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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter (A) November 4, 2020

Alexander the Great’s Route to Gaugamela and Arbela

  • Michal Marciak EMAIL logo , Marcin Sobiech and Tomasz Pirowski
From the journal Klio
An erratum for this article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1515/klio-2020-2024

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.

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Appendix

Fig. 1:

Length of routes between the Tigris crossings and Tell Gomel/Karamleis

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

Fig. 2:

Length of routes between Tell Gomel/Karamleis and Arbela

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

Fig. 3: Topography of Northern Iraq and Licence Area of the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)
Fig. 3:

Topography of Northern Iraq and Licence Area of the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)

Fig. 4: Potential routes from the Tigris crossings to Tell Gomel (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)
Fig. 4:

Potential routes from the Tigris crossings to Tell Gomel (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)

Fig. 5: Potential routes from the Tigris crossings to Karamleis (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)
Fig. 5:

Potential routes from the Tigris crossings to Karamleis (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)

Fig. 6: Potential routes from Tell Gomel to Arbela (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)
Fig. 6:

Potential routes from Tell Gomel to Arbela (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)

Fig. 7: Potential routes from Karamleis to Arbela (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)
Fig. 7:

Potential routes from Karamleis to Arbela (© M. Marciak – M. Sobiech – T. Pirowski)

Published Online: 2020-11-04
Published in Print: 2020-11-26

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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