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The
location of Petra
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Petra (from the Latin word 'petrae',
meaning 'rock') lies in a great rift valley east of Wadi 'Araba in Jordan
about 80 kilometers south of the Dead Sea. It came into prominence in the
late first century BCE (BC) through the success of the spice trade. The
city was the principal city of ancient Nabataea and was famous above all
for two things: its trade and its hydraulic engineering systems. It was
locally autonomous until the reign of Trajan, but it flourished under Roman
rule. The town grew up around its Colonnaded Street in the first century
CE (AD) and by the mid-first century had witnessed rapid urbanization. Following
the flow of the Wadi Musa, the city-center was laid out on either sides
of the Colonnaded Street on an elongated plan between the theater in the
east and the Qasr al-Bint in the west. The quarries were probably opened
in this period, and there followed virtually continuous building through
the first and second centuries CE.
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The
Treasury |
According to tradition,
in ca. 1200 BCE, the Petra area (but not necessarily the site itself) was
populated by Edomites and the area was known as Edom ("red"). Before the
Israelite incursions, the Edomites controlled the trade routes from Arabia
in the south to Damascus in the north. Little is known about the Edomites
at Petra itself, but as a people they were known for their wisdom, their
writing, their textile industry, the excellence and fineness of their ceramics,
and their skilled metal working.
The next chapter
of history belongs to the Persian period, and it is posited that during
this time the Nabataeans migrated into Edom, forcing the Edomites to move
into southern Palestine. But little is known about Petra proper until
about 312 BC by which time the Nabataeans, one of many Arab tribes, occupied
it and made it the capital of their kingdom. At this time, during the
Hellenistic rule of the Seleucids, and later, the Ptolemies, the whole
area flourished with increased trade and the establishment of new towns
such as Philadelphia (Rabbath 'Ammon, modern Amman) and Gerasa (modern
Jerash). Infighting between the Seleucids and Ptolemies allowed the Nabataeans
to gain control over the caravan routes between Arabia and Syria. Although
there were struggles between the Jewish Maccabeans and the Seleucid overlords,
Nabataean trade continued.
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The
Temple of Winged Lions |
With Nabataean rule,
Petra became the center for a spice trade that extended from Arabia to Aqaba
and Petra, and onward either to Gaza in the northwest, or to the north through
Amman to Bostra, Damascus, and finally on to Palmyra and the Syrian Desert.
Nabataean Classical monuments reflect the international character of the
Nabataean economy through their combination of native tradition and the
classical spirit.
But among the most
remarkable of all Nabataean achievements is the hydraulic engineering
systems they developed including water conservation systems and the dams
that were constructed to divert the rush of swollen winter waters that
create flash floods.
In 64-63 BCE, the
Nabataeans were conquered by the Roman general, Pompey, whose policy was
to restore the cities taken by the Jews. However, he retained an independent
Nabataea, although the area was taxed by the Romans and served as a buffer
territory against the desert tribes. Completely subsumed by the Romans
under the Emperor Trajan in 106 CE, Petra and Nabataea then became part
of the Roman province known as Arabia Petraea with its capital at Petra.
In 131 CE Hadrian, the Roman emperor, visited the site and named it after
himself, Hadriane Petra. The city continued to flourish during
the Roman period, with a Triumphal Arch spanning the Siq, and tomb structures
either carved out of the living rock or built free-standing. Under Roman
rule, Roman Classical monuments abounded many with Nabataean overtones.
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The
Colonnaded Street |
By 313 CE (AD), Christianity
had become a state-recognized religion. In 330 CE, the Emperor Constantine
established the Eastern Roman Empire with its capital at Constantinople.
Although the 363 earthquake destroyed half of the city, it appears that
Petra retained its urban vitality into late antiquity, when it was the seat
of a Byzantine bishopric. The newly excavated Petra church with its papyrus
scrolls document this period, especially in the sixth century, a phenomenon
less well-attested in other sites so far south of 'Amman. In this period
there is also striking archaeological and documentary evidence for accommodation
between Christians and the pagan aristocracy. Thereafter one can read the
archaeology of a fragmented middle Byzantine community living among and
re-using the abandoned limestone and sandstone elements of its classical
past. The inhabitants during the Byzantine Period recycled many standing
structures and rock-cut monuments, while also constructing their own buildings,
including churches — such as the recently excavated Petra Church with the
extraordinary mosaics. Among the rock-cut monuments they reused is the great
tomb or the Ad-Dayr (known also as 'The Monastery'), which was modified
into a church. With a change in trade routes, Petra's commercial decline
was inevitable. An even more devastating earthquake had a severe impact
on the city in 551 CE, and all but brought the city to ruin. With the rise
of Islam, Petra became a backwater community. Petra was revealed to the
western world in 1812 for the first time since the Crusades when it was
re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
Past Excavations
As one of the most spectacular
sites in the Middle East, Petra has long attracted travelers and explorers.
During the 19th century, the site was visited and documented by several
Europeans, after J. L. Burckhardt’s initial visit. A synthesis of the site
was published by Libbey and Hoskins in 1905, presenting one of the first
overviews in print. Archaeological excavations began in earnest at the turn
of the century, with the earliest scientific expedition being published
in Arabia Petraea in 1907, by A. Musil. In the 1920's R. E. Brünnow
and A. von Domaszewski surveyed the site and published an ambitious mapping
project in their Die Provincia Arabia. This survey has since undergone
many necessary revisions, the most recent of which was published by Judith
McKenzie in 1990.
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An
early photograph of
the Treasury |
Modern excavations continue
to increase our understanding of the site and correct the work of earlier
scholars. In 1958, P. J. Parr and C. M. Bennett of the British School of
Archaeology began an excavation of the city center which remains the most
informative and scientific to date. Recently, the Petra/Jerash Project,
undertaken by the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, the University of
Jordan, the University of Utah, and Swiss archaeologists, have excavated
a number of monuments at these two sites. Architectural remains now visible
at Petra indicate a thriving city, however, despite almost 100 years of
excavation, only one-percent of the city been investigated.
The Great Temple
was first explored by Brünnow and von Domaszewski, but it was Bachmann,
in his revision of the Petra city plan, who postulated the existence of
a “Great Temple,” aligned with the Colonnade Street, lying on the hillside
to the south. He speculated that the temple was approached through a monumental
Propylaeum with a grand staircase leading into a colonnaded, terraced
Lower Temenos, or sacred precinct. Another broad monumental stairway led
to a second, Upper Temenos. At its center was the temple, with yet another
flight of stairs leading into the temple proper. While no standing structures
were revealed before these excavations, the site is littered with architectural
fragments, including column drums, probably toppled by one of the earthquakes
which rocked the site. Given the promise of the Great Temple precinct
and its importance in understanding Petra’s architectural and intercultural
history, it is remarkable that it remained unexcavated until 1993 when
the Brown University investigations began.
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