Men on the RocksThe Formation of Nabataean Petra

M. Mouton & S. G. Schmid (editors)

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Men on the RocksThe Formation of Nabataean Petra

Berlin 2013

Proceedings of a conference held in Berlin2–4 December 2011

M. Mouton & S. G. Schmid (editors)

λογος

Layout and CAP by Pascale & Marc Balty – Art’Air Editionhttp://www.artair-edition.fr

All texts translated or edited by Isabelle Ruben

Jacket photography: S. G. Schmid

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche NationalbibliothekThe Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;

detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Copyright Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH 2012 and individual authorsAll rights reserved.

ISBN 978-3-8325-3313-7

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Supplement to the Bulletin of Nabataean Studies, 1

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Table of contents

Michel Mouton & Stephan G. SchMid. Preface ....................................................................... 5RobeRt WenninG. Towards “Early Petra”: an overview of the early history of the Nabataeans

in its context ...................................................................................................................... 7piotR bienkoWSki. The Iron Age in Petra and the issue of continuity with Nabataean

occupation ......................................................................................................................... 23david F. GRaF. Petra and the Nabataeans in the Early Hellenistic period: the literary and

archaeological evidence ...................................................................................................... 35FRançoiS Renel & Michel Mouton. The architectural remains and pottery assemblage from the

early phases at the Qasr al-Bint .......................................................................................... 57Jean-FRançoiS SalièGe †, antoine ZaZZo, chRiStine hatté & caRoline GauthieR. Radiocarbon

dating in Petra: limitations and potential in semi-arid environments .................................. 79SebaStian hoFFMann. Indications for ‘Early Petra’ based on pottery finds in the city centre:

El-Habis as a case study ..................................................................................................... 93Yvonne GeRbeR. Archaeometric investigations on Nabataean common ware pottery ............... 107laïla nehMé. The installation of social groups in Petra ............................................................ 113chRiStian auGé. Coin circulation in early Petra: a summary .................................................... 129Michel Mouton & FRançoiS Renel. The early Petra monolithic funerary blocks at Rās Sulaymān

and Bāb as-Sīq ................................................................................................................... 135thoMaS kabS. Bāb as-Siq. The necropolis of Ancient Gaia? .................................................... 163lucY WadeSon. The development of funerary architecture at Petra: the case of the Façade

tombs ................................................................................................................................ 167kaRin petRovSZkY. The infrastructure of the tomb precincts of Petra: preliminary results of the

tacheometrical survey in selected areas . ............................................................................. 189lauRent tholbecq & caRoline duRand. A late second-century BC Nabataean occupation at

Jabal Numayr: the earliest phase of the “Obodas Chapel” sanctuary . .................................. 205lauRent GoRGeRat & RobeRt WenninG. The International Aṣlaḥ Project (2010-2012):

its contribution to “Early Petra” . . ...................................................................................... 223MaRco dehneR. Continuity or change in use? Banqueting rooms in the so-called Soldier tomb

complex in Petra ................................................................................................................. 237Stephan G. SchMid. Foucault and the Nabataeans - or what space has to do with it ................... 251Will M. kennedY. The hills have eyes: GIS-based studies on a possible watchtower on Umm

al-Biyara ........................................................................................................................... 271lauRent tholbecq. The hinterland of Petra (Jordan) and the Jabal Shara during the Nabataean,

Roman and Byzantine periods ............................................................................................ 295

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bRian beckeRS & bRiGitta Schütt. The chronology of ancient agricultural terraces in the environs of Petra ................................................................................................................ 313

paula kouki. The intensification of Nabataean agriculture in the Petra region ......................... 323RobeRt WenninG. North Arabian deities and the deities of Petra: an approach to the origins of the

Nabataeans? ...................................................................................................................... 335RobeRt WenninG. Nabataean niches and “Early Petra” ............................................................ 343veit vaelSke. Isis in Petra. Chronological and topographical aspects ....................................... 351

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The chemical composition of the Nabataean common ware pottery from Petra from the late 2nd/1st century BC differs significantly from the common ware from the 1st century AD. The chemical composition of the pottery from the 1st century BC to the Early Islamic period in Petra and its surroundings is time-dependent. Although the raw clay source nearby (Wadi at-Tinah) remained the same for 800 years, the chemical composition changed over time.

