Nabatean architecture (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: اَلْعِمَارَةُ النَّبَطِيَّةُ; al-ʿimarah al-nabatiyyah) refers to the building traditions of the

Nabateans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...

( /ˌnæbəˈtiːənz/;

Nabataean Aramaic Nabataean Aramaic is the Aramaic variety used in inscriptions by the Nabataeans of the East Bank of the Jordan River, the Negev, and the Sinai Peninsula. Compared to other varieties of Aramaic, it is notable for the occurrence of a number of loa ...

: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū'';

: ٱلْأَنْبَاط ''al-ʾAnbāṭ''; compare

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

: 𒈾𒁀𒌅 ''Nabātu'';

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Ναβαταῖος;

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''Nabataeus''), an ancient

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

people who inhabited northern

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and the

southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region encompassing the southern half of the Levant. It corresponds approximately to modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and/or the Sinai P ...

. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petra,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

)—gave the name ''Nabatene'' (

: Ναβατηνή, ''Nabatēnḗ'') to the Arabian borderland that stretched from the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

. Their architectural style is notable for its temples and tombs, most famously the ones found in Petra. The style appears to be a mix of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n and

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

influences modified to suit the Arab architectural taste. Petra, the capital of the kingdom of Nabatea, is as famous now as it was in the antiquity for its remarkable rock-cut tombs and temples. Most architectural Nabatean remains, dating from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD, are highly visible and well-preserved, with over 500 monuments in Petra, in modern-day Jordan, and 110 well preserved tombs set in the desert landscape of

Hegra HEGRA, which stands for ''High-Energy-Gamma-Ray Astronomy'', was an atmospheric Cherenkov telescope for Gamma-ray astronomy. With its various types of detectors, HEGRA took data between 1987 and 2002, at which point it was dismantled in order ...

, now in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Much of the surviving architecture was carved out of rock cliffs, hence the columns do not actually support anything but are used for purely ornamental purposes. In addition to the most famous sites in Petra, there are also Nabatean complexes at Obodas (

Avdat Avdat ( he, עבדת, ar, عبدة, ''Abdah''), also known as Abdah and Ovdat and Obodat, is a site of a ruined Nabataean city in the Negev desert in southern Israel. It was the most important city on the Incense Route after Petra, between the 1 ...

) and residential complexes at Mampsis (Kurnub) and a religious site of et-Tannur. The accomplishments the Nabateans had with hydraulic technology forged the power and the increase of the standard of living of the residents living in the capital of the ancient Nabataean kingdom. Cited among the most powerful of

pre-islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia ( ar, شبه الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام) refers to the Arabian Peninsula before the emergence of Islam in 610 CE. Some of the settled communities developed into distinctive civilizations. Informatio ...

, Petra does not hold its fame and its prosperity only by its buildings dug and sculpted in the rocks of the surrounding mountains; it is above all through its extraordinary hydraulic system, built over the centuries, that Petra was able to develop in the middle of an inhospitable desert and become a strategic crossroad for which stood halfway between the opening to the

Gulf of Akaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabia ...

and the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

at a point where the

Incense Route The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levan ...

from Arabia to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

was crossed by the overland route from Petra to Gaza.Eckenstein, Lina (2005). ''A History of Sinai''. Adamant Media Corporation, p. 86. This position gave the Nabateans a hold over the trade along the Incense Route. Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

in the first century BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as

Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Emp ...

. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged. The earthquake of the year 363 caused an end to the development of the city and to the maintenance of the hydraulic network that survived the epoch of the Roman rule, mainly the storage tanks and the aqueducts, part of which was destroyed and no longer allowed transport water to the various buildings and the partially destroyed thermal baths. In the

Byzantine era The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...

several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

Types

Religious architecture

The religious architecture was mostly represented by the Nabatean temples, represented by several architectural models built to suit the Nabatean rituals of worship, most notably the Great Temple and the

Temple of the Winged Lions The Temple of the Winged Lions is a large Nabatean temple complex located in Petra, Jordan, and dated to the reign of King Aretas IV (9 BCE–40 CE). The temple is located in Petra's so-called Sacred Quarter, an area situated at the end of Petra ...

. The

Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...

had numerous places for religious practice and cult worship. Known as “High places”, the shrines, temples, and altars would usually be open air structures placed atop nearby mountains.Healey, John F. The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus. Leiden: EJ. Brill, 2001. These places throughout the Nabataean kingdom would be dedicated to the worship of the same god(s), how they would go about this worship would vary from site to site. Offering would vary from material goods and foods, to live sacrifice of animals, maybe humans. The Nabataean kingdom can broke up into five religious regions each containing locations of religious significance: The

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

and

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

, The Hauran, Central

, Southern Jordan, and finally Northwestern Saudi Arabia.Peterson, Stephanie. "The Cult of Dushara and the Roman Annexation of Nabataea." Ma Thesis, McMaster, August, 2006. All of the religious sites at these locations are in varying states of preservation, making it difficult to know which deities would have been worshiped at specific shrines, altars, and temples. It is also difficult to know the specifics of the cult practices, meaning educated speculations can be made.Anderson,Bjo. Constructing Nabataea: Identity, Ideology, and Connectivity. Classical Art & Archaeology, The University of Michigan, 2005 Committee: M.C. Root (co-chair), T. Gagos (co-chair), S. Alcock, S. Herbert, N. Yoffee.Wenning, R. 1987. Die Nabatäer-Denkmäler und Geschichte:Eine Bestandesaufnahme des archäologischen Befundes, Freiburg: Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz.

The Negev and Hejaz

Sobata Located about 40k southwest from

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

is the city of Sobata, one of the major cities within the Nabataean kingdom. Very little archeological remains of any form of Nabataean cult worship, temples, shrines, or altars have been found. A small amount of evidence has been found for the worship of

Dushara Dushara, (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀‎ ''dwšrʾ'') also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). Safaitic inscriptions imply he ...

.Tholbecq L. (2007) “Nabataean Monumental Architecture.” In: Politis KD (ed) The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans: An International Conference at the British Museum, 17–19 April 2001, 1033-144. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. Avdat Avdat view to the Negev

The building complex known as The Temple of Oboda sits on the acropolis of the city. The temple was built as a dedication to the deified Nabataean king

Obodas I Obodas I (Nabataean Aramaic: ''ʿŌbōdaṯ''; grc, Ὀβόδας) was king of the Nabataeans from 96 BC to 85 BC. After his death, Obodas was worshiped as a deity. Life Obodas was the successor of Aretas II, from whom he inherited the war with ...

. The temple stands adjacent to the east of two other buildings: a Christian chapel and a second temple known as the “western temple.” The temple dedicated to the cult of Obodas the King was built with a hard-limestone in the year 9 BCE during the reign of Obodas II. The temple is a tripartite structure: consisting of a porch, hall and adytum; its overall dimensions are . The building was divided into four rooms. The first and second rooms were unequal subdivisions of the adytum (debir), the first room is the eastern room which is the smaller of the two measuring at . The second room was the western room and the larger of the two rooms measuring . The third room was the hall (hekhal), an oblong shape measuring , which is now completely covered by a Talus. The fourth room is the porch (‘ulam) divided into two compartments one facing west measuring approximately and the other facing east measuring approximately were divided by a wall. A worshiper entered through the porch, which faces south, proceeded through the hall to the rooms of the adytum at the northern end. The worshiper then turned about face toward south to worship the images of the deities placed in niches in the wall. The western room contained two niches which may have contained the images of two Nabataean gods Allat and Dushura. The other room contained a larger single niche where it is believed the defied image of Obodas the King was worshiped. The temple was built to be his eternal resting place and the center of worship for his cult. Rawwafah Located 300 km from Petra. A single temple in the Nabataean style has been discovered. The inscription on the lintel dates the temple to after the fall of the Nabataean kingdom. Mampsis

Mampsis Mampsis ( Medieval Greek: Μάμψις) or Memphis (Ancient Greek: Μέμφις), today Mamshit ( he, ממשית), Arabic Kurnub, is a former Nabataean caravan stop and Byzantine city. In the Nabataean period, Mampsis was an important station on t ...

(

Medieval Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Fall of Co ...

: Μάμψις) or Memphis (

: Μέμφις), today Mamshit ( he, ממשית),

Kurnub, is a former

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...

caravan stop and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

city. In the Nabataean period, Mampsis was an important station on the

Incense Road The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant ...

