Resafa, Syria (Topoi A-I-3)

In 1269, the last residents left Resafa forever and were then forgotten for 400 years. In 1691, English merchants rediscovered the settlement. Another 200 years would pass before German researchers would begin the first excavations in 1907. Resafa is a city of ruins in northern Syria; it was a Roman fortified military camp of the eastern limes, 25 km south of the Euphrates. With five preserved Christian churches, the “Great Mosque”, underground cisterns, a monumental city wall, and the Caliph’s residence, it is one of Syria’s most important sites of ruins – and a singular testimony of the transition from Late Antiquity to early Islam.