What kind of stone did the Romans use for building is desert areas?

Question

I'm building a model of a Romanesque city in a desert climate. I would like to know what kind of stone the Romans used for building in these areas so that I can decide what color to paint the stonework on the buildings. I know they used marble in the European areas, but I'm not sure if this kind of stone would have been so prevalent in the Middle East and in North Africa.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

In truth ancient man and modern man both used granite and marble to make buildings. If you need example of Desert Granite then look ti the Great Pyramids for examples of stone in 'desert' region, and for non load bearing walls sandstne is easilly carved sculpted etc. That said will resort to cut & paste..

http://www.quarryscapes.no/ancient_sign.php
"""Ancient quarries are the ‘forgotten' archaeological sites. A pre-occupation with monumental archaeological sites, particularly in the QuarryScapes project region of the Eastern Mediterranean, has consequently overlooked the significance of quarries, for example, as providing fresh insights into the lives of the non-elite in antiquity. Although ancient quarries are under acute threat from modern development, many still remain relatively pristine and most crucially, comprise sometimes rare evidence of settlements, roads and harbours – these are the ‘ghost towns' of antiquity.
Often spanning a time depth over several thousand millennia, from the Late Palaeolithic to the Roman Period, the archaeological record in ancient quarries can inform about technological transformations in stone extraction techniques, the logistics of transport, sometimes over thousands of kilometres, and the social organisation of such activities. Within the totality of a quarry landscape, these landscapes can represent ‘lived' experiences or the embeddedness of significance relating to ancestry, kinship and practices within the landscape, such as quarrying, played out over centuries. Such places have important implications which have not previously been integrated into arguments about stone symbolism, source and use.
Moreover, they can help in understanding the political and ideological backdrop associated with stone procurement and what drove it to such heights in antiquity.

Giant columns left behind in a Roman granite quarry – the Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Photo by Tom Heldal.
Unspectacular, but of great significance, are Palaeolithic quarries and workshops for production of grinding stone, Egypt. Photo by Tom Heldal."""

http://www.quarryscapes.no/QLM_february_07.php
"""This month we continue our presentation of ancient granite quarries in Western Turkey.
Known to the Roman as Marmor Troadense , this granitoid rock is found in the Troas on the slopes of Mount Çigri, province of Ezine. It was already in use as a building material during the Archaic-Hellenistic period in the city of Neandria, situated on that mountain, and its use continued into the Hellenistic-Roman Age, in nearby Alexandria Troas (now Dalyan). From there, Marmor Troadense spread all over the Mediterranean, with particularly broad expansion from the second century A.D. on.
--------------------------The lithotype that best represents the quarry of Yedi Taslar is a rock of grey-violet colour and an medium grain size. The structural characteristic most evident to the naked eye is the presence of feldspar of a violet hue and of considerable dimension – up to 3 cm in length – which gives the stone the appearance of having “eyes”. A textural peculiarity results from the not uncommon black “Schlieren” distributed in random throughout the rock. Less frequent are yellowish aplitic veins. The modal analysis clearly indicated that this is a rock type which fits into the quartz-monzonite group. Its structure is granular porphyritic. Feldspar and Plagioclase are the most plentiful minerals accounting in equal amounts (33%). Quatz (8-10%) fills the interstices. Of the coloured components, green hornblende slightly prevails over biotite (20% in total). Common accessory minerals are iron oxides and sulphides, titanite, apatite and rare epidote. ""

Wish I could see the results of your endeavor...

Pax---------------

PS - - - expect a Roman to make a building stand out against the monotony of a Desert Enviroment... Importing Marble from the Iberian Peninsula would be worth the expense for a Temple.

Answer 2

by no ability underestimate the importance of Lebanon, traditionally or politically. The Phoenicians got here from their despite if their maximum needed city became Carthage, which replaced into in Tunis yet based from Tyre. that it is not a "superpower" at present would not exchange that what happens there concerns interior the middle East as much because it constantly has. The Romans outfitted to electrify, needless to say. Rome itself exhibits that this has no longer replaced by using all the masses of years. although on the time of the Empire an outstanding style of human beings lived in Rome and the economic device mandatory maximum of them. There wasn't room to make the temples too great, the middle East replaced into an significant source of aspects and exertions, and it might make experience they'd decide for to electrify the area with their shape as properly as their palms, and Baalbeck replaced right into a competent place to try this, because of the fact Lebanon has constantly mattered.

Answer 3

I know they were big on either limestone or marble, but also, the Romans invented cement.

Answer 4

Sandstone ofcourse