, connecting Southern Arabia through Edom, the

Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...

and Ma'ale Akrabim, to the Mediterranean ports, as well as to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

via

and

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

. The city covers and is the smallest but best restored ancient city in the

Desert. The once-luxurious houses feature unusual architecture not found in any other Nabataean city. The reconstructed city gives the visitor a sense of how Mampsis once looked. Entire streets have survived intact, and there are also large groups of Nabataean buildings with open rooms, courtyards, and terraces. The stones are carefully chiseled and the arches that support the ceiling are remarkably well constructed. The Incense Route - Desert Cities in the Negev, including Mampsis,

Haluza The ancient city of Halasa or Chellous ( gr, Χελλοὺς), Elusa () in the Byzantine period, was a city in the Negev near present-day Kibbutz Mash'abei Sadeh that was once part of the Nabataean Incense Route. It lay on the route from Petra t ...

, and

Shivta Shivta ( he, שבטה), originally Sobata ( gr, Σόβατα) or Subeita ( ar, شبطا), is an ancient city in the Negev Desert of Israel located 43 kilometers southwest of Beersheba. Shivta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 20 ...

, were declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

in June 2005.

The Hauran

Bostra

Located in southern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, and was the northern capital of the Nabataean kingdom.

Bostra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...

has evidence of temples being located at major intersections of the city. At the city center is a temple complex dedicated to Dushara-A’ra. A’ra is thought to be the god of Nabataean kings and city of Bostra itself. Modern building make it difficult to find archaeological evidence of Nabataean cult worship. An inscription that reads “This is the wall which ... and windows which Taymu bar ... built for ... Dushara and the rest of the gods of Bostra” is located on what is thought to be this temple. Seeia Located north of Bostra near Canatha. The settlement has three large temples, the largest is dedicated to Baalshamin. The two smaller temples are to unknown deities. One contains an inscription to the local goddess, Seeia, and may have been used to worship her. The temple complex is not Nabataean in design, but is an amalgamation of architectural building styles from the cultures on the northern Nabataean border. Sahr Temples similar in style to the ones located in Wadi Rumm, Dharih, Tannur, and Qasrawet. Sur Temples similar in style to the ones located in Wadi Rumm, Dharih, Tannur, and Qasrawet. Al-Suweida Temples similar to those located near Petra in Wadi Rumm, Dharih, Tannur, and Qasrawet. Nabataean inscription indicate cults dedicated to Allat and Baalshamin.

Central Jordan

Khirbet Tannur Khirbet Al-Tannur. , 250x250px Located in Central Jordan. The temple, High place, is located alone, atop the summit of Jebal Tannur. It is only accessible via a single, steep staircase pathway. The sites seclusion may indicate that it was of high religious importance to the Nabataeans. The doorway to the inner sanctuary of the temple is decorated with representations of vegetation, foliage, and fruits. Glueck identifies these as representing the Syrian goddess Atargatis. The inner sanctuary decorated with images of fruit, fishes, vegetation, thunderbolts, as well as representation of deities. Glueck attributes these iconographies to the Mesopotamian storm-god Hadad, but Tyche and

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

are also represented. Starckly notes that the only named god is the

Edomite Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; he, Wiktionary:אדום, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan (region), Transjordan, located between ...

weather god, Qos. An inscription on a stele at the site names him as the god of Hurawa. Khirbet edh-Dharih Located 7 km south of Hurawa, the temple at Khirbet edh-Dharih is astonishingly well preserved. The temple complex is surrounded by an outer and inner courtyard, with a paved pathway to the porticoes. There are also has benches the form a theatron. The temple itself is divided into three sections, in a large open vestibule. From here is the cella, which was painted in rich, vibrant colors. At the back of the cella was the motab and betyl, a square podium flanked by stairs which was the seat of the divine. Despite its good condition, it is not known which god would have been worshipped here.

Southern Jordan

Petra Capital of the Nabataean Kingdom in around 312 BC. The city is famous for its marvelous

rock-cut architecture Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarry ...

. Located within the Shara Mountains, Dushara was the primary male god accompanied by the female trinity:

Al-'Uzzá Al-ʻUzzā ( ar, العزى or Old Arabic l ʕuzzeː was one of the three chief goddesses of Arabian religion in pre-Islamic times and she was worshiped by the pre-Islamic Arabs along with al-Lāt and Manāt. A stone cube at Nakhla (near Me ...

Allat Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongs ...

, and Manāt. A Stele dedicated to the Edomite god Qos is located within the city. Nabataeans worshiped pre-Islamic Arab gods and goddesses, along with deified kings, such as

. Temple layout and design shows influence from Rome, Greek, Egyptian, and Persian temple architecture. The temples of

Qasr al-Bint The Qasr al-Bint is a religious temple in the Nabataean city of Petra. It faces the Wadi Musa and is located to the northwest of the Great Temple and to the southwest of the Temple of the Winged Lions. One of the best preserved of the ancient ...

and temple of the Winged Lion are examples of this. The podium within the Temple of the Winged Lion housed the altar, where sacrifices would have been made, or the betyl of the worshiped deity. Based on the idols and imagery found within the Temple of the Winged Lion, it is theorized to be dedicated to Dushara. The High Place is located atop the mountains that surround Petra. Used as a place for offering gifts and sacrificing animals, maybe humans, to the gods, The High place consists of a pool for collecting water, two altars, and a large open courtyard. Hawara A temple with a 20m long processional way which leads to a courtyard with a view of Jebel Qalkha is found in this region. The design of the Betyls as well as the remains of offering points to the possible worship of

, maybe even Jupiter. Wadi Ramm Wadi_Rum_BW_7

Temple to Allat. Rock sanctuary to Ayn esh-Shallaleh located behind temple to

. Betyls and cult niches to Dushara and Baalshamin.

Northwestern Saudi Arabia

Hegra

(), also known as Mada’in Salih ( ar, مَدَائِن صَالِح, Madāʼin Ṣāliḥ, lit=Cities of Salih), is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

located in the area of al-'Ula within Medina Province in the

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. A majority of the remains date from the

Nabataean Kingdom The Nabataean Kingdom ( Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, ...

(1st century AD). The site constitutes the kingdom's southernmost settlement and its second largest city after Petra (now in Jordan), its

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

. Traces of

Lihyan Lihyan ( ar, لحيان, ''Liḥyān''; Greek: Lechienoi), also called Dadān or Dedan was a powerful and highly organized ancient Arab kingdom that played a vital cultural and economic role in the north-western region of the Arabian Peninsula ...

ite and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

occupation before and after the Nabatean rule, respectively, can also be found. A Cult ritual circle on top of the mountain Jibel Ithlib rests on a rocky outcropping. Small betyls and cult niches to other gods appear around the Jibel Ithlib site. Inscription of “Lord of the Temple,” may refer to Dushara. Marseha cults located here. Today Hegra is known as Mada’in Saleh.

Residential architecture

Residential buildings includes

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

s, large urban houses, rural houses, and simple small houses usually made out of the local materials found in the region. Relatively little archaeological research has been done in the residential areas of Petra. Work in Petra's az-Zantur area has indicated that there has been an evolution from non-permanent housing (tents) to built structures, with sedentarisation happening only gradually and tents coexisting with stately mansions even in later phases of evolution. Even the well-researched, stone-built and elaborately decorated Nabataean az-Zantur mansion consisted of a sumptuous representational wing, with western stucco and fresco decoration, and a simple residential wing. There were also caves used for residential purposes. The residential area in Hegra is located in the middle of the plain, far from the outcrops. The primary material of construction for the houses and the enclosing wall was sun-dried

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

. Few vestiges of the residential area remain.

Public space

The monuments of Petra are a well-known example of this type of use of Nabatean architecture, these architectural works include all types of public buildings in addition to private buildings. The architectural elements of the

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

of Petra were built according to the city's general

urban plan Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

, as the main streets were influenced by the Roman city plans. Those places divided the city into two halves, both of which aligns with the valley, the Nabatean engineers also built several

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

s under the streets' ground. A little farther from the Treasury, at the foot of the mountain called ''en-Nejr'', is a massive

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, positioned so as to bring the greatest number of

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

s within view. At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect. The theatre was cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible. Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose-coloured mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers. The theatre was said to hold around 8,500 people. The performances that audiences were able to attend here were poetry readings and dramas. Gladiator fights were also said to be held here and attracted the most audience, although no gladiator was able to gain any momentum or fame due to the heavy mortality rate that came with it. The theatre was one of many structures in Petra that took significant damage due to the

363 Galilee earthquake The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be VII (''Very strong'') on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karn ...

