Abstract

Wood-reinforced rubble walls (so called timber-laced masonry), which were widespread in South Arabia and East Africa in the architecture of the first millennium BC, can be easily reconstructed in terms of their wall structure. They were mostly used for the construction of multi-story buildings, as evidenced by ancient sources. However, what has been lacking until now are static analyses of the load-bearing systems, which could provide information about how the wall systems and their individual components functioned. In Yeha, in the Ethiopian highlands, the Grat Be’al Gibri palace, which was equipped with such a wall system, is being investigated as part of an Ethiopian–German archaeological research project. This is the largest known palace-like structure from the early first millennium BC in South Arabia and East Africa. The special feature of the construction of its walls is that the beams integrated into the masonry were installed exclusively horizontally. There are many indications that this must have been a multi-story building, even though only parts of the ground floor have survived. Based on its virtual three-dimensional reconstruction, investigations of two representative wall elements in the supporting structure will be carried out using the finite element method under consideration of material uncertainties and by applying various failure mechanisms of the present structural components. The load resulting from multiple factors is applied purely vertically, and the masonry is defined as a homogeneous material, taking into account uncertain material parameters. The numerical simulations show that the variation in wood parameters has very little influence on the result and that a multi-story building was feasible with the present wall constructions. It can be concluded from the carrying reserves that an exceptional load must have caused the system failure. This is consistent with the fact, that the building was completely destroyed by a devastating fire in ancient times. By this interdisciplinary collaboration and by using modern simulation techniques, key questions in archaeology and building history can be answered and assumptions can be confirmed or refuted. Even if it is not certain that the ancient builders fully exploited the structural potential of the wall construction presented here to its limits, it is certain that they were able to develop highly efficient building structures and create impressive architecture through experience and the transmission of knowledge. Further research can now follow based on these findings.

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