The Project WaterDecor “Water for the People, Décor for the City: Nymphaea and Public Fountains in Iudaea/Syria-Palaestina and Provincia Arabia from the Roman until the Byzantine Periods (ca. 1st BCE-7th CE)” analyses how these water management installations were built across this vast semi-arid geographical area and evaluates cultural, social, and economic implications. Through a historical perspective and the record of past societies, this project embraces the EU’s challenges in the field of climate action and resource efficiency, bringing awareness to the importance of conscious water use. Furthermore, in line with the strategic framework for the EU’s cultural policy and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), this research promotes international cultural relations with southern neighbours (Israel, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon).
Roman monumental civic fountains were both utilitarian edifices that augmented a community’s access to freshwater and grand architectural forms well suited to competitive display and civic and state glorification, which make them ideal examples for the study of the complex negotiation of patronage, identity, and status in the Roman Empire. My study endeavors to reconstruct the social, political, and cultural expectations embodied in public fountains.
The overall goal of WaterDecor is to assess how fountains and nymphaea, which are large water-consuming structures, were built during the Roman and Byzantine periods, managed, and affected by climate changes. The chosen geographical area examined is especially large because of the persistent changes of borders and administrative status of the Levant over the centuries; furthermore, researching a vast geographical region allows for comparisons of solutions found in areas that are different in terms of their geology, climate, and ethnic composition.
This research addresses three specific objectives:
1. to carry out a collective study of nymphaea/public fountains;
2. to investigate the urban and socio-cultural contexts;
3. to examine effects and consequences of climate changes.
These large water-consuming structures were urban endpoints of the water distribution system, and many factors conditioned their construction: e.g. natural topography, urban demand and needs, financial resources, and local culture. In this regard, this project aims at investigating the urban-social context and implies two aspects: a) the actual location of fountains within the urban settlement, which varies according to technical or practical needs and project’s scale; b) the sociocultural environment, which affects and influences constructions and their maintenance. In this regard, this study seeks to investigate not only the consumer, but also religious practices (e.g. the use of water during ceremonies in sanctuaries, as in the Jupiter sanctuary in Baalbek), and the social profile of sponsors, who commissioned the construction or the repair of hydraulic installations. In fact, this type of infrastructure was a form of euergetism aimed at pleasing the population and strengthening the sponsor’s social or political role. In this respect, nymphaea were ostentatious monuments and, although expensive to build, they could provide their donors with an excellent opportunity for self-advertisement.
WaterDecor project foresees examining the effects and consequences of climate changes on these hydraulic installations. Goals are: a) to verify whether or not in the Roman Levant, the construction boom of water-flow infrastructures during the 2nd and early 3rd century CE is somehow connected to a greater abundance of water, comparable to the boom in Northern Africa and Asia Minor; b) to examine to what extent the period of extensive drought Anatolia and Levant between the 4th-5th century CE affected these hydraulic infrastructures. And in fact, archaeological investigations have so far shown economizing adaptations to water infrastructure (e.g. in Jerash, Bosra, Apamea) in Late Antiquity and the proliferation of cisterns for collecting water. This is also a crucial aspect in terms of social control and government because the shortage of drinking water caused rebellions and riots, as happened in Caesarea Maritima in the time of Justinian I (527-565).