. Petra Pool and Garden Complex The

Petra Pool and Garden Complex The Petra Garden and Pool Complex is a name given to a series of structures within the center of the city of Petra. Originally said to be a market area, excavations at the site have allowed scholars to identify it as an elaborate Nabataean garden ...

is a series of structures within the city center. Originally said to be a market area, excavations at the site have allowed scholars to identify it as an elaborate Nabataean garden, which included a large swimming pool, an island-pavilion, and an intricate hydraulic system. Ahead of the Petra Pool and Garden Complex, lies Colonnaded street, which is among few artifacts of Petra that was constructed rather than natural. This street used to hold a semi-circle nymphaeum, which is now in ruins due to flash flooding, and used to hold Petra's only tree. This was intended to be a symbol for the peaceful atmosphere that the Nabataens were able to construct in Petra. Once the Romans took control of the city, Colonnaded street was narrowed to make room for a side walk, and 72 columns were added to each side.

Funerary architecture

Funerary monuments were represented by carved royal tombs and tombs built with

cut stone Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. The Nabataeans paid great attention to their tombs, this was reflected in their architecture, in which a lot of architectural and artistic methods of respecting the dead were developed, which suggests the Nabataeans' interest in the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

. Of the most famous Nabatean monuments are the carved royal tombs. Several archeological studies which have been conducted on them have concluded that the Nabataean engineer combined external influences from neighboring

and non-Arab civilizations with the Nabataean architectural style. Many of these tombs can be seen in different places in and around Petra, especially on the way before reaching the

Siq The Siq ( ar, السيق, transliterated ''al-Sīq'', transcribed ''as-Sīq'', literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points ...

. Among the famous Petra funerary monuments are: The Obelisk tomb, The Urn tomb, and

the Windowed Tomb ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Nabataean tombs are primarily "Rock-Cut tombs." They are created from cutting directly into the landscape, traditionally rock (see

Rock-cut tombs in Israel Rock-cut tombs were a form of burial and interment chamber used in History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel. Cut into the landscapes surrounding ancient Judea, Judean cities, their design ranges from single chambered, with simple squa ...

). Rock-cut tombs are the most frequently found within excavated Nabataean archeological sites. There have been nearly 900 rock-cut tombs found in Petra and Hegra. Nabataean tombs are a fusion Hellenistic and Roman styles as well as a gradual creation of the Nabataean style. Some offer features of clear Greek influence, such as pediments, metope and triglyph entablatures, and capitals. They were built to honour gods and leaders as well as house generations of a specific family. Tombs are located normally inside the city. These tombs are simple in style but elaborated in function, often featuring steps, platforms, libation holes, cisterns, water channels and sometimes banqueting halls. Many feature numerous religious icons, inscriptions, and sanctuaries found in association with springs, catchment pools, and channels.Zeyad al-Salameen (2011). ''The Nabataeans and Asia Minor''. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry. Vol. 11, No. 2. 55-78. Crenelated tombs (see

crenelation A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

) were also popular within Nabataean architecture. There are several variations of crenelation, wavering in number of tiers. Crenelated tombs were created in order to represent fortifications, creating a symbol of cities, strength, military power. Later, under Achaemenid Persians, the fortification context was removed, giving a greater scope to a sign of kingship and authority. Several tombs feature

obelisks An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

on their exterior. Obelisks are a narrow tapering monument, often used to represent the

Nephesh Nephesh ( ''nép̄eš'') is a Biblical Hebrew word which occurs in the Hebrew Bible. The word refers to the aspects of sentience, and human beings and other animals are both described as being nephesh. Plants, as an example of live organisms, a ...

, specific leaders, and gods of monolithic societies. They are often found in Near Eastern and Egyptian architecture. Tombs with detailed facades are also quite popular in the Nabataean community. There are a total of eight different façade types: Single Pylon, Double Pylon, Step, Proto-Hegr, Hegr, Arch, Simple Classical and Complex Classical. Single Pylon, Double Pylon, Step, Proto-Hegr, and Hegr are characterised by variations on the crowstep motif, combined with elements from classical architecture. Arch, Simple Classical, and Complex Classical have only classical motifs, which have been given Nabataean interpretation. At Petra, there is a series of tombs called the "Royal Tombs." These tombs are split into four sections: the Urn Tomb, the Silk Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb, and the Palace Tomb. The Urn Tomb is built high on the mountain side, and requires climbing up a number of flights of stairs. It has been suggested that this is the tomb of Nabataean King Malchus II who died in 70 AD. Beside it is the Silk Tomb, named from its rich color of the sandstone. The Corinthian Tomb is next, featuring Greek Corinthian columns. Finally the Palace Tomb with three distinct stories in its facade.

Artistic elements

Few instances of Nabataean painting have survived. Most are fragments of purely decorative interior painting. There has been enough to demonstrate, however, that they follow the contemporary Hellenistic style, in which few paintings remain. In 2010, it was revealed that a biclinium, now known colloquially as the Painted House, at

Little Petra Little Petra ( ar, البتراء الصغيرة, ''al-batrā aṣ-ṣaġïra''), also known as Siq al-Barid ( ar, سيق البريد, literally "the cold canyon") is an archaeological site located north of Petra and the town of Wadi Musa in the ...

had extensive ceiling frescoes, which had long been concealed under soot from Bedouin campfires, and other inscriptions in the ensuing centuries. A three-year

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

project had made them visible again. They depict, in extensive detail and with a variety of media, including glazes and gold leaf, imagery such as grapevines and ''

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

'' associated with the Greek god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

, suggesting the space may have been used for wine consumption, perhaps with visiting merchants. In addition to being the only known example of Nabataean interior figurative painting ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'', they are one of the very few examples of Hellenistic painting extant, and have been considered superior to later Roman imitations of the style at Herculaneum. The wall paintings in the Painted Biclinium can be grouped into two major scenes. The larger chamber has its south wall decorated with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

, creating faux architectural elements reminiscent of some Pompeian wall painting. The inner room has painted decoration in a completely different style than the larger outer room. Instead of architectural embellishment, the walls and vaulted ceiling of this room exhibit a complex program of intertwining vines, flowers, figures, several varieties of local birds, and insects. Several

erotes In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Erotes () are a collective of winged gods associated with love and sexual intercourse. They are part of Aphrodite's retinue. ''Erotes'' (Greek ) is the plural of ''Eros'' ("Love, Desire"), who as a s ...

—small winged gods associated with love and occasionally the cultivation of wine—are seen participating in viticulture management, using ladders and pruning hooks, carrying baskets of gathered grapes, and defending the vines from scavenging birds. The erotes are armed with bows, arrows, and spears. In addition to the domesticated and harvested grape vines, wild raspberry vines and field bindweed flowers wrap throughout the scene to pay homage to the local flora of Petra's northern hinterland. Twaissi et al. (2010) were able to identify an additional

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

figure in the scene in addition to the erotes, who they interpret as a representation of the Romanized Egyptian goddess. However, the overall iconographic scene and architectural parallels elsewhere in the area of Petra lend weight to the attribution of the space as a center of Dionysiac worship. In addition to the figural and floral painting within the inner room of the Painted Biclinium, the room appears to have been further embellished with an intricate program of stuccoed decoration. Remnants of an entablature are preserved on the east and west walls of the room, and the center of the vault once held a stucco medallion.

Significance

The significance of these paintings lies in their figurative elements, a subject that is often absent in preserved Nabataean painting and other media. While a small fragment of a human face was found during the excavations of the Great Temple and the excavation of the

brought to light other select fragments, the frescoes at the Painted Biclinium form both the most complete painted scene in the Nabataean archaeological record and the only one remaining ''in situ''. The features of the figural composition, including the almond eyes and round chins, have parallels with other pieces of Hellenistic painting and mosaic, while the floral and faunal subjects are distinctly local. In addition, while the archaeological record pointing to Dionysiac worship appears prolific among the Nabataean elite, few contexts preserve any record of this practice outside of architecture and pottery. The Painted Biclinium, then, serves to provide a colorful flourish to our understanding of this religious tradition in the cultivated rich semi-arid landscape around Petra.

