Open to Interpretation
#Bastion
Game on...on the Radio...Dodgers at Athletics...Tommy up...two outs...W...two on...Freeland up...the missions Spain established in California, were they "fortress towns"?...oft visited San Juan Capistrano when I was a little kid...got lost...thought to run off to see the bells ringing...dissappointed-they were a recording...aand, took the wrong way back...remember the iron pots for boiling talo...my tears told my plight, and an African American couple delivered me to my family...we just moved from Chicago...end of fourth...Dodgers 1-As 1...so, I learned about the Missions, a sentimental romantic era-tv show Zorro...and the missions were built thirty miles apart, or so...along the King's Highway from San Diego to San Francisco...Ohtani up...ground out...bottom of fourth...reading about the way stations of the Egyptian on their trails out into the desert reminded me of the Missions...soldiers, priests, ranchers, and native labor, all under the King...oh...feed dropped clip of children goat herders in a hard scrable land...modern...add about inroads of climate change...noted, that children were used to herd, corral, sheperd, the goats...that must go way back...kids have a connect with animals...time for cats...Freeman up...sometime adults...the Missions were little walled forts against the the dangerous Natives...oh, I have to revisit the diaries and journals the Spanish kept...not much like that left from Egyptian fortress towns...Dodgers 1-As 4...
✨️The Real Fortress Town: Tjaru (Tell el-Habua)
If you are looking for the actual fortress towns that defended ancient Egypt's borders, archaeologists have uncovered massive military cities. [1, 2]• Location: Tjaru (also called Sile or Tell el-Habua) was the largest known ancient Egyptian fortress town. It is located in the northern Sinai Peninsula, just east of the Suez Canal. [1, 2, 3, 4]The Function: It sat at the start of the Way of Horus, a massive military and trade route connecting Egypt to the Levant and protecting the eastern frontier. [1, 2]The Architecture: Discoveries at the site revealed 3,500-year-old defensive towers, giant water-filled moats, and brilliant zigzag-shaped walls designed to reinforce stability and mitigate desert sand erosion. [1, 2]Daily Life: Excavators have found large bread-making ovens, petrified dough, and storerooms, showing that an estimated 500 soldiers lived at and operated out of this heavily fortified garrison. [1, 2]
You can find the real-world historical context and recent discoveries of Tjaru detailed on the Archaeology Magazine website.
Would you like to know more about the historical Way of Horus military route, or are you looking to read about Merer's 4,500-year-old papyrus logs? Let me know how you want to proceed! [1, 2, 3]
🎶zig zag walls?...that harks to Sacsayhuamán Peru...Dodgers 1-As 6...bullpen batting practice day for the Dodgers...top of fifth...
✨️1. Sacsayhuamán (Cusco, Peru)
Located on a steep hill overlooking the historic Incan capital of Cusco, Sacsayhuamán is globally famous for its mind-boggling engineering. [1, 2]• Megalithic Architecture: Built using a technique called Ashlar, the Incas cut and polished massive limestone blocks—some weighing up to 125 tons—fitting them together so perfectly that not even a piece of paper can slip between them without mortar. [1, 2, 3]Design & Purpose: The main fortress wall spans a series of distinct zigzag terraces. Historically, it served as both a highly defensible citadel and a sacred ceremonial space. It was also the site of a brutal battle in 1536 between Incan forces and Spanish conquistadors. [1, 2, 3]Subterranean Secrets: Modern ground-penetrating radar surveys have confirmed the existence of extensive underground tunnels (chincanas) connecting Sacsayhuamán to Cusco's city center, likely built to manage sacred water infrastructure or provide noble escape routes. [1, 2, 3]
2. Tell el-Habua / Tel el-Habura (Sinai, Egypt)
Located in the northwestern Sinai Peninsula near modern-day el-Qantara East, Tell el-Habua is recognized by archaeologists as the largest ancient Egyptian fortress ever excavated. [1, 2]
• The Frontier City of Tjaru: Tell el-Habua is heavily associated with the ancient Egyptian border town of Tjaru (or Sile), which acted as the main customs and military checkpoint out of Egypt and into Canaan. [1, 2]The Ways of Horus: It was the official starting point of the "Way of Horus," a heavily fortified ancient military road lined with 11 defensive structures to protect New Kingdom Egypt from Asiatic invasions from the east. [1, 2, 3, 4]Recent Discoveries: Ongoing excavations have uncovered fortified gateways, 11 massive defensive towers, barracks, and residential quarters complete with ancient ovens and dough fragments. Cartouches and seals found here explicitly bear the names of great pharaohs like Thutmose I and Seti I. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
✨️fortress towns on the Way of Horus
The "Way of Horus" (or Horus Military Road) was a heavily guarded, 120-mile (approx. 180-220 km) coastal corridor connecting the Nile Delta to Canaan. It served as ancient Egypt's vital eastern defense and supply line during the New Kingdom period (c. 1550–1070 BCE). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The route was lined with a chain of fortified towns, wells, and strongholds spaced about a day's march apart. The key fortresses and stations, from west to east, include: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• Tjaru (Zarw / Sile): The starting point and largest of the fortresses. Located near modern Al Qantarah East, it featured massive granaries, military harbors, and a bridge over a crocodile-infested canal that controlled who entered and exited the Delta. [1, 2, 3, 4]Tell el-Borg: Located about 1.8 miles (3 km) east of Tjaru, this served as the next line of defense and contained an 18th-Dynasty moat and successive Ramesside period forts. [1]The Dwelling of the Lion (Tell el-Habua II): Identified as the second major station, this heavily fortified outpost was situated along a lagoon. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Tell el-Kharouba (Near Sheikh Zuweid): A major New Kingdom discovery, this 3,500-year-old fort covered over 86,000 square feet. It was built with a unique zigzag wall to resist desert winds and housed up to 500 soldiers. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Tell el-Kedwa: Situated on the eastern edge of an ancient lagoon, this stronghold dates to the later Saite Period and guarded the northern access point to Egypt. [1]Bir Al-Abd & Bir Qatia (Buto of Seti I): These desert oases were fortified with wells to act as vital watering holes and garrison stations between the larger fortified towns. [1, 2, 3]Raphia (Rafah): The final fortified border town before entering Canaan, marking the end of the Way of Horus. [1, 2]
