Petra: Lost City of Stone (2015)

Petra: Lost City of Stone is a documentary film, which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2015. It is an episode of the long-running program NOVA, which focuses on science and technology (season 42, episode 05). Here is some basic information about it:

** Writer and director: Gary Glassman
** Narrator: Jay O. Sanders
** Run time: 53 minutes

Many persons are interviewed in the film. Here are their names (in alphabetical order):

** Sue Alcock - Brown University

** Leigh-Ann Bedal – Penn State Erie, Behrend College
** Ueli Bellwald – archaeologist
** Cecilia Feldman – University of Massachusetts, Amherst

** Nathan J. Hunt – Hunt Studios

** Charles R. Ortloff – hydraulic engineer
** Thomas H. Paradise – University of Arkansas
** Blake Rankin – Hunt Studios

** Andrew M. Smith – George Washington University

** Christopher Tuttle – American Center of Oriental Research
** Thomas M. Urban – University of Oxford

Petra is an ancient city located in a desert in present-day Jordan. It was forgotten and unknown for centuries. It was “discovered” in 1812 by a Swiss adventurer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt who disguised himself as an Arab traveller in order to enter the place. 

Obviously, the local nomads of the desert had known about it all along, but they did not tell anyone about it.

Petra was the capital of an ancient desert people, the Nabataeans. It seems it was built during a period of ca 100 years, from 50 BC to AD 50. What makes Petra so special is the fact that the monuments are not built up from the ground; they are carved out of the rocks.

Most monuments in Petra are tombs, making it a city of the dead. But in antiquity, there were also houses where people lived and worked, making it a city of the living. 

Today, only the tombs are preserved. Apart from the theatre, all the houses where people lived and worked have disappeared.

The film-makers focus on four basic questions about Petra and the Nabataeans:

# 1. How could the Nabataeans build a city in the middle of the desert? Where did they find the money to do this?

# 2. How did they carve tall facades out of the rocks? What technique, what method did they use?

# 3. How did they deal with the problem of flash floods?

# 4. How did they secure water for the inhabitants of the city? More than 20,000 people. Water for drinking, cooking and washing?

All four questions are discussed in great detail and eventually answered in the film.

What do reviewers say about it? On IMDb it has a rating of 88 per cent, which corresponds to 4.4 stars on Amazon.

If you ask me, this average rating is quite appropriate. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS # 1. For more information, see the following books:

** Petra: The Rose-Red City by Christian Auge and Jean-Marie Dentzer (2000 and 2006) (a short account, small format)

** Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans by Jane Taylor (2005)

** Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization by Francesca Arianna Osorio (2009) (a long and detailed account, large format)

PS # 2. If you are interested in ancient history, Petra is definitely worth a visit. I was there a few years ago (2011). Please notice: a visit to Petra is quite demanding. It involves a lot of walking and climbing up and down. It is not dangerous, but you must be fit, if you wish to visit all the major monuments in this place.

*****

Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization

Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization (2009)

This book about the ancient city of Petra is beautiful and informative, but there are some minor flaws here and there. It is written by Francesca Arianna Ossorio, an Italian archaeologist, who works with the University of Milan. She is also a member of the Italian-Syrian mission that works at Palmyra (Tadmor) in Syria.

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.”

I agree with her.

The main text is divided into five chapters:

# 1: Nabatean civilisation 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 Nabateans

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, the Nabataean world, i.e. modern Jordan and the neighbouring states; on pages 106-107, all of Petra; and on pages 120-121, 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 19th century after the re-discovery of the city, such as David Roberts (1796-1864).

This is not a guidebook you want to carry with you when you go to Jordan. It is far too big and far too heavy. Read and study this book in your home before (and after) a visit to the place.

The main topic is Petra, but there is also a chapter about the Nabataean civilization. In addition, there is a chapter about the ancient city of Hegra (in present-day Saudi Arabia) and other caravan cities. This is very a good idea. In this way, the ancient city of Petra 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 25th 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 the first century AD.

# 2: The caption on 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 one or two mistakes, I would not make an issue of it. But there are more than ten. Most of them are found in the captions:

Page 12 (caption) – “Petra most famous symbol,” should be: Petra’s most famous symbol

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 present simple 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 Nabataeans 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 about 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, see the following article which is available online: Charles R. Ortloff, “The Water Supply and Distribution Systems of the Nabatean City of Petra,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 15, # 1, 2005, pp. 93-109.]