Water management

Map of Petra., 290x290px The engineering system of water supplies is the most important achievement of the Nabataean civilization in their capital, this made life possible in the dry region of the Jordanian desert. This system included methods of

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Popula ...

and

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

s that collected rainwater during the winter. The Nabateans also used a controlled system of canals and tubes of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

to distribute water throughout the city. Excavations have demonstrated that it was the ability of the Nabataeans to control the water supply that led to the rise of the desert city, creating an artificial oasis. The area is visited by flash floods, but archaeological evidence shows that the Nabataeans controlled these floods by the use of

cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...

s, and water conduits. These innovations stored water for prolonged periods of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

and enabled the city to prosper from its sale.

Hydrology and hydraulics

Map showing the hydraulic network of Petra. , 290x290px, center Water, its

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

and

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

were the main engines of the city of Petra; the city is built in a valley surrounded by mountains, crossed by the

wadi Musa Wadi Musa ( ar, وادي موسى, literally "Valley of Musa (AS)) is a town located in the Ma'an Governorate in southern Jordan. It is the administrative center of the Petra Department and the nearest town to the archaeological site of Petra. I ...

, a torrent flowing from east to west, which divides the city in two and constitutes its backbone.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

, a Greek geographer of the 1st century BC, indicates that the urban center in his journey to the East and to Petra: "''...is situated as a whole in a flat and uniform terrain'' (...) ''protected in a circle by steep and abrupt rocks ...''" Apart from a few springs, some of them low-flowing, the whole site of Petra is devoid of perennial water flows, not sufficient for the needs of a city that kept expanding for nearly a millennium. Charles Ortloff, an archaeologist from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, estimates that at its peak, the urban population of Petra reached 30,000. "...''We must therefore appeal to human constructions so that life becomes possible in a natural environment where there is a lack of water on the surface''..." . Petra receives significant quantities of rainwater for several months each year, which resulted in the construction of hydraulic installations to allow the capture of the rainwater, its storage and its distribution of in order to provide for the needs of the city. Pétra

Several mountains, such as the Sharah mountains which rises to 1,550 m on the western part of the city, have several water sources such as - ''Aïn Musa, Aïn Debdebeh, Aïn Umm Sar'ab, Aïn Ammon, Aïn Beidha, Aïn Bebdbeh'' and ''Aïn Braq'' - whose waters are channeled to Petra. "...''The solutions adopted, the methods and techniques employed, confirm that Nabataean hydraulic design could meet, if not exceed, the needs of Petra and were one of the main reasons for the prosperity of the city for centuries'' ..." Water was scarce in Petra, especially during the hot, dry season from June to September, when plants, animals and humans need it most. The first works, carried out with rudimentary tools, were generally small –

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

es,

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

– and carried out in the plains or in land with low resistance to digging. "...''As soon as one finds a development of any size and regularity, canalization or built basin, one immediately sees the marks of orientalized Hellenism first, then of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and, later, that of Byzantium''..." The mountain of Al Biyara - ''the mother of cisterns'' - with the center of Petra. , 320x320px Strabo also spoke of waters from abundant springs: "...''and the inner part of the city having springs in abundance, both for domestic needs and for watering the gardens''...". To capture fresh water from the few available springs and to retain the torrential waters that flow from the mountains into the valley from November to April, the inhabitants have erected structures there over the centuries for the capture, storage and distribution of these waters coming from the sky or underground. One can also find several arches supporting narrow aqueducts to pass from one cliff to another, without changing level, and

qanat A qanat or kārīz is a system for transporting water from an aquifer or water well to the surface, through an underground aqueduct; the system originated approximately 3,000 BC in what is now Iran. The function is essentially the same across ...

s dug in the depths of the mountain. “...''Umm al-Biyara, he mother of cisterns is a vast rocky area that dominates the city to the west. The numerous traces of cisterns dug in sandstone or limestone, attributed to the

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

ites, from the middle of the first millennium BC and probably earlier, generally have the shape of bottles, a narrow neck for the opening, an enlargement in the depth then...''” For the capture of the water, its filtration and storage, its transport sometimes over long distances, the Arab Nabatean hydraulicians and plumbers of Petra were inspired by techniques already used a few millennia earlier, in the cities of the Indus Valley. -

Mohenjo Daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Harappa, and those of

, or for the supply of the Palace of Knossos in the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. However the geographical and hydrological conditions of the city, forced them to rethink new hydraulic techniques, more appropriate to the needs of the populations of Petra such as the permanent resident populations or simply the caravanners, Myrrh traders and travellers. "...''Technical means to capture and store a fraction of rain runoff through dams and cisterns, such as the construction of

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

systems, pipes and canals to bring water from distant sources and managing these resources for the continued supply of water to the city, is crucial to understanding Nabataean contributions to hydraulic science'' .. ''While water storage was one of the keys to the survival of the city, a number of sources internal and external to the city'' ��''Ain Mousa, Ain Umm Sar'ab, etc., provide water which was channeled towards the city'' ..''This constituted the main source of water supply for the urban center''...” Charles R. Ortloff was able to reconstruct the plan of the hydraulic network of ancient Petra and count a set of 8 water sources, 40 dams and water reservoirs, more than 200 reservoirs and cisterns, with a set of pipes exceeding 200 km. This does not include the water reservoirs on the side of the mountains, with the construction of stone walls for the construction of terraces for crops. This Arabic principle of traditional water capture is the oldest system, both for capturing and storing rainwater for agricultural purposes.

Water capture

A waterfall on Wadi Siyyagh around 1900., left Water capture was the start of any Nabatean hydraulic distribution system; entire sectors of the region of Petra were deprived of springs, in the early period of the Nabataean settlements, the main supply of spring water came from a wide stone channel placed on the ground coming from the source of 'Ain Moussa (lit: source of Moses), located 7 km east of Petra, taking the waters of the source of Ain Umm Sar'ab and bringing the water to the

which crossed Petra. Subsequently, depending on the needs of the city, other sources were directed to the center of Petra: ''Ain Braq, Ain Dibdiba, Ain Ammon, al Beidha, Ain Bebdbeh''. Ancient dam at the entrance of the Siq, with deviation towards the tunnel., 290x290px

Rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir ...

was generally done by

cofferdam A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for construction or re ...

s or dams in the lower part of the ''

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

s'', or torrents descending from the surrounding mountains. This collection system allowed the retention and regulation of water during torrential rains, which tumbled down the mountains and destroyed crops and structures in the valleys. These dams or reservoirs increased the irrigated areas and therefore the cultivable areas after the deposit of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel ...

, a technique perhaps copied in the Nile Valley. Mountain filled with holes dug by water, Petra., left "...''This technique consists of having the field built by the

alluvial deposits Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

of flowing water, then using the field to absorb the water retained behind small dikes''..." A little before the entry into the Siq, a Nabatean structure under the mountain, of an 80 m diversion tunnel, is found, this structure which directed the waters of ''wadi Mousa'' towards ''wadi Muhlima'', made it possible to reduce the risk of flooding in the center of Petra, whose waters previously passed directly through the Siq. The capture of water from the mountains was also done by gutters or channels dug in the middle or in the lower part of the slope, which then made it possible to lead this water to reservoirs or cisterns, both of which were used for the storage of water, but also for its decantation, in order to eliminate solid particles.

Decantation

The castellum divisorium on the wadi Farasah, used for decantation and the redistribution of water., left The

decantation Decantation is a process for the separation of mixtures of immiscible liquids or of a liquid and a solid mixture such as a suspension. The layer closer to the top of the container—the less dense of the two liquids, or the liquid from which t ...

of the water after its capture was the responsibility of the inhabitants responsible for the city's water management, including the "Master of the Water", this was done in order to preserve its clarity and drinkability, as well as to limit excessive evaporation over time, but also to regulate its use according to the city's needs. This technique was also used in even older cities such as Mohenjo Daro, Knossos, Harapa, etc. The purification of water was done by passing the water after its capture in one or more consecutive basins. This process greatly reduced the speed of the water and facilitated the descent of heavy particles to the bottom of the reservoir, in order to be subsequently removed. This simple filtration system allowed better conservation of water for domestic needs, especially in the case of buried storage tanks; it avoided solid deposits in pipes and gutters. Canals and reservoirs dug in the lower part of the mountain. , 290x290px Each cistern and reservoir generally had a settling pit attached to its water inlet and a low wall at the inlet to the reservoir which allowed the speed of the water to be slowed down to facilitate the deposit of particles heavier than water, but also to avoid stirring up the deposits in the bottom of the pit and increasing the turbidity of the water. The volume of the cistern does not always reflect the volume of water available; at the end of the dry season, the water at the bottom of the cisterns was unfit for consumption, it stagnated there for several months and some cisterns were only partially or never cleaned. Reservoir dug in the rocky desert with the water supply channels., 250x250px

