July 1, 2000

To order :

Contact the

• Petra Exploration Fund, Box 1921, Brown University, Providence RI 02912
• Book: $75 ; Check or money orders accepted. (No charge cards accepted)
• CD-ROM : $12
• Shipping and handling:
  • Within the US: $3 for the first book, $1.00 each additional book.
  • Outside the US $7.00 first book, $1.00 each additional book.

About the CD:

The CD was designed and created by Adam Brin, during the summer and Fall of 1999. It accompanies the Five Year Report published last year, and contains all of the data from the 1993-7. This includes, the Trench Reports, over 800 drawings and photographs, the glass and coin catalogs, data from the Ground Penetrating Radar, and maps of the site.

Book review :

From: kutba@nets.com.jo (Al Kutba)
Jordan Antiquity, # 144, February 20, 2000
Petra Great Temple - Volume 1: Brown University Excavations 1993-1997
By Martha Sharp Joukowsky, et al.
Reviewed by Rami G. Khouri, in Amman, Jordan

Dr Martha Sharp Joukowsky and her team of colleagues since 1993 have systematically uncovered, studied, and conserved one of the most spectacular yet enigmatic monuments to emerge this century from the Middle Eastern earth --a presumed Nabataean temple in the center of Petra that is massive in size, slightly flamboyant in character, architecturally and hydrologically complex, and artistically very beautifully embellished. This large book tells the tale of that splendid structure and its rediscovery in a thorough, systematic, and most enjoyable manner -- reminding us once again that the accomplishments of scholars in the New World of North America today often are as impressive as the Old World Middle Eastern subject matters they write about.

Joukowsky, professor of archaeology at Brown University (Providence, Rhode Island, USA) and colleagues set out on the challenging road of producing a book that, as she says in the preface, "aimed at two different constituencies: professional archaeologists researching the magnificent site of Petra or related sites and the interested public who are fascinated with seeing something at this extraordinary site in a new and different light."

She has met her objective admirably, and produced a volume that may well emerge as a standard-setter for this sort of ambitious publication geared to specialists who want technical details and the general public that wants to enjoy a good mystery illustrated with fascinating photographs and drawings. One means that makes this possible in this case is that the Scholarly Technology Group at Brown University will produce a CD-ROM that parallels the book, and includes a complete listing of the catalog entries of all excavated finds; the book chapter on the data bases of artifacts only has a representative sample (thankfully for the general reader, who would otherwise have to endure thousands of pottery sherds that are truly dear to the scholars, but much less comprehensible to the lay reader).

Significant finds

Seven seasons of excavations at the Great Temple of Petra have revealed a very large and elaborate complex with some rare, fine specimens of Nabataean art and architecture. Among the most significant discoveries to date are elephant head capitals, fresco paintings, a unique Nabataean underground water canalization system, an equally unique Nabataean theater within the center of the temple complex, triple colonnades and exedrae flanking a large, well paved Lower Temenos, and massive columns in the temple forecourt that were once covered with red or white molded plaster-stucco decoration and stood nearly 20 meters high.

The available archaeological, architectural, and artistic evidence shows that the vast Petra Great Temple complex (comprising 7560 square meters) was in use for about five centuries, from the 1st Century BC to the early 5th Century AD. The temple was entered from the colonnaded main street of Petra through a propylaeum (monumental entryway), which led into the Lower Temenos (sacred area), onto the monumental Grand Stairway leading up to the Upper Temenos (the sacred enclosure for the temple), and finally the Great Temple itself. Several other internal stairways connected the various levels of the complex.

The complex was first explored by R.E. Brunnow and A. von Domaszewski in the 1890s, and was called the Great Temple? by W. Bachmann in 1921. The scholars working on the complex still debate whether it was in fact a temple, or may have served other purposes -- or, perhaps it started as a temple and later was converted into a civic facility. One theory says it was the fancy palace of a Nabataean king; another thinks its interior theater served as an odeum (a small covered theater for the arts, such as the ones at Amman and Jerash) or a bouleuterion (the Roman era meeting place of the city council).

One of the novel aspects of this volume is that it takes the reader chronologically through the Brown University excavations, from their conception and planning to the end of the fifth season in 1997. This work by Dr Joukowsky's team has identified four broad phases of the Great Temple's construction, spanning the Nabataean, Roman, and early Byzantine periods.

Four phases of use The earliest Nabataean I phase comprised the initial construction of the temple on a high terrace platform in central Petra, in the last quarter of the 1st Century BC, probably during the reigns of King Malichus I (62-30 BCE) and/or Obodas II (30-9 BCE).

The initial temple was completely rebuilt during the 1st or early 2nd Century AD. It was transformed into a much larger, more beautiful and sophisticated complex that enjoyed a propylaeum and new stairs to a reconfigured Lower Temenos with flanking exedrae and triple colonnades, and an enlarged temple at the complex? highest point. The temple itself was tetrastyle in antis (four columns at the front) and measured 28 x 42.5 meters. The central room of the earlier temple was reconstructed as an open-air bouleuterion or odeum, with an orchestra diameter of around 6.4 meters, and perhaps 20 rows of seats.

In the Nabataean-Roman? third phase of the temple's life starting in the early 2nd Century AD, after Petra and Nabataea were formally incorporated into the Roman province of Arabia Petraea, the complex probably still served the Romans as a principal urban monument. Its last phase during the 3rd-4th Century saw the complex slowly lose its former important role, as it gradually deteriorated due to earthquake damage and lack of upkeep. Its final phases included the destruction and abandonment of the temple, and the area's reuse in the Byzantine period, probably for domestic purposes. The Lower Temenos area was also farmed in modern times.

The combination of technical chapters and general data, including valuable background information, makes this book attractive and useful for both the scholarly and lay audiences that Dr Joukowsky aims at. The first part of the volume includes some fine introductory material on Petra and the Nabataeans that is rich but also readable; it talks about the Nabataeans? gods, capital city, architecture, history, kings, and language, and the modern exploration of Petra.

Chapter 2 reviews the first four seasons of fieldwork, and includes fine drawings that help the reader envisage the original architecture of the temple as it evolved over time. A fascinating review by Thomas Paradise of the area's environmental setting and stone weathering provides valuable data for Jordanians who are concerned about conserving the many ancient stone monuments in our land. This chapter concludes with a note about the analysis of pollen samples, which suggest that the environment has not changed very much over time.

Chapter 4 reports on the underground water canalization system, including the still mysterious issue of where the collected water went to. It then reports on the pioneering use of ground-penetrating radar to identify possible buried structures. The many beautiful architectural sculptures and reconstructions are reviewed in chapter 5, including elephant heads, pine cones, and other animal and plant motifs, human busts and masks, finely carved capitals, and many others.

The lists-rich databases of artifacts comprise chapter 6, including architectural fragments, lamps, pottery, glass, coins, figurines, and other small finds. Chapter 7 reviews the results of neutron activation analysis of pottery, shedding new light on the provenance of clays used at Petra in antiquity, and chapter 8 is about the few inscriptions unearthed in the excavations.

The book also includes an extensive bibliography (on Petra and on the Great Temple and its excavations), and an index.

Quality photos

The volume is nicely illustrated by many high quality black and white photographs by Artemis A. W. Joukowsky, including some powerful aerial photos by himself and Wilson and Eleanor Myers. The black and white photos, in fact, are more striking than the color ones -- a tribute to both the skill of the photographers and the nature of the photographic medium.

The noteworthy character of this book is that the specialist will derive much information and pleasure from the new information it presents, while the general reader will equally enjoy leafing through it and reading the less technical parts, while absorbing a tremendous amount of information on the Nabataeans and Petra simply from viewing the photographs and illustrations. If you have a friend or colleague who loves Petra or interacts with it for scholarly purposes, you will want buy them this book as a gift. Do not be put off by the fact that it presents the results of a scholarly investigation. This is, like the Nabataeans and their amazing legacy, an example of the beauty and pleasure that result from a happy encounter between talented humans and the land that is south Jordan today.

The book can be ordered from the Petra Exploration Fund, Box 1921, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, or from ACOR in Amman, Jordan. @2000 Rami G. Khouri

Page created & maintained by Frederic Leymarie, 2000.
Comments, suggestions, etc., mail to: leymarie@lems.brown.edu