Fire and Water: Tradition and Modernity in the Archaeology of Steam Locomotion in a Desert War

Abstract

The construction of the Hijāz Railway from Damascus to Medina between 1900 and 1908 transformed the physical and cultural landscapes of a traditional desert routeway. The contesting of the routeway and its landscape during the Great Arab Revolt of 1916–18 necessitated heavy investment in the defence of the railway and its supply of wood and water. Adopting the interdisciplinary perspective of modern conflict archaeology, this paper explores interaction between traditional life-ways and cultures, and the effects that the industrialization and militarization of the railway had on natural resources.