Water storage

Water storage Water storage is a broad term referring to storage of both potable water for consumption, and non potable water for use in agriculture. In both developing countries and some developed countries found in tropical climates, there is a need to store p ...

was an essential element for the development and survival of the city, as it allowed to have a sufficient volume of water throughout the year. Hundreds of buried cisterns and open reservoirs have been built on the site of Petra since its occupation by the Edomites. These storages were dug into the rock of the mountain or built on the ground. The interior walls of these cisterns and reservoirs were left as they were or coated with waterproof mortar, depending on the nature and

porosity Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...

of the rock. Cisterns and reservoirs have varying dimensions and are adapted to the ground on which they are dug or built. One of the tanks is 32 m long by 2 m wide and 3 m deep; some reservoirs can have a capacity of up to 2,500 m³. Several successive cisterns can be connected to each other by their overflow, both to allow a more efficient form of decantation, but also to increase water storage in the case of a high concentration of habitat. During the

prehistoric period Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

and the occupation of Petra by

nomadic tribes A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

, the Nabataens knew the location of these buried cisterns used to store water. But these bottle-shaped cisterns with narrow entrances could also serve as a defense system and refuge in case of necessity.

Diodorus of Sicily Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, a 1st-century-BC ancient Greek historian, talked in his writings about the Nabateans facing an enemy, a description which corresponds quite well to the current knowledge that academics have on the buried cisterns around Petra: "...''they fled into the desert which serves them of a fortress: the lack of water makes it inaccessible to others, but for them alone who have dug reservoirs in the earth covered with a lime plaster, it is a safe haven.'' ..''After having filled these reservoirs with rainwater, they plug the openings and level the ground around them, leaving signs known to them, but imperceptible to others''..."

Water distribution

Nabatean terracotta piping placed in a channel with stone protection on the right., 280x280px, left Water collection and distribution reservoir on Wadi Farasah. The distribution of water in Petra had a varying morphology and used several techniques, some simple and others more elaborate. Recent research indicates a total volume for all the systems in Petra of 40,000 m³ of water transported daily by all the hydraulic networks of the Nabataean city. Many canals were dug on the mountain-side from springs, sometimes very far away from the inhabitants. The water source of Aïn Mousa is 7 km away from the center of the city. In order to recover water from these sometimes distant springs, work for the construction and maintenance of these canals and channels on the side of the mountains required both rigorous design and construction by workers whose experience exceeded the skills of the average nomad, Nabatean professionals were trained in these techniques in the other regions of the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

. Canal with the principle of protection by an old cover stone., 280x280px, left Several

s were made of stone cut from blocks of local marl or

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

. With a length of 60 to 90 cm, this type of canal has been used since the 1st century BC, until the

period. The so-called gravity system was most often used, the networks of pressurized pipes - ceramic pipes - were little used for the transportation of water to the city of Petra. The slope of the channel was constructed for an optimal flow and according to its course, the channel was in the open air or covered with flat stones. In the case of too steep slopes, and in order to avoid overflow and water losses,

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s were built along the course in order to "break" the speed of the water, but also to allow the settling of the particles of sand and stone that could be carried away by the current. According to archaeologists, the canals covered with stones were used for the transport of water for domestic use, while the canals left in the open air were used to transport water intended for livestock or gardens and agriculture. At the time of the Roman occupation, the digging of canals on the mountainside was reinforced by the laying of

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

pipes, sometimes placed themselves in the old canals on east side of the Siq. These new networks consisted of terracotta pipes – low-fired clay pipe – with sockets and mortar joints, with thicknesses that can vary from 1 to 6 cm and diameters from 15 to 25 cm. "...''Archaeologist Pilipp C. Hammond found pipes made of pottery sockets in the theater''...". Some pipe networks were made of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

– high-fired clay pipes – with a thickness of 5 mm or sometimes less and a length of 30 cm. The peculiarity of these pipe networks was twofold: each pipe element, mainly those in terracotta, 30 to 100 cm long, had a narrowed shape in the middle, as if to create a " venturi" during the passage of water, a specific shape reminiscent of the shape of the terracotta pipes of the palace of Knossos in Crete. Another peculiarity of certain terracotta pipes laid in Petra is found in the sinusoidal undulations in the inner part of the pipe, made at the time of manufacture and which, according to experts, allowed an increase in the flow of the pipe. Tube of ceramic or terracotta from the Roman period, Petra. , 240x240px Remains of a terracotta pipe placed in a stone channel., 250x250px, left Most likely during the Roman period, lead pipes were used for the distribution of water to private houses, fountains and certain thermal baths. The use of this material was reserved either for the final connection of new installations, or in the context of network repairs. The network of pipes to the east of the Great Temple was modified at the time of the Roman occupation, in order to supply water to the

souks A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, such as in the W ...

as well as the commercial buildings along the

Cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street. ...

after its Romanization. "...''Sections of lead pipes were installed at the base of the Great Temple platform and continued eastward ..The lead pipes generally indicate manufacture and use by the Romans before and after the modifications''...” The process of laying these terracotta pipes was also unique: generally installed in a gutter dug on the side of the mountain - this is the case of the pipes on one side of the Siq - its slope was calculated to allow maximum flow, with an optimized filling of the piping, leaving an air space in its upper part with a minimum loss by friction. This is an empirical application of the current principle of CFD

Computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...

, a branch of

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and ...

that uses

numerical analysis Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation (as opposed to symbolic computation, symbolic manipulations) for the problems of mathematical analysis (as distinguished from discrete mathematics). It is the study of ...

and

data structure In computer science, a data structure is a data organization, management, and storage format that is usually chosen for efficient access to data. More precisely, a data structure is a collection of data values, the relationships among them, a ...

s to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows, with the conservation laws (

conservation of mass In physics and chemistry, the law of conservation of mass or principle of mass conservation states that for any system closed to all transfers of matter and energy, the mass of the system must remain constant over time, as the system's mass can ...

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...

and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

) governing the motion of fluids.

John Peter Oleson John Peter Oleson (born 1946) is a Canadian classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology. His main interests are the Roman Near East, maritime archaeology (particularly Roman harbours), and ancient technology, especially hydraulic ...

, classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology, speaks of a 60 m stretch of pressure piping – probably ceramic hight-fired clay pipes, installed at the end of the ''Ain Braq'' aqueduct. The particularity of this section lies in the creation of an "

inverted siphon A siphon (from grc, σίφων, síphōn, "pipe, tube", also spelled nonetymologically syphon) is any of a wide variety of devices that involve the flow of liquids through tubes. In a narrower sense, the word refers particularly to a tube in a ...

", a technique widely used by the Romans, both in

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

( siphons of Gier) and in other parts of the Roman Empire (

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...

, Almuñecar, Gades (Cadiz), etc.). Petra's water supply combined the use of two main sources: rainwater, available in the winter season, and spring water, with a more or less regular flow throughout the year. This concept of the dual design of the supply and distribution networks ensured that water can come from different sources, depending on the variations in spring flows and rainfall, allowing the filling of reservoirs and cisterns. The Nymphaeum of Petra. Restitution by Browning in 1982. In order to also optimize the supply of certain areas of the city or of specific buildings such as thermal baths, nymphaeums, places of worship, ''Paradeisos'' (

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

for enclosed parks), and private residences, the doubling of supplies for the supply of a place or a building made it possible to meet the water needs, whatever the variations in the flow of certain sources, or the contributions coming from the pluviometry. "...''While there is no doubt that the

Tomb of the Roman soldier The Tomb of the Soldier, also called the Tomb of the Roman Soldier, is one of the best-preserved tombs in the ancient city of Petra. Although its façade is its most recognizable feature—with three carved figures inset between columns—the tomb ...

complex had a rainwater supply system collected in a sophisticated network of multiple basins and cisterns, interconnected by pipes that linked the Wadi Farasah to the rest of the city of Petra, it is on the other hand more difficult to determine whether the site benefited from a substantial supply of fresh water...''” (spring water). On the first section of the course on the east side of the Siq, the remains of several tens of meters of terracotta pipes are found, they remain above the path and finely interlocked and jointed; these pipes are embedded in a gutter carved into the mountain and covered with stones and mortar. At the end of the Siq, where the Khazneh can be seen, on one of the sides of about fifty meters in length, the remains of this same terracotta pipe bringing water to downtown Petra are still visible. The short lengths of the terracotta or cut stone pipe elements – 30 cm to 60 cm or even 100 cm – made it possible to make fairly short bends and changes of direction, in particular for bypassing hills and mountains. On the opposite side of the Siq, an open gutter, perfectly well preserved, meanders over almost all of its course.

