The Bridge of Gemarrin is a
Roman bridge
The ancient Romans were the first civilization to build large, permanent bridges. Early Roman bridges used techniques introduced by Etruscan immigrants, but the Romans improved those skills, developing and enhancing methods such as arches and ke ...
in the village of
Jemarrin near the ancient city of
Bosra
Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...
in southern
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. The bridge belonged to the
Roman road
Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
to Soada Dionysias (
As-Suwayda
, timezone = EET
, utc_offset = +2
, timezone_DST = EEST
, utc_offset_DST = +3
, coordinates =
, grid_position = 296/235 ...
), crossing the
Wadi Zeidi some kilometers north of Bostra.
Today, the structure presents itself essentially as an arch skeleton: while the three semi-circular arches, made from local
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
, are still extant, the roadway and the fill have been removed to expose the top of the arch vaults. Obliquely running embankments on both sides of the wadi force the water in the river bed under the bridge.
At least two other Roman bridges over the Wadi Zeidi, the
Kharaba Bridge
The Kharaba Bridge is a Roman bridge in the village of Kharaba in the fertile Hauran region of Syria, close to the city of Bosra (ancient Bostra).
The bridge crosses the Wadi Zeidi, a tributary of the Yarmuk, 3.5 km northwest of Bosra. It ...
and the one At-Tayyibeh, have survived to this day.
See also
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List of Roman bridges
This is a list of Roman bridges. The Romans were the world's first major bridge builders. The following list constitutes an attempt to list all known surviving remains of Roman bridges.
A Roman bridge in the sense of this article includes an ...
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Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
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Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
References
Sources
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{{Roman bridges
Roman bridges in Syria
Deck arch bridges
Stone bridges in Syria
Buildings and structures in Daraa Governorate