Abstract
There are many 19th-early 20th centuries villages in the region of Petra, southern Jordan, which are still well persevered but facing a high risk of modern urban expansion. These villages were a subject of full documentation project conducted by the authors in 2011-2013. This paper presents the results of this project in terms of the architectural aspects, including top plan, the general spatial layout of the villages, building technique, building materials, roofing systems, coating materials and other architectural elements. Some anthropological aspects of the inhabitants are also presented. The data collected has many ethno archaeological implications including spatial organization and spatial use, settlement growth and settlement abandonment. Results show that these villages share similar architectural aspects with other rural villages in Jordan in specific and the Levant and Arabia in general. The study has also show that social background of the villagers is well indicated in the spatial organization of the villages. Moreover, results suggest that sedentarized nomadic societies tend to occupy larger space and room areas than rural communities. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4p336
Highlights
There are many late 19th and early 20th centuries villages found all over the region of Petra in the southern part of Jordan
The six villages documented in Petra region shed some light on the architectural traditions of the Petra region communities during the last century
All these villages are completely built out of stone masonry and completely lack the usage of mud bricks, and this may be interpreted in the light of the fact that all these villages were built over archaeological settlement by reusing the building material of the past settlements
Summary
There are many late 19th and early 20th centuries villages found all over the region of Petra in the southern part of Jordan. We can understand that these villages are quietly threatened, and it is highly likely to be demolished at any time to use the space for modern activities For this reason a group of scholars from the local community run a project in 2011-2013 to make full documentation for six villages in Petra region. The aim of the project is to get the villages in concern fully documented and to raise a public awareness on the importance and necessity of preserving such a great heritage, and to communicate to the locals the potential of developing these villages into tourism product involving local culture Another objective is to provide students of architecture, anthropology and cultural heritage with new data related to their field of interests. The main focus of this paper is to introduce the architectural aspects of these villages with some anthropological notes
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