Maintenance

The maintenance of the

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

s of the entire hydraulic and hydrological system supplying the city of Petra was done according to a centralized management of the city's water. Due to its complexity, its different sources of water collection, the storage and the means of distribution, the network required the development and construction of equipment perfectly coordinated according to the needs, evolving over the centuries with the expansion of the city, but it also required quality, well-managed and regular maintenance of the hydraulic networks. "...''it is indisputable that the management of water in the Petra region is an impressive testimony to the establishment of an efficient central administration, all the more remarkable in that it was established by ancient nomads''." Cistern in the desert rock with a decantation tank., 280x280px, left For this it was necessary to train and sustain a skilled Arab Nabatean workforce for the construction and maintenance of this hydraulic assembly. "...''The realization of the projects ultimately depended on a decision-making and regulatory authority which presupposed a structured political organization''..." The design and installation of these complex networks over such long distances was the work of the Nabatean inhabitants skilled in the techniques of laying complex networks of pipes for the supply of the city of Petra, rather than the work of the nomadic segment of the population.

Heat production

The production of heat for the needs of the

thermal baths A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as baln ...

, consists of several elements, the realization of which was worked on from the beginning of the construction of the thermal baths. Together with the water supply, the heat production forms the two main elements taken into account during the construction of the thermal baths. This heat production must be used to heat certain premises, as well as to heat water for hot baths. * The heating room - ''Praefurnium'' - and the firewood storage room. * The hypocaust with the pillars and its compound ceiling - '' Suspensura''. * The distribution of hot air, the tubes and the smoke evacuation ducts. Pétra

The heating system with the hypocaust worked by forcing hot air and smoke to circulate under a suspended floor raised by pillars (pilae). The heat radiated through the floor, heating the floor surface as well as the room and bath above. This heating system was invented by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC with an inefficient "proto-hypocaust", which used ducts placed under the floors and inside the walls, bringing hot air into rooms to be heated. The system was perfected by the Romans, with the principle of the suspended ceiling - Suspensura - in the 2nd century BC. known to be the hypocaust of

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

, who himself adds: ''There are discoveries which, we know, date only from our time''. “...''The tubulus is a ceramic (terracotta) heating pipe developed by the Romans to create wall cavities through which hot air could circulate. An extension of the hypocaust system, tubuli systems, were one of the most advanced heating systems used in antiquity, and were used throughout the Roman Empire''..."

''Praefurnium''

The heating room or hearth - Praefurnium - is generally placed at a lower level of the premises to be heated, in order to facilitate the diffusion of heat as can be seen in al Biyara, wadi Sabra. With the natural slope of the terrain often taken into account. Depending on the importance of the thermal baths, there may be a single heating room, more or less large depending on the number of rooms and baths to be heated; some baths may have several hearths such as in ez Zantur. The structure of this square or rectangular shaped room, had an opening on the ignition and fuel reserve side, as well as for the supply of fresh air and another opening on the side of the hypocaust, for the exit of smoke and gas as well as hot air. The walls were made of stone or brick, depending on the materials available. The walls were thick and the ceiling was often vaulted. A room adjoining the hearth allowed the storage of fuel, wood or charcoal. This service room opened directly onto the outside, to facilitate the supply of fuel.

Hypocaust

The hypocaust was composed of several elements: generally there is a void under the building of 0.50 m to 1.00 m used for the diffusion and distribution of heat inside the premises, the ground is generally stabilized and clad in stone or rests on the rock. A set of brick pillars, of round or square section, supported the floor of the premises (suspensura) or the baths to be heated. “... ''The suspensura is a type of basement with a ceiling made of terracotta slabs, which are nothing more than large tiles supported on pillars. Care is taken to ensure that the progress of the fumes takes place in a constantly ascending movement; this condition agrees in the most natural way with the sloping arrangement of the riffles of the basins''...” Terracotta slabs used to rest on the pillars and form both the basic structure of the floor, a kind of formwork, which supported a thick layer of tile mortar. Before being covered by the stone or marble paving, a sealing layer was made, generally by lead plates. This compact assembly of terracotta slabs and mortar allowed heat storage with great inertia, and heat transmission by radiation. This heating principle also makes it possible to maintain the temperature, both in the volume of the premises, but also that of the ground. This required a certain skill in the management of the heat installation of the thermal baths, but also in the adjustment of all the parameters allowing to provide the right temperature in the premises and in the baths. This principle of heating was comfortable for the visitors of the thermal baths, it made it possible to maintain a constant temperature, long after the end of the fuelling of the hearth, without stopping it and allowing its fast resumption the following day.

''Tubuli''

The heating of the premises was also done by hot air distribution ducts called tubulis, these are elements of terracotta ducts of different shapes, allowing the circulation of hot air from the hypocaust to the upper parts of the thermal baths. Tubuli heating systems were one of the most advanced heating designs used in antiquity and were employed throughout the Roman Empire. The ducts were placed vertically against the exterior walls of the premises to be heated and sealed with mortar.Craig Andrew Harvey. ''Tubuli and their Use in Roman Arabia, with a Focus on Humayma (Ancient Hauarra).Tubuli.'' Page 11. Conduits d’air chaud ou tubuli

“...''they formed vertical columns allowing hot air to circulate. To increase its circulation, ventilation holes were drilled in the side part of the ducts, allowing the transmission of hot air between the adjacent columns''...” The first use of the tubulus dates from the end of the 1st century BC, with an improvement and a more intensive use, in particular in the thermal baths of Petra, in the 1st and 2nd century AD. The tubuli replaced the other techniques previously used for the heating by the walls. The first systems of wall heating, used by the Romans, were made up of terracotta plates, placed vertically against the walls and whose angles had a protuberance allowing them to be moved apart to allow air to pass - the ''tegulae mammatae''. With other, less elaborate manufacturing systems, they were simple terracotta plates, fixed by hooks with their built-in spacer system.

Seneca the younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

, a 1st century Roman philosopher, playwright and statesman, reveals that the wall heating system was most valued by the Romans for its ability to heat the rooms of the bath evenly, top and bottom: “.. ''It is to man, it is not to the sage, that we owe these inventions'' ..''like the baths suspended above their hearths, and these tubes, applied in the walls, which circulate heat and maintain it from bottom to top always equal''...” Pétra

The vertical shafts were jointed and fixed to each other, and sealed to the walls with mortar. In some cases, T-hooks placed between two elements and fixed to the walls allowed the maintenance and proper spacing of the ducts. The whole was generally covered with stucco, before finishing with marble slabs or mosaic. Parts of the ducts had openings to allow the passage of air from one duct to the other. In the rooms which required a high temperature - laconicum, sudatorium - the ceiling was vaulted and was equipped with an opening in the upper part, with a bronze disc which, depending on its position, made it possible to regulate the temperature in the room. Many remains of tubuli networks have been found during the various excavations, particularly for the lower part of the networks, but due to the fragility of the material constituting the tubuli, the upper part of the network is mixed among the terracotta debris and the archaeologists and historians know very little about this upper part of the heating system.

Heating of the basins

Schéma de production de chaleur des thermes

The heating of the basins, generally supplied with cold water by a nearby tank, was done partially by the transmission of heat through the floor of the hypocaust, but this means of heating the water was not always sufficient. The increase in the temperature of the basin or the swimming pool was then done by means of boilers (hot water tank) placed above a hearth which heated the water of the baths to the desired temperature, for the lukewarm bath of the ''

tepidarium The tepidarium was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from t ...

'' and hot bath for the ''

caldarium 230px, Caldarium from the Roman Baths at Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor. A caldarium (also called a calidarium, cella caldaria or cella coctilium) was a room ...

''. These boilers were to supply the ''

laconicum The ''laconicum'' (i.e. Spartan, ''sc.'' ''balneum'', bath). Cf. Greek ''pyriaterion to lakonikon'' "the Laconian vapour-bath"; , . was the dry sweating room of the Roman ''thermae'', contiguous to the ''caldarium'' or hot room. The name was given ...

