The Nabataeans in Focus: Current Archaeological Research at Petra; Papers from the Special Session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies Held on 29 July 2011

Abstract

A number of research projects in Petra and the surrounding region have resulted in exciting new avenues of study with regard to Nabataean religion, architecture, and economy. Reports concerning eight such projects were presented at the 46th Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum on 28–30 July 2011. The resulting published volume contains preliminary reports of a major archaeological survey north of Petra and excavations in the earliest levels of the Petra city center, in tomb complexes, and a royal residence of the first century BCE on the Umm al-Biyara. The work also includes a number of diverse thematic studies concerning Nabataean shrines located in the hinterland, the funerary landscape of Petra, and an examination of the date of the Incense Road between Petra and Gaza.In “Landscapes North of Petra: The Petra Area and Wādī Silaysil Survey,” it is evident that Brown University continues its tradition of ground-breaking research in the Petra region with the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP), directed by S. E. Alcock and C. A. Tuttle. A major component of the project is the Petra Area and Wādī Silaysil Survey (PAWS), directed by S. E. Alcock and A. R. Knodell. The intensive pedestrian survey has covered ca. 350 ha in the Bayda area north of Petra during the 2010 and 2011 seasons and has sought to identify settlement change by quantification of artifact distributions across the landscape (p. 7). The survey has revealed traces of human activity that reach back into the Paleolithic era (p. 8). Of particular interest is the discovery of Early Bronze Age material around Umm Saysaban, Iron II material in the vicinity of Bayda and east of Ras al-Silaysil, and Hellenistic remains near Ras al-Silaysil. The research indicates a marked increase in sherd density across the landscape in the Hellenistic period with a noticeable peak in the Early and Middle Roman periods between 50 BCE and 250 CE (p. 10). The intensive methodology and documentation efforts employed in the project are unparalleled in the region and will undoubtedly serve as a model for future endeavors here and elsewhere.A team of eminent archaeologists, S. G. Schmid, P. Bienkowski, Z. T. Fiema, and B. Kolb, led the search for the royal palaces in Petra in “The Palaces of the Nabataean Kings at Petra.” Their work resulted in the discovery of a royal residence on the Umm al-Biyara and a possible royal quarter (basileia) at the foot of al-Khubthah closer to the Petra city center. The residence was discovered on the eastern promontory of the Umm al-Biyara Plateau, overlooking the Petra city center. It was sumptuous with heated bathing facilities, alatrine, Nabataean capitals, marble sculptures, and traces of opus sectile decoration. The discovery of this type of mountain-top palatial residence in Petra allows comparisons with the Hasmonean and Herodian palaces in neighboring Judea and particularly Herod's Northern Palace at Masada (Netzer 1991).Masada and Umm al-Biyara both share the problem of water procurement in a dry inhospitable landscape. At Petra, the Nabataean builders took advantage of natural topographical features by constructing cisterns on the natural catchment of a slope directly above the residence (p. 77). The date of the construction (late first century BCE to early first century CE) suggests the influence of Herodian architecture; although it is noted that the residence shares features found at other Judean sites as well (pp. 84–85). The researchers propose that the structure was destroyed in the earthquake of 363 CE on the basis of lamp fragments found on a floor surface. However, more extensive excavation is required to determine if the structure was damaged or destroyed by earthquake in the early second century CE (see Kolb 2002: 261; 2007: 167; Kanellopoulos 2001: 13) or if it continued to be occupied as late as the fourth century CE. The proposed basileia below the Khubthah Massif requires even more investigation. The researchers place a great deal of emphasis on the availability of water provided by the al-Khubthah aqueduct and the water catchment of the massif. They also propose that the so-called Palace Tomb may have been a royal tomb (heroon) inside the basileia similar to those found in other Hellenistic royal quarters (p. 93). The possibility that a tomb was intentionally situated inside an inhabited area stands in stark contrast with the necropoleis of Petra, which are situated outside of the inhabited areas of the city center.In “Dating the Early Phases under the Temenos of the Qasr al-Bint at Petra,” the excavations in the Petra city center next to the Qasr al-Bint conducted by the French Archaeological Expedition, including F. Renel, M. Mouton C. Augé, C. Gauthier, C. Hatté, J.