This book about
The preface
is written by Barbara A. Porter, an archaeologist from the United States , who is the director of the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman , Jordan .
In her
preface, Porter says:
“Petra in southern Jordan has fascinated foreign visitors for
almost two hundred years. In this book text and image reveal the site in a
poetic and comprehensive fashion.”
“
This is true.
The main
text is divided into five chapters:
# 1:
Nabataean civilization from its origins to the Roman conquest
# 2: The
history of the re-discovery of Petra
# 3: Petra , capital of the Nabataeans
# 4:
Masterpieces of rock-cut architecture
# 5: Hegra
and the caravan cities of the Nabataeans
The book
concludes with a bibliography, an index and a list of photo credits.
There is a
chronological table on page 21. There are three maps: on page 20, we have the Nabataean
world, i.e. modern Jordan and the neighbouring states; on
pages 106-107, we have all of Petra ; and on pages 120-121, we have the city
centre.
The book is
fully illustrated with large pictures of high quality. This is, after all, a picture
book from White Star Books, like Splendors of Ancient Persia by Henri Stierlin,
and Ancient Egyptian Queens by Rosanna Pirelli, to mention just two examples.
Almost all
illustrations are in colour, except for a few old photos which are in black and
white. Some illustrations are drawings – also in colour – made by some of the early
travellers who visited the place in the nineteenth century after the re-discovery
of the city, such as the Scottish painter David Roberts (1796-1864).
This is not
a guidebook you want to carry with you when you go to Jordan . It is too big and too heavy. Read
and study this book in your home before (or after) a visit to the place.
The main
topic is Petra , but there is also a chapter about the Nabataean civilisation. In addition,
there is a chapter about the ancient city of Hegra (in modern Saudi Arabia ) and other caravan cities. This is very
a good idea. In this way, the ancient city is placed in a cultural, geographical
and historical context.
Ossorio
presents all the major monuments, using both text and illustrations. The
information that she presents appears to be correct. I have found only two
factual errors.
# 1: The
caption on page 43 reads: “This relief in calcite from the twenty-fifth
century BC was found in Yemen . It represents the head of an onyx,
a large antelope…” The caption says the relief is in the British Museum . This is true. But the date is wrong.
According to the British Museum , it is from the first
century BC or AD.
# 2: The
caption page 257 reads: “… there is this Cupid with sword…” In fact, there is
no sword. The Cupid in the picture has a bow and an arrow, as explained in the
main text on page 255.
But apart
from the factual errors there are other problems. The first problem concerns
the English translation. Ossorio’s Italian manuscript has been translated into
English, but the translator, Mark Mahan, seems to have some problems with the language,
especially the grammar. If there were just two or three mistakes, I would not make
an issue of it. But there are more than ten. For some reason most of them are found in the
captions:
** Page 12 (caption) – “
** Page 17 – “these sources data,” should be: these sources date
** Page 17 (caption) – “are,” should be: is
** Page 21 (chronology for the year AD 551) - “struck,” should be: strikes (all the other verbs in this chart are in the present simple; this one should follow the pattern; the correct form is used for the year AD 363)
** Page 38 – “Marcus Emilius Scaurus,” should be: Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (his name is also misspelled in the index, on page 300, but spelled correctly in the chronology, on page 21)
** Page 41 – “an campaign,” should be: a campaign
** Page 64 (caption) – “… better reserved than it is today,” should be: better preserved than it is today
** Page 102 (caption) – “which,” this word should be deleted
** Page 119 – “are located,” these words should be deleted
** Page 200 (caption) – “above the door of the opening on the left there and oculus has been cut,” should be: above the opening on the left an oculus has been cut
** Page 226 (caption) – “increase,” should be: increases
The second
problem concerns the question of water management. How could the Nabateans
sustain a thriving city in the middle of the desert? The answer is they were very
efficient with regard to water management. Ossorio mentions this fact several
times in the chapters about Petra (pages 41, 64, 98, 108, 158, 170, and
172). It is also mentioned in the chapter on Hegra and the caravan cities (pages
269, 272, and 275). But even though this very important fact is mentioned
several times, it is never explained in any detail. And even though there are
hundreds of illustrations, there is not a single picture to illustrate this
point.
[For more
information about this topic see the following excellent article which is available online:
Charles R. Ortloff, “The Water Supply and Distribution Systems of the Nabataean
City of Petra,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 15, # 1, 2005, pp.
93-109.]
This is a
beautiful and informative book. I would like to give it five stars. But the
poor English grammar is a problem, and so is the failure to explain the details
of the water management. Therefore I can only give it four stars.
* * *
Francesca Arianna Ossorio,
Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization,
White Star Books, 2009, 304 pages.
Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization,
White Star Books, 2009, 304 pages.
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