'', a hot and dry room, and the ''

sudatorium In architecture, a sudatorium is a vaulted sweating-room ('' sudor'', "sweat") or steam bath (Latin: ''sudationes'', steam) of the Roman baths or thermae. The Roman architectural writer Vitruvius (v. 2) refers to it as ''concamerata sudatio''. It is ...

'', the hot and humid room. The base part of the tanks, in contact with the fire, was in brass - bronze - the upper part was in lead. In order to reduce the heating time of the water in the basins and to allow better control of the diffusion of heat, many thermal baths included a metal "box", the testudo, generally made of copper, open at the bottom of the basin, and closed on the chimney side. This closed part was exposed to the heat of the hearth, thus heating the water of this part of the basin; the temperature difference between the very hot water of this "heater" and the colder temperature of the basin created a circular current equalizing the temperature in the basin

Drainage of the basins

Schéma de production de chaleur pour bain romain

The drainage of the basins and swimming pools, or cold baths, the

frigidarium A frigidarium is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool. The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is thought ...

and the ''loutron'', as well as the swimming pools and

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman ...

e, which were fed by a water tank, itself fed by an aqueduct, was generally done according to the Roman technique, which was to direct the evacuation or emptying water, lightly charged, towards the latrines, then being used for the evacuation of the most major waste, before being led towards the wadis. The emptying of these basins could be done directly in the water network of the city, or the nearby wadi. The emptying of the basins and hot baths was done from a tap fixed to the "heater" - ''testudo'' or ''semi-testudo'' - then directed directly into a canal bringing the water into the city network or a wadi. The drain could also be used to clean the floor of the hypocaust below, before being sent to a canal connected to the city network or directly to a wadi; in some cases the water passed through the hearth and was used to clean it, insofar as it was cold.

in the 1st century BC, in his book Volume I on the heating of the thermal baths, gives the explanations to the way this system worked: “...''The hearth is installed in the basement. The water, supplied by a reservoir fed by the city pipes, is gradually heated in a boiler T and a boiler-boiler C. The body of these boilers is housed in a masonry chamber and receives'' ..''direct heat from the fireplace''. ..''The warm water boiler communicates with the food basin (of cold water) and the boiler, with the warm water boiler. So that any hot water intake is automatically replaced by an influx of lukewarm water; the latter in turn, by an influx of cold water''..." As for the various thermal baths of Petra, the destruction due to earthquakes, the wear and tear of time or the flooding of the wadis, did not yet make it possible to perfectly define the drainage system of the various basins and swimming pools, the excavations of which are still in progress.

Smoke evacuation

The evacuation of smoke, like the suitable diffusion of hot air, was an integral part of the proper functioning of a hypocaust and of the whole heat production of the system. The flue was directed into the chimney in the upper part, or sent directly outside by crossing the ceiling or the terrace. The hearth was fed according to the heat needs in the premises and in the pools. This work was intended for slaves, specialized in the proper functioning of the thermal baths, supervised by the balneator or supervisor of the thermal baths. The smoke pipes, in terracotta, were generally placed next to the hot air ducts (tubuli) conveying high temperature air. They also helped to heat the premises. Pétra

The hot air ducts as well as the flues had an active role in the heating system of the thermal baths, but they also had a passive role in the insulation of the buildings and avoided condensation on the walls. In 1998, a team of archaeologists and engineers reconstructed a set of thermal baths, using materials and techniques from the Roman period: "...''This experience has made it possible to better understand many aspects of the construction and operation public baths, including the unresolved relationship between the tubuli (carrying the hot air) and the smoke exhaust ducts''...” The most economical design had the hot air tubuli completely separate from the fireplace. In this system, each column of tubuli was blocked in the upper part and the smoke coming from the hearth and the hypocaust did not pass into the tubuli, they were evacuated directly, in the upper part, outside the building, or In the chimney. Once the trials were complete and all the data collected, the engineers found that the method of blocking off three out of four tubuli columns and leaving the last remaining open proved to be effective. Despite the low draft, hot air circulation still took place in the tubuli, and the wall was sufficiently heated. But the tubuli were not completely effective in removing smoke and gases from the hypocaust. This discovery suggests that the heating systems could operate efficiently, without a direct connection to the smoke exhaust duct. The question of the separation of toxic fumes and hot air, at the exit of the hearth, does not seem to be perfectly well defined by archaeologists and historians. According to Vitruvius, the evacuation of smoke was done by means of pottery tubes, which placed along the wall allowed the draft of the hearth. «...''The use of fuel with a clear flame, avoided excessive soot deposits''...».

Operation and maintenance

The operation and maintenance of the facilities were managed by several teams of slaves, generally housed on site, who were responsible for maintaining the premises of the thermal baths, ensuring the constant supply of water, cold and hot, and their correct temperature depending on the baths. The slaves assigned to the thermal baths were also responsible for the maintenance and proper functioning of all the heat production for the thermal baths: hearths, hypocausts, air diffusion ducts and smoke ducts. The slaves had to ensure the permanent supply of the hearth according to the hours of use, in order to maintain a pleasant temperature in the premises and in the baths at the time of their occupation, but keeping the costs of using fuel to a minimum. Un esclave romain portant le feu dans des thermes

Un esclave romain portant le feu dans des thermes

The stoker, or man in charge of the household, was called a ''fornacator'' and was usually a slave. Two North African

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s support this claim. Both show naked men carrying a basket filled with embers. That of Bir-Shana Moghane, shows the flaming embers, to underline its link with the hearth of the thermal baths - ''praefurnium'' - and also includes a

fire iron A fire iron is any metal instrument for tending a fire. Types There are three types of tools commonly used to tend a small fire, such as an indoor fireplace fire or yule log: the spade, the tongs and the poker itself. These tools make it possi ...

in the other hand. The fire iron could symbolize the task of the

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

who was also to supervise the combustion in the hearth, to correct the air supply if necessary for the good combustion of wood or coal. It could also indicate that some skill was needed to balance the airflow, the air diffusion temperature in the hypocaust and the tubuli, the energy efficiency and the water temperature of the baths. Restarting the thermal baths after a complete shutdown took several days and significant fuel consumption. The thermal baths, according to their importance, could be either private, or be public buildings belonging to the city; there were also imperial baths, under the direct responsibility of the Emperor. A set of baths was run by a director - ''conductor'' - usually controlled by the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. A guardian of the thermal baths - ''curator operis thermarum'' or ''balneator'' - had the function of supervising the work of each of the workers on the site; the ''balneator'' was a free man. The ''fornacatores'' in charge of the homes were slaves who lived on site, they worked as a team; their task was to ensure the continuity of the home's supply, from the stock of fuel and the orders of the supervisor or ''balneator'', to maintain the correct temperature of the pools, to the satisfaction of the owners and users of the thermal baths. “...''The good reputation of the thermal baths was that it was always sufficiently warm; the supervisor was held responsible for the quality of the baths''. ..''The citizens could complain to the municipal supervisor if the baths were not heated enough''..." Teams of slaves specialized in the maintenance of the baths, were also to be always present on the site , in order to quickly repair any faults that may arise during the occupation of the thermal baths. The preventive and programmed maintenance of the thermal baths by the supervisor, had to occupy a certain number of qualified slaves in the cleaning of the basins and the aqueducts of water supply, the recovery of the marble or mosaic slabs, the degradations due to infiltrations of water, the replacement of the elements of the hearths destroyed by the fire. Other teams had to take care of the maintenance of the access roads as well as around the thermal baths.

Techniques and materials

The_Treasury_from_above,_Petra,_Jordan_(34247879312)

Artisans in the

city of Petra, in modern

, extended the Western Asian tradition, carving their temples and tombs into the yellowish-orange rock that defines the canyons and gullies of the region. These structures, dating from 1st century BCE to about 2nd century CE, are particularly important in the history of architecture given their experimental forms. Because the structures served as tombs, the interiors were rather perfunctory. In Petra one even finds a theater where the seats are cut out of the rock. Small-scale production of concrete-like materials was pioneered by the

Nabatean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...

traders who occupied and controlled a series of oases and developed a small empire in the regions of southern Syria and northern Jordan from the 4th century BC. They discovered the advantages of hydraulic lime, with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC. They built

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...

s to supply mortar for the construction of

rubble masonry Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an i ...

houses, concrete floors, and underground waterproof

s. They kept the cisterns secret as these enabled the Nabataeans to thrive in the desert. Some of these structures survive to this day.

Architects and stonemasons

Apollodorus of Damascus Apollodorus of Damascus ( grc, Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Δαμασκηνός) was a Nabataean architect and engineer from Damascus, Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD. As an engineer he authored several technical treatises, ...

