Summary
The aim of this paper is to analyse the chronology and itinerary of the march of the Macedonian army during the last days (September 18–October 1) of the Gaugamela campaign in 331 BC in the light of literary sources, cuneiform data, topographic and archaeological data, and GIS capabilities. The overall aim of this analysis is to contribute to the topographical enigma of the identification of Gaugamela as either (in the vicinity of) Tell Gomel or Karamleis/Qaraqosh. The cuneiform data allows us to establish the most important dates of the final course of the Gaugamela campaign: the Tigris crossing on September 18, a lunar eclipse on the evening of September 20, and the battle on October 1. Furthermore, a critical analysis of Arrian and Curtius suggests that the Macedonians spent only six days on the march and four days in the camp. Given the estimated average rate of the march of the Macedonian army, it is possible to reject certain routes between the Tigris crossing and Gaugamela and consider others as more or less likely. It is concluded that the Macedonians crossed the Tigris in the vicinity of modern Basorin and not Abu Dhahir or Abu Wajnam, as is widely assumed. Furthermore, it is also demonstrated that the difference between Tell Gomel and Karamleis/Qaraqosh, regarding their distance from Arbela, is much less striking than is frequently assumed, and as such does not speak against any of the widely held identifications of Gaugamela.
Bibliography
Ashley 1998: J. R. Ashley, The Macedonian Empire. The Era of Warfare under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359–323 B.C., London 1998.Search in Google Scholar
Atkinson 1980: J. E. Atkinson, A Commentary on Q. Curtius Rufus’ Historiae Alexandri Magni, I: Books 3 and 4, Amsterdam 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Badian 2000: E. Badian, Gaugamela, in: Encyclopaedia Iranica X, 2000, 332–333.Search in Google Scholar
Beloch 1923: K. J. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte III.2, Berlin 1923.Search in Google Scholar
Bernard 1990: P. Bernard, Nouvelle contribution de l’épigraphie cunéiforme à l’histoire hellénistique, BHC 114, 1990, 513–541.10.3406/bch.1990.1733Search in Google Scholar
Bickerman 1980: E. J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World, London 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Bosworth 1980: A. B. Bosworth, A Historical Commentary on Arrian’s History of Alexander, I: Commentary on Books I–III, Oxford 1980.Search in Google Scholar
Brunt 1976: P. A. Brunt (ed.), Arrian. Anabasis Alexandri, I: Books I–IV, London 1976.Search in Google Scholar
Burn 1952: A. R. Burn, Notes on Alexander’s Campaigns, 332–330, JHS 72, 1952, 81–91.10.2307/627996Search in Google Scholar
Comfort – Marciak 2018: A. Comfort – M. Marciak, How Did the Persian King of Kings Get His Wine? The Upper Tigris in Antiquity (c.700 BCE to 636 CE), Oxford 2018.10.2307/j.ctv1nzfvwqSearch in Google Scholar
Dąbrowa 1988: E. Dąbrowa, Gaugamela 331 p.n.e., Warszawa 1988.Search in Google Scholar
Del Monte 1997: G. F. Del Monte, Testi dalla Babilonia ellenistica, I: Testi cronografici, Pisa 1997.Search in Google Scholar
Develin 1989: R. Develin, Athenian Officials 684–321 BC, Cambridge 1989.10.1017/CBO9780511552625Search in Google Scholar
Devine 1986: A. M. Devine, The Battle of Gaugamela. A Tactical and Source-Critical Study, AncW 13, 1986, 87–115.Search in Google Scholar
Dinsmoor 1931: W. B. Dinsmoor, The Archons of Athens in the Hellenistic Age, Cambridge (MA) 1931.Search in Google Scholar
Droysen 1877: J. G. Droysen, Geschichte des Hellenismus, I.1–2: Geschichte Alexanders des Grossen, Gotha 18772.Search in Google Scholar
Engels 1980: D. W. Engels, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army, Berkeley 1980.10.1525/9780520352162Search in Google Scholar
Ferrill 1985: A. Ferrill, The Origins of War from the Stone Age to Alexander the Great, London 1985.Search in Google Scholar
Fiey 1965: J. M. Fiey, Assyrie chrétienne. Contribution à l’étude de l’histoire et de la géographie ecclésiastiques et monastiques du Nord de l’Iraq, Beirut 1965.Search in Google Scholar
Fuller 1958: J.F.C. Fuller, The Generalship of Alexander the Great, London 1958.Search in Google Scholar