The route was lined with a chain of fortified towns, wells, and strongholds spaced about a day's march apart. The key fortresses and stations, from west to east, include: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• Tjaru (Zarw / Sile): The starting point and largest of the fortresses. Located near modern Al Qantarah East, it featured massive granaries, military harbors, and a bridge over a crocodile-infested canal that controlled who entered and exited the Delta. [1, 2, 3, 4]Tell el-Borg: Located about 1.8 miles (3 km) east of Tjaru, this served as the next line of defense and contained an 18th-Dynasty moat and successive Ramesside period forts. [1]The Dwelling of the Lion (Tell el-Habua II): Identified as the second major station, this heavily fortified outpost was situated along a lagoon. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Tell el-Kharouba (Near Sheikh Zuweid): A major New Kingdom discovery, this 3,500-year-old fort covered over 86,000 square feet. It was built with a unique zigzag wall to resist desert winds and housed up to 500 soldiers. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Tell el-Kedwa: Situated on the eastern edge of an ancient lagoon, this stronghold dates to the later Saite Period and guarded the northern access point to Egypt. [1]Bir Al-Abd & Bir Qatia (Buto of Seti I): These desert oases were fortified with wells to act as vital watering holes and garrison stations between the larger fortified towns. [1, 2, 3]Raphia (Rafah): The final fortified border town before entering Canaan, marking the end of the Way of Horus. [1, 2]
🎶thought is the Way continued to Jerusalem...
✨️The Way of Horus officially ended at the ancient border town of Rafah, but its geographic extension continued past Rafah into Gaza and inland to Jerusalem via historical branch routes. [1, 2, 3]
The Coastal Extension (Via Maris)From Rafah, the physical coastal highway continued northward into Canaan. In later historical periods, this larger international trunk line became widely known by its Latin name, the Via Maris (Way of the Sea). It connected Egypt's frontier to the major ancient hub of Gaza. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Branching Inland to Jerusalem
Because the main coastal route stayed along the Mediterranean plain to link Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia, reaching Jerusalem required travelers to turn inland. Travelers moving from Rafah toward Jerusalem typically split from the coastal highway using one of two primary regional paths: [1, 2]
• The Lachish Road: Branching directly inland from Gaza, travelers cut northeast through the Shephelah (foothills) and ascended into the Judean Mountains to reach Jerusalem. [1, 2]The Jaffa / Bethoron Ascent: Travelers who continued further north along the coast to the ancient port of Jaffa would turn east, taking the historic Bethoron Ascent up into the mountains directly to Jerusalem. [1, 2]In biblical geography, this entire network starting from the Egyptian border is frequently referred to as the "Way of the Land of the Philistines". [1, 2]
🎶Ohtani K...bottom of seventh...the Incas had way stations too on their famous Trail...Sacsayhuamán is a mystery...overbuilt for Inca defense...kinda like the Missions...and it's some kinda ceremonial complex...top of eighth..
if one is to write of these times-one should be a sheperd in the desert, sail the Nile, build with adobe bricks, walk from Rafah to Jerusalem...history study is an adventure, but isn't history...that the California Missions were built with adobe, kind of a throw back back then...that whole adventure, last of the Spanish exploration...a curio to compare a Mission with Fort Ross, the Russian fort...another brief sentimental romance...Kingdoms can do that...not to be so quickly dismissed...and not so long ago...oh, the Natives nowadays won't have such...no kings...enough with the mud brick conscription...Dodgers 1-As 7...USA 2 Bosnia-Herzenegovia 0...to round of 16...top of ninth... Angels off today...need to go to store...bbk...Napoleon crowned himself...and the British were very wary of him...tatctically, he lacked logistics...
✨️
Napoleon did not entirely lack logistics; rather, his strategy relied heavily on speed and "living off the land" rather than traditional supply chains. This approach allowed his army to move incredibly fast, but it routinely broke down in barren, devastated, or vast territories, leading to devastating supply crises.
✨️fortress town logistics
+6
Alexander the Great’s conquests were powered by a sophisticated logistics network that relied heavily on fortress towns, garrison cities, and the Persian Royal Road system. He established fortified nodes to house troops, secure supply lines, and protect against guerilla attacks as his army marched deeper into Asia.
[1]
+6
Alexander the Great’s conquests were powered by a sophisticated logistics network that relied heavily on fortress towns, garrison cities, and the Persian Royal Road system. He established fortified nodes to house troops, secure supply lines, and protect against guerilla attacks as his army marched deeper into Asia.
[1]
🎶top of ninth...Ohtani K...Dodgers 1-As 7...
:)
DavidDavid