- Nabataean architect and engineer from Damascus, Roman Syria, who flourished during the 2nd century AD. his massive architectural output gained him immense popularity during his time. He is one of the few architects whose name survives from antiquity, and is credited with introducing several Eastern innovations to the Roman Imperial style, such as making the dome a standard. Apollodorus was Trajan's favored architect and engineer. He designed and oversaw the construction of the

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

, Markets, and Temple, and Column of Trajan (the first monument of its kind), and the Stadium of Domitian within the city of

. Outside the capital, Apollodorus built bridges across the Danube and the Tagus in Spain and designed the triumphal arches of Trajan at Benevento and

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

. He is the author of ''Siege Engines'' (''Πολιορκητικά''), dedicated to an unnamed emperor, likely Trajan. * Wahb'allahi - a first century stonemason who worked in the city of Hegra. Wahb'allahi was the brother of the stonemason 'Abdharetat and the father of 'Abd'obodat. He is named in an inscription as the responsible stonemason on the oldest datable grave in

in the ninth year of the Nabataean king

Aretas IV Aretas IV Philopatris (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢗𐢓𐢆‎ 𐢊𐢛𐢞𐢞 𐢛𐢊𐢒 ''Ḥārīṯat Rāḥem-ʿammeh'', "Aretas, friend of his people") was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40. His daughter Phasaelis was ...

(1 BCE-CE). * 'Abd'obodat son of Wahballahi - a 1st-century Nabatean Stonemason who worked in the city of Hegra. He is named by inscriptions on five of the grave facades typical of Hegra as the executing craftsman. On the basis of the inscriptions, four of the facades can be dated to the reigns of kings Aretas IV and Malichus II. 'Abd'obodat was evidently a successful craftsman. He succeeded his father Wahb'allahi and his uncle 'Abdharetat in at least one workshop in the second generation of Nabatean architects. 'Abd'obodat is considered to be the main representative of one of the two main schools of the Nabataean stonemasons, to which his father, his uncle belonged. Two more grave facades are assigned to the school on the basis of stylistic investigations; 'Abd'obodat is probably to be regarded as the stonemason who carried out the work. * 'Aftah - a Nabatean stonemason who became prominent in the beginning of the third decade of the first century. 'Aftah is attested in inscriptions on eight of the grave facades in Hegra and one grave as the executing stonemason. The facades are dated to the late reign of King Aretas IV . On one of the facades he worked with Halaf'allahi, on another with Wahbu and Huru . A tenth facade without an inscription was attributed to the 'Aftah sculpture school due to technical and stylistic similarities. He is the main representative of one of the two stonemason schools in the city of Hegra. * Halaf'allahi - Nabatean stonemason who worked in the city of Hegra in the first century. Halaf'allahi is named in inscriptions on two graves in Hegra as the responsible stonemason in the reign of the Nabataean king Aretas IV. The first grave, which can be dated to the year 26-27 CE, was created together with the stonemason 'Aftah. He is therefore assigned to the workshop of the 'Aftah. Nabataean architects and sculptors were in reality contractors, who negotiated the costs of specific tomb types and their decorations. Tombs were therefore executed based on the desires and financial abilities of their future owners. The activities of Halaf'allahi offer an excellent example of this, as he had been commissioned with the execution of a simple tomb for a person who apparently belonged to the lower middle class. However, he was also in charge of completing a more sophisticated tomb for one of thelocal military officials.

Conservation

Petra is a site at the intersection of

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

and cultural heritage forming a unique cultural landscape. Ever since Johann Ludwig Burckhardt aka Sheikh Ibrahim had rediscovered the ruin city in Petra, Jordan, in 1812, the cultural heritage site has attracted different people who shared an interest in the ancient history and culture of the

such as travellers, pilgrims, painters and savants. However, it was not until the late 19th century that the ruins were systematically approached by archaeological researchers. Since then regular archaeological excavations and ongoing research on the Nabataean culture have been part of today's UNESCO world cultural heritage site Petra. Through the excavations in the Petra Archaeological Park an increasing number of Nabataean cultural heritage is being exposed to environmental impact. A central issue is the management of water impacting the built heritage and the rock hewn facades. The large number of discoveries and the exposure of structures and findings demand conservation measures respecting the interlinkage between the natural landscape and cultural heritage, as especially this connection is a central challenge at the UNECSO World Heritage Site.

Conservation of cultural heritage

In recent years different conservation campaigns and projects were established at the cultural heritage site of Petra. The main works first focussed on the entrance situation of the Siq to protect tourists and to facilitate access. Also, different projects for conservation and conservation research were conducted. Following is a list of projects, to be continued. *1958 Restoration of the third pillar of the Treasury building (

Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh ( ar, الخزنة; "The Treasury") is one of the most elaborate temples in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monast ...

). This project was funded by the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

(USAID) *1974–1990 Conservation work in the excavated area of the Winged Lions Temple *1981 Different restoration works by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *1985 Restoration works at the Qasr El Bint Temple by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *1990–1998 Excavation and Conservation of the Byzantine Church by the American Centre of Research (ACOR) *1992–2002 Conservation and Restoration Center in Petra CARCIP, German GTZ Project. *1993–2000 Excavation, conservation and restoration of the Great Temple, funded by the Brown University, USA. *1996 onwards, Restoration of the

and rehabilitation of the Siq floor by the Petra National Trust founded by the Jordanian-Swiss counterpart Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

. *2001 Restoration of the altar in front of the Casr Bint Firaun by UNESCO *2003 Development of a conservation and maintenance plan of the ancient drainage systems to protect the rock-cut facades *2003–2017 Evaluation of desalination and restoration at the tomb facades *2006–2010 Preservation and consolidation of the Wall Paintings in Siq al Barid by the Petra National Trust in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

(London). *2009 onwards, renewed effort to preserve and rehabilitate the Winged Lions Temple by The Temple of the Winged Lions Cultural Management (TWLCRM) Initiative, the Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *2016–2019 Characterisation and Conservation of Paintings on Walls and Sculpture from Nabataean Petra "The Petra Painting Conservation Project (PPCP)", funded by the German Research Foundation (Project number 285789434).

Archeological sites

* Petra and

in Jordan *

Bosra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...

in Syria *

Mada'in Saleh Hegra ( grc, Ἕγρα), known to Muslims as Al-Hijr (), also known as Mada’in Salih ( ar, مَدَائِن صَالِح, madāʼin Ṣāliḥ, lit=Cities of Salih), is an archaeological site located in the area of Al-'Ula within Medina Provin ...

in northwest Saudi Arabia. *

Jabal al-Lawz Jabal al-Lawz ( ar, جَبَل ٱللَّوْز), also known as Gebel el-Lawz, is a mountain located in northwest Saudi Arabia, near the Jordanian border, above the Gulf of Aqaba at above sea level. The name means 'mountain of almonds'.Hoffmeier ...

in northwest Saudi Arabia. *

in the Negev Desert of Israel; precursor to a Byzantine colony. *

in the Negev Desert of Israel *

Mamshit Mampsis (Medieval Greek: Μάμψις) or Memphis (Ancient Greek: Μέμφις), today Mamshit ( he, ממשית), Arabic Kurnub, is a former Nabataean caravan stop and Byzantine city. In the Nabataean period, Mampsis was an important station on th ...

in the Negev Desert of Israel *

Dahab Dahab ( arz, دهب, , "gold") is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most tre ...

in South Sinai, Egypt; an excavated Nabataean trading port.

Notes

References

External links

* {{cite web, title=Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans - Biblical Archaeology Society, url=https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-near-eastern-world/solving-the-enigma-of-petra-and-the-nabataeans/, website=Biblical Archaeology Society, date=6 April 2017. Arabic architecture Nabataea Architecture in Jordan

Types

Religious architecture

The Negev and Hejaz

The Hauran

Central Jordan

Southern Jordan

Northwestern Saudi Arabia

Residential architecture

Public space

Funerary architecture

Artistic elements

Significance

Water management

Hydrology and hydraulics

Water capture

Decantation

Water storage

Water distribution

Maintenance

Heat production

''Praefurnium''

Hypocaust

''Tubuli''

Heating of the basins

Drainage of the basins

Smoke evacuation

Operation and maintenance

Techniques and materials

Architects and stonemasons

Conservation

Conservation of cultural heritage

Archeological sites

See also

Notes

References

External links