Gawlikowski 1996: M. Gawlikowski, Thapsacus and Zeugma the Crossing of the Euphrates in Antiquity, Iraq 58, 1996, 123–133.10.1017/S0021088900003223Search in Google Scholar
Green 1974: P. Green, Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C. A Historical Biography, Harmondsworth 1974.Search in Google Scholar
Hannah 2005: R. Hannah, Greek and Roman Calendars. Constructions of Time in the Classical World, London 2005.Search in Google Scholar
Herzfeld 1907: E. Herzfeld, Untersuchungen über die historische Topographie der Landschaft am Tigris, kleinen Zab und Gebel Ḥamrîn, Memnon 1, 1907, 89–143, 217–238.Search in Google Scholar
Herzog 2014: I. Herzog, A Review of Case Studies in Archaeological Least-Cost Analysis, Archeologia e Calcolatori 25, 2014, 223–239.Search in Google Scholar
Holt 2003: F. L. Holt, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions, Berkley – Los Angeles – London 2003.10.1525/california/9780520238817.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Hunger – Sachs 1988: H. Hunger – A. J. Sachs, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, I: Diaries from 652 B.C. to 262 B.C., Wien 1988.Search in Google Scholar
Judeich 1931: W. Judeich, Gaugamela, in: J. Kromayer – G. Veith (eds.), Antike Schlachtfelder IV, Berlin 1931, 372–384.Search in Google Scholar
Krause 1888: A. Krause, Miscellen zur Geschichte Alexanders, Hermes 23, 1888, 525–531.10.1515/bgsl.1888.1888.13.367Search in Google Scholar
Kuhrt 2007: A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire. A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, London 2007.Search in Google Scholar
Marciak 2014: M. Marciak, Izates, Helena and Monobazos of Adiabene. A Study on Literary Traditions and History, Wiesbaden 2014.Search in Google Scholar
Marciak 2017: M. Marciak, Sophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene. Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia between East and West, Leiden – Boston 2017.10.1163/9789004350724Search in Google Scholar
Markwart 1905: J. Markwart, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Eran X.1, Göttingen 1905.Search in Google Scholar
Marsden 1964: E. W. Marsden, The Campaign of Gaugamela, Liverpool 1964.Search in Google Scholar
Meritt 1961: B. D. Meritt, The Athenian Year, Berkeley – Los Angeles 1961.10.1525/9780520322967Search in Google Scholar
Mikalson 1975: J. D. Mikalson, The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year, Princeton 1975.10.1515/9781400870325Search in Google Scholar
Milns 1968: R. D. Milns, Alexander the Great, New York 1968.Search in Google Scholar
Morandi Bonacossi 2016: D. Morandi Bonacossi, The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project. Assyrian Settlement in the Nineveh Hinterland. A View from the Centre, in: J. MacGinnis – D. Wicke – T. Greenfield (eds.), The Provincial Archaeology of the Assyrian Empire, Cambridge 2016, 141–150.Search in Google Scholar
Morandi Bonacossi – Iamoni 2015: D. Morandi Bonacossi – M. Iamoni, Landscape and Settlement in the Eastern Upper Iraqi Tigris and Navkur Plains. The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project, Seasons 2012–2013, Iraq 77, 2015, 9–39.10.1017/irq.2015.5Search in Google Scholar
Nawotka 2010: K. Nawotka, Alexander the Great, Cambridge 2010.Search in Google Scholar
Palermo 2019: R. Palermo, On the Edge of Empires. North Mesopotamia During the Roman Period (2nd – 4th c. CE), London 2019.10.4324/9781315648255Search in Google Scholar
Pietrykowski 2009: J. Pietrykowski, Great Battles of the Hellenistic World, Barnsley 2009.Search in Google Scholar
Popović – Breier 2011: M. Popović – M. Breier, Tracing Byzantine Routes. Medieval Road Networks in the Historical Region of Macedonia and Their Reconstruction by Least-Cost Paths, in: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Cultural Heritage and New Technologies, Vienna 2011, 464–475.Search in Google Scholar
Przybyła – Pyszny 2013: Cz. Przybyła – K. Pyszny, Comparison of Digital Elevation Models SRTM and ASTER GDEM and Evaluation of the Possibility of Their Use in Hydrological Modeling in Areas of Low Drop, Middle Pomeranian Scientific Society of the Environment Protection 15, 2013, 1489–1510.Search in Google Scholar
