Abstract This study examines archaeological and historical evidence for a Byzantine military presence along the Jerusalem–Jericho road and its hinterland, with particular emphasis on the Maʿale Adumim region and adjacent areas of the northern Judean Desert. Drawing on systematic surveys, limited excavations, and a reassessment of previously published data, the article identifies a network of fortifications, observation posts, camps, and enclosures dating primarily to the fourth–sixth centuries CE. These installations are interpreted within the broader framework of the Limes Palaestinae and the deployment of limitanei forces responsible for frontier security and route protection. The Jerusalem–Jericho road functioned as a critical east–west axis connecting Jerusalem with Jericho, the Jordan Valley, and Transjordan, and served military, administrative, and religious purposes. Literary sources, including the Notitia Dignitatum , Eusebius’ Onomasticon , pilgrimage accounts, and hagiographical texts, attest to the strategic importance and insecurity of the route, as well as to the stationing of a cohort tasked with its defense. Archaeological evidence complements these sources, revealing a dispersed but coherent system of military installations positioned to control roads, springs, and monasteries. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the Byzantine defense of the northern Judean Desert relied not on continuous frontier lines but on strategically placed control points integrated with pilgrimage infrastructure and monastic settlement. The Jerusalem–Jericho corridor thus emerges as a microcosm of Byzantine frontier management, illustrating the interdependence of military security, imperial administration, and monastic communities in Late Antiquity.
Sion et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: