Petra, Jordan

EXCAVATION, INTERPRETATION, AND DATING

BY: CARSTON MORRELL
ANTH-2030-402-F17
Brief Overview

Built in the first century

Around 400 BC
Founded by the Nabateans
Capital city known for trade, became extremely wealthy
gold, silver, incense, brass, iron, saffron, sculptures, etc.
Large earthquake and sea trade
Rome annexed the Nabateans (A.D. 106)
Rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Excavation

85% of Petra still is undiscovered

Hidden under thick layers of debris
and sand built up over the
centuries
Will take years to uncover the
earth
Pickaxe and shovels
Training local laborers in how to
excavate and preserve the
excavation sites
Soil dumps to find small artifacts
Domestic structures to learn about
the non-elite residents of the city
Google Earth and Drones

Looked at previous research for

range of types of sights that might
be encountered
Satellite imagery to focus on areas
Use of filtering tools
Allows researchers to cover more
ground in a very short period of
time
Interpretation

Very little Nabataeans artifacts

Theft and the Great Earthquake
Bio-archaeological evidence
Many tombs held human bones
Facades themselves
Scrolls from the Greek and Byzantine
150 scrolls in Byzantine church
Revealed a vibrant community into the seventh century
Strabo the Greek Historian

Foreigners in Petra are frequently

engaged in litigation
The locals had never any dispute among
themselves, and lived together in perfect
harmony.
Nabateans were poor soldiers
hucksters and merchants
fond of accumulating property
There are abundant springs of water
both for domestic purposes and for
watering gardens,
Bedul Tribe Interpretation

Live in Southern Jordan

Inhabit traditional tents
Inhabit caves cut by the Nabataeans
two thousand years ago
Adapted in simple yet sophisticated
ways
Many overlapping uses for caves
Nabataeans also lived in simply
adapted caves
Study of Bedul may provide clues to the
Nabataeans
What the facades have told us

Drew on styles ranging from Greek to

Egyptian to Mesopotamian to Indian
Much wealth went into carving the
facades
Over 800 tombs have been
discovered
Some used the tombs to gather, and
have a meal to memorialize the
dead
Others to escape the summer hear
Carved channels through solid rock
to collect winter rain
Collected in cisterns for use during dry
summers
Dating

Rock-cut faade tombs lack

absolute dating evidence
The chronology has been based
upon typology
Larger and more complex non-
classical facades are
chronologically older
(Double Pylon and Hegre Tombs)
Simple and less complex newer
(Single Pylon and Step)
Use of radiocarbon dating
Stratigraphy

Determining the age of rock in Petra can

help determine the age of the rock-cut
buildings
Citations

https://www.archaeological.org/lectures/abstracts/13143

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/175638010X12634804459805

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/reconstructing-petra-155444564/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-found-gigantic-ancient-
monument-jordan-180959368/

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/1743130114Y.0000000003?src=recsys

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00438243.1985.9979959?src=recsys

https://opencontext.org/projects/A5DDBEA2-B3C8-43F9-8151-33343CBDC857
Citations

http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/new-petra-discovery-sheds-light-citys-
untapped-treasures

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160929-the-mammoth-task-of-unearthing-petra

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/petra/the-bedouin-of-petra/

https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/petra

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/22/world/meast/petra-bedouin-lifestyle/index.html

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/326
Citations

Excavation styles
http://www.state.in.us/indot/files/Earthworks_Chapter_03.pdf
https://msu.edu/~aarondan/methodsofarchaeology.htm
Pictures
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/petra/the-bedouin-of-petra/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corinthian_Tomb,_Petra_01.jpg
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/news/2016/06/08/
petra/Petra-New-discovery-3.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strabo
https://www.memphistours.com/Jordan/Jordan-Travel-Guide/Petra-
Attractions/wiki/Urn-tomb
https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/392728029980964205/?lp=true