aft er winter rains would have washed boulders and other de-
bris into pathways. Th is event is also mentioned in the Jewish
text the Talmud. Th e Greek historian Xenophon (ca. 431–ca.
352 b.c.e.) also refers to the necessity of clearing the Persian
Royal Road and the problem of mud in the spring.
Th anks to the Assyrians, the Iron Age was a period of
expansion in road construction throughout the region. Paved
processional routes cropped up in cities. Campaign accounts
recount the frustration of Assyrian kings in encountering
narrow roads in mountainous terrain. Many accounts de-
scribe engineers with picks widening routes through stone so
that the army could pass. Mention is also made of roads be-
ing so narrow that the king’s horse could not fi t on the path
and of terrain that was too treacherous for horses to pass.
Th e widened roads were still of use to the Persians, who seem
to have followed the Assyrian roads through the area. Th e
Persian army was employed in road building. According to
Xenophon, Persian spearmen carried axes, bowmen carried
mattocks, and slingers carried shovels.
Evidence of urban paved roads has been found on occa-
sion. Cobbled streets appeared in towns in the Halaf Period in
Mesopotamia (ca. 5500–ca. 4500 b.c.e.). An Early Bronze Age
(ca. 3800–ca. 2000 b.c.e.) paved street has been discovered at
Beth Yerah in Israel, and a Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–ca.
1500 b.c.e.) street has been found at Nābulus in Israel. Typi-
cally, urban paving was restricted to processional ways to
temples, areas around gates, and occasionally other major
streets. Few have been preserved. During the Neo-Assyrian
Period (ca. 1000–ca. 626 b.c.e.) a number of paved roads were
built in Assyrian cities. Th e royal road ran through Ninevah
on its way to points west. Th e best-known paved road in Mes-
opotamia was Aiburshabum, the processional street of Mar-
duk in Babylon, built in the Neo-Babylonia Period (625–539
b.c.e.). It has been unearthed. For the bulk of its length, the
street is approximately 22 yards wide, narrowing to under 7
yards as it approaches the temple.
Th e method of construction of paved streets varied. A
number of diff erent styles are evidenced in Iron Age Israel.
Th ese methods included paving consisting of reeds and clay,
shards and pebbles, rubble and plaster, and wedge-shaped
cobbles, with the point of the wedge inserted in plaster. In
Mesopotamia the preferred method of construction consisted
of setting bricks in a layer of asphalt and then topping the
roads with limestone slabs, which were sealed with asphalt.
Maintenance of the roads was a function of governments. Lo-
cal governments were responsible for roads in their territory,
while the overall road network was the product of the central
government.
Th e width of roads naturally was determined by their
function and usage. Roads were at their widest in cities, evi-
denced by Aiburshabum street in Babylon. Other recovered
streets in Babylon were from 2 to 11 yards wide, usually in the
range of 3 to 6 yards. Th e royal road through Ninevah wid-
ened by Sennacherib (r. 704– 681 b.c.e.) was 33 yards wide.
Archaeologists assert that a road needed to be at least 2.6
yards wide for two small two-wheeled carts to pass. Moun-
tain roads oft en were narrower.
Th ere is evidence of way stations beginning with the
reign of Shulgi (ca. 2094–ca. 2047 b.c.e.) throughout the an-
cient Near East. Some of them may have been private capi-
talist ventures, especially those closer to urban centers. In
open areas these stations provided protection from raiders,
gathered intelligence on both traveling parties and locals, and
helped the government collect duties and tolls. Th ey also pro-
vided lodging, food, drink, and prostitutes for travelers.
Bridges in the ancient Near East were rare prior to Roman
rule. A number are mentioned in the Neo-Assyrian Period.
Sennacherib built one of bricks and limestone in Ninevah.
Bridges are mentioned in a number of places in Neo-Assyr-
ian texts. Th e remains of a bridge in the city of Babylon have
been uncovered, presumably built by Nebuchadnezzar II (r.
605–562 b.c.e.), consisting of fi ve to seven piers. It is cited
by the Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 484–between 430 and
420 b.c.e.). Nebuchadnezzar claimed to have built a bridge of
wood over the East Canal in Babylon, in turn covered with
bricks supporting Aiburshabum street.
Most bridges in the ancient Near East were pontoons
rather than permanent structures. Ownership of a bridge was
the source of serious income, as tolls would be charged for
access. Th ere are Neo-Babylonian contracts preserved con-
cerning bridge ownership. Th e surface of these bridges oft en
consisted of logs or dirt, occasionally having guide ropes. Th e
pontoon bridge built across the Hellespont (the strait that
separates Anatolia from Greece) by the Persian king Xerxes
(r. 486–465 b.c.e.) had not only dirt over logs and guide ropes
but also a fence.
With the coming of the Romans and then the Byzan-
tines, bridges became a more common sight. Syria and Pales-
tine were fully integrated into these societies, as is evidenced
by the wide network of roads. Roads further had a symbolic
value, as Roman engineering conquered nature, evidenced in
paving and bridge building. Th ey demonstrated that Roman
rule brought tangible benefi ts, a key hurdle in trying to main-
tain control over a conquered region.ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
In looking at the history of roads and bridges in Asia and the
Pacifi c it is important to understand the distinction some ar-
chaeologists make between paths and roads. Paths are ways
t hat a re wor n by foot t ra ffi c, but roads are the products of con-
struction. Th ey may follow an old path, or they may, through
human eff ort, create new avenues for traffi c. Th ey may even be
intended to send traffi c in new directions. Th e Silk Road, con-
tradicting its name, consisted of several interconnected paths
that led in a general east-to-west direction from northwestern
China through central Asia to northern India or through the
Persian Empire to the Mediterranean world, followed for the
purposes of trade. Trade along the Silk Road was a signifi -886 roads and bridges: Asia and the Pacific