Provenance of the analysed samPles

Nabataean sample The Nabataean common ware samples from the 1st century BC and 1st century AD are from the Swiss excavations in the inhabited quarters on the slope of az-Zantur in Petra, exclusively from trenches and contexts on terrace EZ I. The excavations, supported and sponsored by the Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological Research Abroad and by the Swiss National Science Foundation, began 1988 under the direction of R.A. Stucky, and lately B. Kolb. The author’s task within this project is to study the common ware of all periods. Only a small part of these studies are published as yet (Gerber 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010; Gerber & Fellmann 1990; Gerber & Fellmann Brogli 1995; Fellmann Brogli 1996). The present study does not include the Nabataean painted and unpainted fine ware pottery (Schmid 2000), but they were part of earlier archaeometric investigations (Gerber 2003).

Post-Nabataean samples In fig. 2 the Nabataean common ware samples

are compared with pottery from Petra and its surroundings that are later in date. The Late Roman (2nd/3rd century AD) and Early Byzantine (4th–5th centuries AD) samples are also from the Swiss excavations, from contexts on terrace EZ III, and the Early Byzantine houses on terrace EZ I respectively. The pottery samples from the Late Byzantine / Early Islamic period(s), that is: ca. 7th century AD, are from the excavation on Jabal Harun. A Finnish team from the University of Helsinki, under the direction of J. Frösén and Z. Fiema, has been working on Jabal Harun, a mountain located ca. 5 km west of Petra, since 1998, and the pottery from the excavations of the church / chapel area (Volume I) was published by Gerber (2008).

Problem setting

Beginning in the Late Hellenistic period, there was large-scale pottery manufacturing in Petra for 800 years (2nd century BC–6th century AD).Although based on local clay sources since its inception, Petra pottery shows notable chemical changes correlated with notable changes in the local ceramic tradition. This is most evident in the differences between the Nabataean pottery from the 1st century BC and that from the 1st century AD. The repertoire changes from rather large, thick-walled jars, bowls and craters (Gerber 1994: 288-289, fig. 15; and fig. 1:1-3) to smaller, thin-walled cooking pots and jars, bowls and large storage jars with new rim types (Gerber 1994: 290-291 fig. 16 and fig. 1:4-6). This change of repertoire and typology correlates with a significant change in the chemical composition (Gerber 2003).

Archaeometric investigations on Nabataean common ware pottery

Yvonne Gerber

Yvonne Gerber

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The ceramic typology of the Late Roman pottery (2nd/3rd century AD), however, reflects the local development and simplification of the forms and types of the 1st century AD, without significant disruption or renewal (Gerber 2001; Gerber 2005: 731, fig. 1-2; and fig. 1:7-9). As shown by the author in Late Roman Coarse Ware 1 (Gerber 2005), there is a correspondingly gradual chemical

change and much continuity between the pottery of the 1st century and 2nd/3rd century AD. The ceramic typology of the Early Byzantine period (fig. 1:10-13; Gerber & Fellmann 1990; Gerber & Fellmann Brogli 1995; Fellmann Brogli 1996; Gerber 1998 ) harks back to the Late Roman forms, but new vessel types were also introduced. To gauge the change with a longer-term perspective

Fig. 1. A selection of vessels: 1: crater (N); 2-3: jars (N); 4, 6: jars (R); 5: small pot (R); 7-8: jars (LR); 9: casserole (LR); 10: casserole (B); 11: bowl (B); 12-13: jars (B); 14-15: jars (GjH); 16: big casserole (GjH). All samples were analysed (Y. Gerber).