-F. Saliège, and A. Zazzo, are examined. The project has provided a major contribution to our knowledge of the earliest phases of Nabataean settlement at the site. Their research points to occupational levels as early as the fourth century BCE and the construction of dwellings in the third century BCE. This early dating is supported by calibrated radio carbon dates, as well as ceramic and numismatic evidence (pp. 50–51). The French expedition, together with the results of excavations carried out below the main street further to the east by P. Parr (1970; 2007) and D. F. Graf (2013 and Graf et al. 2005), provide evidence that offsets previous interpretations regarding the nature of early Nabataean society. Such views were influenced by a widespread reliance on the testimony of Hieronymous of Cardia (312/311 BCE), quoted by Diodorus Siculus, who claimed that the Nabataeans were nomads who abhorred any form of settlement (Dio. Sic. 19.94.10; cf. 2.48.1–2).Wenning and Gorgerat discuss the excavation of a chamber tomb and adjacent complex next to the Aslah Triclinium, located on high ground opposite the opening to the Siq, described as the Bab al-Siq necropolis in “The International Aslah Project, Petra: New Research and New Questions.” The project area is of particular importance due to a Nabataean inscription found on the back wall of the triclinium, which is considered to be the oldest dated inscription in Petra: ca. 96/95 BCE. The excavation has revealed a number of issues succinctly treated by Wenning. In spite of the date of the inscription, which includes a reference to the existence of a nearby cistern, the burials in the tomb and the complex in front appear to have been carved nearly a century later, toward the end of the first century BCE or early first century CE, and remains continued to be interred until at least the beginning of the second century CE. This discrepancy has prompted Wenning to examine the function and significance of Nabataean sanctuaries, such as triclinia, within the framework of G. Dalman's assumption that the Aslah Triclinium Complex belonged to a clan (Dalman 1912: 100). Wenning points out that rock-cut installations at Petra in the form of triclinia, biclinia, and stibadia are not necessarily found in relation to burials and in fact less than a quarter of these installations have been found in such contexts (p. 137). He regards the Aslah Trinclinium Complex as a sanctuary devoted to Dushara that belonged to a particular clan. The complex included the triclinium and its inscription, as well as incised symbols of the deity, a niche basin for purification, cup-holes that may have been used for libations, and votive niches, which includes an entire row of 18 niches located near the triclinium.Gorgerat's excavation in the deep pit graves inside the chamber tomb produced an impressive group of 30 ceramic unguentaria recovered from one grave (p. 129). These vessels have since been published (Gorgerat and Wenning 2013: Fig. 14) and they appear to belong to the latest types of ceramic unguentaria produced in the area from the post-annexation period until the early third century CE.Lucy Wadeson's contribution, “The Funerary Landscape of Petra: Results from a New Study,” deals with the influence of geology and topography on tomb architecture, important factors that have largely been overlooked. She devotes a better part of the chapter to the large numbers of shaft tombs in Petra. For obvious reasons, tombs with carved decorative façades have been studied intensely at the expense of plain shaft graves, which are nearly invisible in the landscape. Wadeson discusses the chronology of the shaft tombs in relation to the development of the façade tombs, noting that a number were apparently converted into façade tombs, thus pre-dating the better known type (p. 114). Overall, shaft tombs were probably the most common form of Nabataean burial. At least 3,500 examples were located east of the Dead Sea in Khirbet Qazone, where they were dated to the first three centuries CE (Politis and Cline 1999). Moreover, the use of shaft tombs is not restricted to the Nabataeans; they were also utilized by the Jewish inhabitants of Qumran in the first and second centuries CE. In both cemeteries the graves are oriented north–south (Magness 2004: 119). Wadeson also discusses the possibility that the façade-type tombs developed out of the earlier block tombs that are found next to the eastern and southern approaches to Petra (p. 105). The development of the façade-type tombs appear to have been strongly influenced by Alexandrian tomb architecture that Nabataean artisans