This beautiful book about
Books from Bonechi are available in many languages. I have used an English edition published in 2010.
The text –
written by Dominique Tarrier – is clear and concise. In general it is accurate,
but there are a few unfortunate mistakes, as I will explain below. The
illustrations are numerous, and the quality of the illustrations is high.
In the
beginning of the book there is a map of the ancient city where the major
monuments are marked with numbers.
There are many
pictures of the Treasury (pp. 17-25), which is no surprise. It is, after all, Petra ’s most famous monument. They
include two drawings by the Scottish artist David Roberts, who visited Petra in 1839. Other drawings by David
Roberts appear on pp. 29, 36, 44, 54-55, & 74.
[The
complete collection of his 14 drawings from Petra has recently been republished. See: David Roberts in Petra (1939).]
The modern photos
in the book were taken several years ago. How do I know? For two reasons:
# 1: On
page 21 we see visitors entering and exiting the building, and on pp. 24-25 we
see visitors observing the interior of the monument. This is not allowed
anymore. Today a fence is placed about four m from the columns. Today this
monument can only be viewed from the outside.
# 2: On
page 21 we can see that the area in front of the monument is untouched, so this
picture was taken before excavations in this area were carried out. The
excavations revealed an underground chamber, and they confirmed that the
monument is a mausoleum for a Nabataean king. The entrance to the underground
chamber is covered by a metal grill placed between the fence and the monument.
In general
the text is accurate, but I have to mention a few things which bother me:
(1) The
caption to the photo on page 12 reads as follows:
“The tunnel dug into the rock through which the waters of the Wadi Musa were deviated.”
“The tunnel dug into the rock through which the waters of the Wadi Musa were deviated.”
The picture
does show not the Nabataean tunnel. It shows the beginning of the Siq. The
photographer is looking west. The tunnel is actually visible from the spot where
the photographer stands. He or she only has to turn right and face north. If he does
this, he can see the beginning of the tunnel.
(2) On page
15 we are told that “the gorge is never more than 2 m wide.” This false statement is
refuted by the photo on the preceding page where we can see that the Siq
sometimes widens to much more than 2 m . Sometimes the distance from wall
to wall is 10 or even 20 m .
(3) The
caption to the photo on page 28 reads as follows: “Petra ’s theatre … was built on the right
side of the main roadway.” This is not true. The theatre was cut into the rock on
the left side of the road.
When we
talk about the right or the left side of the road in Petra , we always assume that we are moving
west from the Siq towards the Treasury and then further west towards the city
centre and the new museum. The author makes this assumption in every other
case, so why not do the same here?
The theatre
was cut into the rock on the northern side of the road. If you are walking from
the Treasury to the city centre, it is on your left side. Anyway, there is only
one theatre in Petra , so you cannot miss it.
In the
photos of the theatre we see visitors walking or sitting in the auditorium.
Today you are not allowed to enter the theatre. Today this monument can only be
viewed from the outside.
(4) Page 47
presents the tomb of Florentinus. The first name of the Roman governor
is spelled Sextus, but the correct form of the name is Sextius.
(5) Page 52
presents the South
Temple .
This temple is located south of the Colonnaded Street , so the name makes sense, but the
name commonly used for this monument is the Great Temple .
(6) Page 86
presents the tomb of Uneishu, who was a minister of Queen Shaquilat II, who was
the wife of Malichus II (king 40-70) and the mother of Rabbel II (king
75/76-106). When her husband died and her son was still too young to rule, she
served as his regent during the years 70-75/76.
The caption
to the photo on the preceding page reads as follows:
“The Tomb of Uneishu can be seen in the centre of the photo.”
“The Tomb of Uneishu can be seen in the centre of the photo.”
This is not
true. The tomb of Uneishu cannot be seen in this photo. The large tomb in the
centre of the photo, which does not have a modern name, is located ca. 100 m to the left – i.e. to the north – of
Uneishu’s tomb.
To see some
pictures of Uneishu’s tomb (the façade and the interior) you may turn to Francesca
Ossorio, Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization (White Star Books, 2009) pp. 185, 206, 207, & 217.
The
mistakes mentioned above are unfortunate, but in this case I do not want to be
too harsh, because the illustrations are so great, not merely the modern
photos, but also the 19th century drawings by the Scottish artist
David Roberts. Therefore I think this book deserves a rating of five stars.
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