الهدف من هذا البحث هو المساهمة في حل لغز طبوغرافي طويل الأمد لتحديد غوغميلا Gaugamela من خلال دراسة جانب محدد للغاية : ففي هذه الدراسة بصورة خاصة، استخدم نظام المعلومات الجغرافية GIS والمعروف باسم viewshed لحل مشكلة تاريخية خاصة . وبالتحديد، وفقًا لمصادر قديمة، عشية المعركة وعند اقتراب الجيش المقدوني من القوات الفارسية التي كانت تنتظر في ساحة المعركة لم يتمكنوا من رؤية بعضهم البعض بسبب تلال متداخلة على مسافة اثني عشر كيلومترًا تقريبًا . ولكن، حصل الجيشان على رؤية كاملة لمواقعهما بمجرد وصول المقدونيين إلى التلال التي تبعد حوالي ست كيلومترات عن المواقع الفارسية . يُظهر تحليلنا أن تحديد ساحة المعركة بالقرب من تل غوميل يتوافق مع متطلبات الرؤية الواردة في المصادر القديمة، بينما كان التحديد السابق لموقع المعركة قرب كرمليس و قرقوش (Stein, Sushko and Zouboulakis) يعرض نتائج مشكوك في صحتها من حيث الرؤية المتوقعة

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 83 , December 2021 , pp. 87 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 2021

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Footnotes

1

This paper presents an aspect of research conducted within the project entitled “Location of the Battle of Gaugamela in the Light of Multidisciplinary Research” (no. 2017/26/M/HS3/00750), financed by the National Science Centre, Poland. The project is affiliated at Jagiellonian University in Poland and is conducted in cooperation with the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project of the University of Udine. We wish to thank Prof. Daniele Morandi Bonacossi, Director of the Land of Nineveh Project, for his support. Likewise, Rocco Palermo should be acknowledged as the first to suggest the use of viewshed analysis in our search for the location of the battlefield of Gaugamela. We also extend our thanks to Dr Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, whose feedback helped us considerably to improve our paper.

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