Petra: The Rose-Red City (2000, 2006)

Petra: The Rose-Red City 

This pocket-size book about the ancient city of Petra is written by two professional scholars: Jean-Marie Dentzer and Christian Augé.

** Dentzer is Director of the Institut Français d’Archéologie du Proche-Orient and a professor at the Université de Paris I. He is past leader of an archaeological team from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), working in southern Syria and Jordan, and author of numerous articles.

** Augé is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). A specialist in ancient coins and the classical iconography of the Near East, he succeeded Jean-Marie Dentzer as leader of an archaeological team in southern Syria and the Petra region of Jordan.

The text is divided into four chapters. Here are the chapter headings:

# 1 – Petra Revealed

# 2 – The Kingdom of the Nabataeans

# 3 – From Refuge to Caravan Capital

# 4 – Anatomy of a City

At the end of the book we find six short sections: some documents, a list of Nabataean kings, a chronological table, a bibliography, a list of illustrations, and an index.

Throughout the book there are many illustrations, mostly photos but also some drawings. Almost all illustrations are in colour. The quality is high, but the size is rather small. This is no surprise, since the book measures only 12.5 x 17.5 cm.

Please note: this is not a guidebook. It does not describe the monuments of Petra one by one, and it does not give you any suggestions about how to arrange a walk through the ancient town. If you need a guidebook, you must turn to Lonely Planet, the Rough Guide, or something like that.

This book by Jean-Marie Dentzer and Christian Augé gives you background information about Petra and the Nabataean civilization. The text is well written and well organised. Clearly, the authors know their topic very well. All the major issues are discussed, including the question of water management, which is covered on pages 59-62.

[For more information about this question, turn to Charles Ortloff, Water Engineering in the Ancient World (Oxford University Press, 2009).]

Please note: the French original was published in 1999. The English translation was published in the following year. It was republished (apparently without any changes) in 2006. This means that it does not include the results of recent archaeological discoveries in the centre of the city.

The map of Petra on pp. 116-117 shows the colonnaded street. At the eastern end of the city the nymphaeum is marked, at the western end the triple arch and Qasr Al-Bint are marked. But several monuments are not marked here: the Great Temple, the Upper Market, the Central Market, and the Lower Market (south of the street), the Royal Palace and the Petra Church (north of the street).

For information about the results of the recent archaeological discoveries, turn to a book by Francesca Ossorio: Petra: Splendors of the Nabataean Civilization (White Star Books, 2009), pages 118-153.

The two French scholars have written an interesting account about the ancient city in the Jordanian desert. It is not a guidebook, but I cannot complain about this, because it does not pretend to be a guidebook. It is not quite up to date, but I cannot complain about this either, because it was reasonably up to date when it was first published, around the year 2000.

If you are looking for quick and reliable background information about Petra and the Nabataean civilization, this book is highly recommended.

*****

Petra: The Rose-Red City

Thames & Hudson - New Horizons

2000 and 2006 

*****