skillfully adapted to the extreme geology and topography of Petra (pp. 108–9).The Finnish Jabal Hārūn Project completed several seasons of excavations that uncovered a Byzantine-period monastery below the peak of Jabal Hārūn (Fiema and Frösén 2008). In his article, “Reinventing the Sacred: From Shrine to Monastery at Jabal Hārūn,” Fiema proposes that part of the Western Building that was the core of the complex may have originally been part of an earlier Nabataean shrine. In view of the religious significance of this highly visible peak in the Byzantine and Islamic periods, the existence of a Nabataean cultic shrine here is quite reasonable. Needless to say, mountain-top shrines and temples are found throughout Nabataean-controlled regions in the Sinai, the Negev, the Edomite plateau, and Petra itself. Fiema discusses the circumstances that a pagan shrine may have given way to a Christian site that venerated the biblical figure of Aaron, brother of the prophet Moses. He points out that the transition from paganism to Christianity at the site may not have been particularly violent and may have even been possible by the natural destruction of an earlier shrine during the earthquake of 363 CE (p. 33).Marie-Jeanne Roche offers an intriguing contribution entitled “A Nabataean Shrine to Isis in Wādī Abū Ullayqah in the South-West of Petra.” She examines an important shrine dedicated to the goddess Isis, who is depicted as a seated Demeter-type figure (now headless) beautifully carved in a sandstone outcrop. Roche proposes that the shrine may be identified as one described in the Oxyrhynchus Invocation of Isis, “in Petra, [Isis] is called soteira (‘saviour’)….” (p. 68). The area around the statue exhibits possible cultic installations: a natural basin under a waterfall; Nabataean inscriptions, including two that refer to the goddess Isis; and engraved drawings of feet. Two betyls, one an eye-idol, and more inscriptions are present in a second location beyond the waterfall (pp. 58–59). Roche notes that the Nabataean spelling of the name Isis corresponds to the Egyptian rather than its Greek equivalent (p. 61), a fact that appears to underline the direct ties between Petra and Egypt that go back to the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Nearly 150 Nabataean names are found in the descriptions along with common Nabataean formulas, dkr, “to remember,” and slm, “peace.” Notably, these formulas continue to appear in late Nabataean inscriptions, including those written in ink on plaster (by the plasterer himself) that were uncovered in sealed contexts from the late fourth century at Oboda (Erickson-Gini 2010: 185, Fig. 7.5). The dedication of a physician (p. 64) ties in with Roche's supposition that the site was a healing shrine where flowing water was an important component. According to Roche, this may be an element that was shared with the Nabataean deity, Dushara, whose name appears several times in inscriptions at the site in the form of al-Ga (p. 59).Haim Ben-David's contribution, “Nabataean or Late Roman? Reconsidering the Date of the Built Sections and Milestones along the Petra–Gaza Road,” discusses the phasing of the ancient Incense Road that stretched across the Wadi Arabah to the Mediterranean coast. His work is significant because all too often the Incense Road is treated as a monolithic single-period entity whereas in actuality it was developed over centuries, first by the Nabataeans and later under Roman rule. Ben-David points out that section between Petra and Oboda, originally established in the late first century BCE, underwent changes following the Roman annexation of Nabataea in 106 CE. Toward the end of the second century CE, Roman military tower forts were built at a number of sites and milestones were erected (p. 19). In the wake of the results of Andrew Smith's surveys and excavations in the eastern side of the Wadi Arabah (2010), Ben-David proposes that the Petra–Gaza Road may be identified in the Petra region as following the Naqb al-Rubai route (the limestone ridge south of Jabal Hārūn) and northwest to Khirbet Sufaysif and Moyat ‘Awad (pp. 21–22). The Petra side of the Incense Road also exhibits phases from more than one historical period and portions of the leg from Naqb al-Rubai to the Petra city center appear to have been developed by the Roman army in the post-annexation era.To conclude, the papers from the special session of the Seminar for Arabian Studies in 2011 make up a unique collection of important and interesting studies of the archaeology of Petra and the culture of the Nabataeans. This collection is an indispensable acquisition for scholars and laymen alike. Drs. Nehmé and Wadeson are to be commended for producing a quality volume in such a timely manner following the conference.