Is Somebody Watching You? Ancient Surveillance Systems in the Southern Judean Desert

Abstract

The Panoptic model of surveillance, which enables a small number of observers to control large numbers of people, is usually considered a modern (18th century AD) invention and a conceptual cornerstone of modern surveillance and disciplinary systems. On the basis of two case studies encountered in a survey near the southwestern edge of the Dead Sea, this study suggests that the concept of surveillance is much older. The first case deals with a quarry from the Roman period, and the second concentrates on an ascent from the Early Bronze Age II–III periods (3000–2400 BC).