Art and History - Petra (2010)

Art and History - Petra

This beautiful book about Petra is published by the Italian publisher Bonechi which specialises in picture books about famous places around the world. Sometimes the focus is on a country. In this case the focus is on an ancient city in Jordan.

This book is 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.]

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 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 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, visitors are not allowed to enter the theatre. Today this monument can only be viewed from the outside.

(4) Page 47 presents the tomb of Sextus Florentinus. The first name of the Roman governor is often spelled Sextus, but the correct 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.”

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) go to Francesca Ossorio’s book about Petra published by White Star in 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.

*****

Art and History – Petra

Bonechi 2010

96 pages

*****