Reade 1998: J. E. Reade, Greco-Parthian Nineveh, Iraq 60, 1998, 65–83.10.2307/4200453Search in Google Scholar
Reade 2015: J. E. Reade, Xenophon’s Route through Babylonia and Assyria, Iraq 77, 2015, 173–202.10.1017/irq.2015.15Search in Google Scholar
Reade – Anderson 2013: J. E. Reade – J. R. Anderson, Gunduk, Khanes, Gaugamela, Gali Zardak. Notes on Navkur and Nearby Rock-Cut Sculptures in Kurdistan, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 103, 2013, 69–123.10.1515/za-2013-0008Search in Google Scholar
Roaf 1997: M. Roaf, Eski Mosul Dam Salvage Project, in: E. M. Meyers (ed.), Oxford Encyclopaedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Oxford 1997, 265–268.Search in Google Scholar
Roth 2007: J. P. Roth, War, in: P. Sabin – H. van Wees – M. Whitby (eds.), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare II, Cambridge 2007, 368–398.10.1017/CHOL9780521782739.013Search in Google Scholar
Samuel 1972: A. E. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology. Calendars and Years in Classical Antiquity, München 1972.Search in Google Scholar
Schachermeyr 1973: F. Schachermeyr, Alexander der Grosse. Das Problem seiner Persönlichkeit und seines Wirkens, Wien 1973.Search in Google Scholar
Stein 1942: A. Stein, Notes on Alexander’s Crossing of the Tigris and the Battle of Arbela, GJ 100, 1942, 155–164.10.2307/1788973Search in Google Scholar
Stein – Gregory – Kennedy 1985: A. Stein – S. Gregory – D. L. Kennedy, Sir Aurel Stein’s Limes Report. The Full Text of M. A. Stein’s Unpublished Limes Report (His Aerial and Ground Reconnaissances in Iraq and Transjordan in 1938–39), Oxford 1985.Search in Google Scholar
Stephenson 1997: F. R. Stephenson, Historical Eclipses and Earth’s Rotation, Cambridge 1997.10.1017/CBO9780511525186Search in Google Scholar
Streck 1910: M. Streck, Gaugamela, in: RE XIII, 1910, 862–865.Search in Google Scholar
Sushko 1936: A. Sushko, Gaugamela: The Modern Qaroqosh, October 1, 331 B.C., Chicago 1936.Search in Google Scholar
Tarn 1952: W. Tarn, Hellenistic Civilization, London 1952.Search in Google Scholar
Van der Spek 2003: B.R.J. van der Spek, Darius III, Alexander the Great and Babylonian Scholarship, in: A Persian Perspective. Essays in Memory of Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Leiden 2003, 101–172.Search in Google Scholar
Wiseman 1983: D. J. Wiseman, Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon. The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy 1983, Oxford 1983.Search in Google Scholar
Zouboulakis 2015: K. Zouboulakis, The Topography of the Battle of Gaugamela. Contributing to an Old Controversy, Pharos 21, 2015, 31–62.Search in Google Scholar
Zouboulakis 2016: K. Zouboulakis, “Carrying the Glory of the Great Battle”. The Gaugamela Battlefield. Ancient Sources, Modern Views and Topographical Problems, in: K. Kopanias – J. McGinnis (eds.), The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent Regions, Cambridge, 2016, 437–455.10.2307/j.ctvxrq0m8.46Search in Google Scholar
Appendix
Route |
Total – km |
Tell Gomel – Cizre |
163.0 |
Tell Gomel – Abu Dhahir |
97.1 |
Tell Gomel – Abu Wajnam |
72.8 |
Tell Gomel – Basorin |
133.4 |
Tell Gomel – Eski Mosul |
75.3 |
Tell Gomel – Feshkhabur |
128.8 |
Tell Gomel – Mosul |
47.9 |
Karamleis – Abu Dhahir |
112.1 |
Karamleis – Abu Wajnam |
87.8 |
Karamleis – Basorin |
154.3 |
Karamleis – Eski Mosul |
72.9 |
Karamleis – Feshkhabur |
143.7 |
Karamleis – Mosul |
27.1 |
Route |
Length – km |
Route |
Total –km |
Tell Gomel – Chammah |
36.9 |
Tell Gomel to Arbela via Chammah |
77.7 |
Chammah – Erbil |
40.8 |
||
Tell Gomel – Dahlare |
37.7 |
Tell Gomel to Arbela via Dahlare |
71.3 |
Dahlare – Erbil |
33.6 |
||
Karamleis – Manquba |
13.1 |
Karamleis to Arbela via Eski Kelek and Manquba |
62.8 |
Manquba – Eski Kelek |
10.8 |
||
Eski Kelek – Erbil |
38.9 |
||
Karamleis – Al Kuwayr |
32.2 |
Karamleis to Arbela via Al Kuwayr |
89.5 |
Al Kuwayr – Erbil |
57.3 |
||
Karamleis – Gaetli |
20.6 |
Karamleis to Arbela via Gaetli |
67.1 |
Gaetli – Arbela |
46.5 |
||
Karamleis – Wardak |
21.2 |
Karamleis to Arbela via Wardak |
66.8 |
Wardak – Arbela |
45.6 |
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston