The ordinary lives of Nabataean Petra
Petra is renowned for its extraordinary tomb architecture, but little is known about the builders of these mausolea. George H Nash, Genevieve von Petzinger, Lina Alrabab’h, and James Nash examine this funerary landscape and the traces of those who made it possible.
When imagining the ancient city of Petra, it is the awe-inspiring façade of the monument known today as the Treasury (Al-Khazneh) that first captures the eye and imagination – its ornate classical carvings and grand proportions etched into rose-red sandstone. But this iconic image is only a fragment of a much larger and more complex archaeological wonder.
Petra and the Nabataean world
Petra is set within a rugged valley in western Jordan, and home to hundreds of rock-cut tombs and mausolea that vary dramatically in size, style, and decoration. These differences probably reflect the social hierarchies of the time, with the more elaborate monuments reserved for the elite. Beyond the city’s famed necropolis, traces of earlier, pre-Nabataean settlements and an extensive zone of ancient quarrying speak to the long history and industrial capabilities of the region. It is within this monumental landscape that the authors and their research partners, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the American Center of Research (ACOR), explored the building infrastructure that enabled Petra’s rise to become one of the ancient world’s most celebrated urban centres.
Petra was inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, in recognition of its exceptional cultural and historical value. Encompassing more than 26,000ha, the site stands as a remarkable testament to the engineering ingenuity and economic prosperity of the Nabataeans, a once-powerful Arab people who emerged as a dominant political and commercial force between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Petra landscape was occupied as early as the Neolithic period, with human activity in the region dating back approximately 9,000 to 11,000 years. This presence is certainly visible at the nearby Neolithic settlement of Al-Bayda, where engraved figurative rock art dating from both this period and the Bronze Age is dispersed around the immediate landscape, along with ceramics, lithic scatters, and quern stones. It is in the environs of this settlement that a large number of Nabataean rock-cut mausolea and shrines are found. The same landscape is also where the team got our first insights into Nabataean ritual activity that was not high status, but largely egalitarian. This involved mausolea that usually comprised rock-cut rooms in which the dead were interred, probably laid to rest in a shroud and left on a rock-cut mortuary table. In this particular area, the tombs appear to have been deliberately cut into large, naturally formed globular geology. In many instances, rock art – in the form of ibex and cupmarks – was engraved on the top of each feature. It is more than probable that these engravings venerate an earlier pre-Nabataean tradition that did not involve the close proximity of burials.
From nomadism to regional power
The Nabataeans originated as a semi-nomadic Arab group inhabiting the deserts of northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Many believe that they gradually moved from the southern part of the Arabian peninsula to settle in the mountains around Petra. This became their capital – known to the Nabataeans as Raqmu – and served as the political and cultural heart of their kingdom, which, at its height, extended from the Euphrates River in the north to the Red Sea in the south.
Emerging as a distinct cultural and political entity between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC, the Nabataeans gradually transitioned from a mobile, pastoral lifestyle to a sedentary society specialising in long-distance trade. They developed a highly efficient commercial network focused on the transport of incense, spices, and luxury goods from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean markets. A position between three continents enabled the Nabataeans to trade on a wider level, using the Gaza port to get goods to Europe in less than three months. Their wealth and strategic control of caravan routes granted them substantial regional influence, rivalling other contemporary powers.
The kingdom reached its zenith during the 1st century BC, but began a gradual decline thereafter. In AD 106, under Emperor Trajan, the Nabataean territory was formally annexed by the Roman Empire and reorganised as the province of Arabia Petraea. Despite the loss of political sovereignty, many aspects of Nabataean culture, particularly their distinct architectural style and painted ceramics, continued for some time before being assimilated into the broader Graeco-Roman cultural sphere.
During this zenith, Petra experienced substantial urban growth, at which time its population is estimated to have reached approximately 20,000. This population, however, was not concentrated within the current dispersal of ostentatious buildings at Petra, but instead spread across the surrounding area, including semi-permanent settlements and rock- cut dwellings. Much of the population would have been involved in construction, maintenance, and conservation of initially the burial activity of Petra, followed by the secularisation of the site from the 1st century AD.
During the Byzantine period, a significant portion of the Nabataean population converted to Christianity, and their cities – including Petra – became integrated into Christian pilgrimage networks. Today, the Nabataeans are increasingly recognised as one of antiquity’s most innovative and sophisticated societies – masters of hydraulic engineering, stone carving, and cross-cultural exchange – whose legacy endures in the monumental landscapes they left behind.
A brief golden age
Though their ascendancy lasted only a few centuries, the Nabataeans wielded considerable regional influence through trade, diplomacy, and military strength. The wealth generated from these endeavours funded the construction of the city’s remarkable architecture, with fine examples still standing today, carved directly into the cliff faces of the surrounding mountains.
While the Treasury may be the most recognisable monument, the valley contains an array of significant structures, including the Nabataean amphitheatre, the Great Temple (which was probably a royal palace), the Monastery, the Winged Lions Temple, the Byzantine Church, the Silk Tomb, and the Urn Tomb, among many others.
This is an extract of an article that appeared in CWA 134. Read on in the magazine (Click here to subscribe) or on our website, The Past, which offers all of the magazine’s content digitally. At The Past you will be able to read each article in full as well as the content of our other magazines, Current Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and Military History Matters.