White Star has published 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

*****

Petra by David Roberts 1839

Petra by David Roberts 1839

The Complete Collection of

David Roberts Lithographs of Petra 1839

David Roberts is a Scottish artist, who lived 1796-1864. In 1838 he was in Egypt. In the following year he travelled to Syria and Jordan. During his stay in and around Petra, he made a series of 14 large and very detailed drawings in colour. This collection has recently been republished in full-scale and in colour.

As you can guess, the collection is on sale in the shops in the ancient city and in some of the shops in Wadi Musa – the modern town next to Petra.

Here is a brief overview of the motives. The 14 sheets are not numbered, but I have decided to divide them into four groups and to number them here, because this will send you on a virtual tour through the ancient city from the beginning of the Siq (in the east) to the Monastery (in the northwest):

PART A

# 1: Encampment of Bani Said

# 2: Arabs of the tribe of Benisaid

# 3: Approach to Petra (Bedouins in the shade of a huge rock)

PART B

# 4: The arch at the beginning of the Siq (in the east)

# 5: The Treasury (al-Khasneh)

# 6: Lower view of the Treasury (al-Khasneh)

# 7: The Theatre

PART C

# 8: The eastern end of the valley – The Royal Tombs – The Tomb of the Urn

# 9:  The Tomb of the Urn

# 10: The eastern end of the valley – The Royal Tombs – The Palace Tomb

# 11: Sight to the south

# 12: The Acropolis

PART D

# 13: Ruins of the Triumphal Arch (in the city centre)

# 14: The Monastery (Ad-Deir) (in the northwest)

In every modern book about Petra there is at least one drawing by Roberts among the illustrations, sometimes even three, four or five drawings. See for instance Francesca Ossorio, Petra (White Star Books, 2009). When they are placed in a book, you can study them and enjoy them, but you cannot take them out. They belong in the book.

The new collection is not a book. The 14 sheets are not bound together. There are 14 loose sheets. Each sheet measures 24 x 33 cm. They come in a folder which is slightly larger (25 x 35 cm). You can pick out one and put it in a frame and hang it on the wall, if you like.

When Roberts visited Petra in 1839, the ancient city was beginning to be famous in Europe - that is why he decided to go there - but apart from the local Bedouins almost nobody had ever been there. Almost nobody knew anything about the place. That is why his drawings are so exceptional and valuable.

It is interesting to compare the drawings he made in 1839 with the current conditions in the 21st century. The decorations and reliefs on the monuments are often sharper and clearer in the old drawings than they are today. A common explanation for this is that erosion by rain, wind and desert sand has done a lot of damage since Roberts was there. This may be true, but it does not have to be.

When you make a drawing, you do not have to draw what you see. You can draw what you like. You can draw what you want to see. Maybe the decorations and the reliefs were already heavily eroded in 1839. Maybe Roberts drew what he wanted to see. Maybe he embellished the decorations and the reliefs, because he wanted them to look good. We can never know if he did this on some occasion or not.

In general, his drawings are considered very accurate. When you compare details which he saw and which we can still see today, we have to say that his drawings are almost like a photo. He was a very careful and meticulous artist.

Picture # 4 shows the arch that once spanned the beginning of the Siq. Unfortunately, it is not there anymore. It collapsed in 1895. But you can still see the niches cut in the rock below the arch, and on the left wall you can see the beginning of the arch. Roberts shows one of the niches below the arch (the one on the right side) – but perhaps the niche is placed a bit too high in his picture?

Pictures # 5 and 6 show the Treasury. One of the six columns on the front is broken in this picture. This detail is a fact. Today the broken column has been repaired. When you look closely at the column, you can see the difference between the original cut by the Nabataeans and the modern reconstruction which was done in the 20th century.

Picture # 14 shows the Monastery. As far as I can see, it is a very accurate rendition of the ancient monument. There are no decorations or reliefs in the niches today. There are none in the drawing from 1839. Roberts could have made something up, to make it look more like the Treasury, or just to make it look better. But he did not. It seems he was a very faithful and very talented observer.

If you have never been to Petra, you may still enjoy these drawings from the 19th century. The motives are beautiful, and the composition of each scene is well-done with one element in the foreground and another element in the background. When you look at these drawings, you may be able to understand why so many people visit this ancient city every year.

If you have been there, I am sure you will cherish and appreciate these drawings as a special souvenir from one of the most extraordinary and fascinating places in the world.

*****

Petra by David Roberts 1839

The Complete Collection of

David Roberts Lithographs of Petra 1839

14 Paintings

*****