Karamagara Bridge

Coordinates: 38°55′30″N 38°39′31″E / 38.924961°N 38.658486°E / 38.924961; 38.658486
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the historic Roman bridge. For the 2015-built bridge in the same area, see Ağın Bridge.
Karamagara Bridge
Melitene
CrossesArapgir Çayı
LocaleNear Ağın, Elazığ Province, Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey
Characteristics
DesignPointed arch bridge
MaterialStone
Longest span17 m
No. of spans1
History
Construction end5th or 6th century AD
Location
Map

The Karamagara Bridge (

Byzantine or late Roman bridge in the ancient region of Cappadocia in eastern Turkey, and possibly the earliest known pointed arch bridge.[1]

The bridge, along with much of the Arapgir Çayı valley, has been submerged since the completion of the Keban Dam in 1975, as a result of which the water level in the Euphrates valley and some of its upstream tributaries dramatically rose.[2]

Location and situation

The single arch of 17 m spans between the cliffs of the rocky gorge of the Arapgir Çayı, an affluent of the Euphrates.[3]

The structure belonged to the

Melitene, which was cut into the rock near the bridge at both sides of the river. Its name Karamağara ("black cave") probably derives from an artificially widened cavern on the southern bank which was carved into the darkish rock 75 m above the structure and served for protection of the crossing point. The bridge was quite frequently mentioned by early European travellers.[4]

As with other monuments in the region, the site was examined by the Middle East Technical University of Ankara prior to its flooding.[5] Further downstream, at the village of Bahadın, the remains of another now submerged Roman bridge may indicate the existence of an older crossing point.[4]

Pointed arch

The pointed arch rib was built without

Psalm 121, verse 8 of the Bible.[6]
The text reads:

Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς φυλ[ά]ξει τὴν εἰσοδ[όν] σου κε τὴν ἐ[ξ]οδόν σου ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἔως τοῦ αἰῶνος, ἀμὴ[ν], ἀμ[ὴν], ἀ[μὴν].
Kýrios ho Theós phyláxei tēn eisodón sou ke tēn exodón sou apó tou nyn kai héōs tou aiṓnos, amḗn, amḗn, amḗn.
[The] Lord God may guard your entrance and your exit from now and unto all time, amen, amen, amen.

A

Near Eastern architecture, which the Muslim conquerors subsequently adopted and built on.[9] The stones containing the Greek inscriptions were removed from the bridge and brought to the Elazığ Museum in 1972.[10]

See also

  • List of Eastern Roman inventions

References

  1. ^ Galliazzo 1995, p. 92; Warren 1991, pp. 61–63
  2. ^ a b Galliazzo 1995, p. 92
  3. ^ Galliazzo 1995, p. 92; O’Connor 1993, p. 129
  4. ^ a b Hild 1977, p. 145
  5. ^ Doomed by the Dam 1967, pp. 54–57
  6. ^ Hild 1977, p. 145 (In the Vulgate translation of the Bible, this is Psalm 120 which the source uses.)
  7. ^ Galliazzo 1995, p. 92; O’Connor 1993, p. 129; Hild 1977, p. 145; Hellenkemper 1977–1999, pp. 730–731; Guillou 1993, p. 36; Mango 1976, p. 129; Tunç 1978, p. 108
  8. ^ Galliazzo 1995, pp. 429–437; O’Connor 1993, p. 171
  9. ^ a b Warren 1991, pp. 61–63
  10. S2CID 126773006
    . Retrieved 7 March 2023.

Sources
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