Archaeometric investigations on Nabataean common ware pottery

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and to establish a frame of reference, a small set of representative data from the later, transitional period (fig. 1:14-16; Gerber 2008) from the same environment (Jabal Harun) was included in the analysis.

chemical and statistical analysis

The chemical analyses were performed by the author using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XFA; spectrometer x-lab 2000 [Spectro, Kleve, Germany]) in the Geochemical Laboratory of the Department of Environmental

Sciences, University of Basel, Switzerland, under the direction of Prof. W.B. Stern.A total of 139 sherds were analysed, as follows:

analysed sherds N R LR B GjH Totaln 25 22 33 36 23 139

The compositional data (percentages) were treated according to Aitchison (1986) and van den Boogaart and Tolosana-Delgado (2008) using the acomp module of the compositions package in R 2.6.2 (version 0.91-6).

Fig. 2: Quadratic Canonical Discriminant Analysis, biplot of first pair of Canonical vectors. Overlapping confidence interval ellipses of the group means indicate probable differences of categorical group means below the threshold of significance (α = 0.05). Component axes shifted for better visibility. “Time arrows” indicate chronological components along the canonical axes (Y. Gerber).

= Nabataean pottery from 1st century BC, from Petra, shorthand symbol (N) = Nabataean pottery from 1st century AD, from Petra, shorthand symbol (R) = Late Roman pottery, from Petra, shorthand symbol (LR) = Early Byzantine pottery, from Petra, shorthand symbol (B) = “Transitional” pottery, from Jabal Harun, shorthand symbol (GjH)

Yvonne Gerber

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Quadratic canonical discriminant analysis

Quadratic Discriminant Analysis identifies catego-rical variables that are most characteristic of differences between a priori-groups (N, R, LR, B and GjH), using a quadratic combination of variables to predict group membership. Distances are represented as the Mahalanobis distance from each point to each group’s multivariate mean. Quadratic DA – in contrast to Linear – uses a separate covariance matrix for each group, hence being more robust in relation to small sample sizes.

Interpretation The Nabataean pottery from the 1st century BC (N) is clearly discriminated from the other groups along the first Canonical axis. The Nabataean pottery from the 1st century AD (R) and the Late Roman (LR) pottery do not differ significantly from each other, however a slight shift along the second Canonical axis is evident.The centroid plot of the Byzantine pottery (B) shows a barely significant difference from the 1st century AD (R) and Late Roman pottery (LR). The “transitional” pottery from Jabal Harun (GjH) is massively different from the preceding groups (R, LR and B) along the second Canonical axis.The chemical data of all typochronological groups (N, R, LR, B and GjH) shows two salient facts: first (Canonical 1), the break between 1st century BC (N) and 1st century AD (R) Nabataean pottery; second (Canonical 2), the long continuity in the later Nabataean, Late Roman and Byzantine spectrum (R, LR and B): a gradual chronological shift from the 1st to the 5th century AD. The gradual shift in the chemical compositions reflects perfectly the typological continuity of pottery development (see forms such as fig. 1:4-5, 7-8, 12-13). The question remains whether a break occurs after the Byzantine period (see discussion below).

discussion

Clay SourcesThe raw clay needed during all these centuries was available in a wadi (Wadi at-Tinah) near the ancient settlement. The clay layers in this wadi seem to be very heterogeneous, in both vertical and horizontal directions. None of the raw clay samples collected by the author in Wadi at-Tinah can be attributed to the defined ware groups. It seems likely, however, that the Petra

potters blended different clays in order to obtain a suitable mixture for their products (Gerber 2003). The change of the blend composition (as shown by the chemical analyses) during the 1st century AD (R) might be due to several factors, such as the clay beds exploited during the 1st century BC (N) having become exhausted; or the potters deliberately having modified their clay recipe (and levigating, tempering, firing) because of the changing requirements of the vessels. It seems, however, that these factors were not an issue during subsequent centuries.

Chronological Gap vs. Finds GapThe next obvious chemical change seems to occur after the end of the later Nabataean / Late Roman / