The Nabataeans in Focus: Current Archaeological Research at Petra, edited by Laila Nehmé and Lucy Wadeson (review)

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, a latrine, Nabataean capitals, marble sculptures, and traces of opus sectiledecoration. 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...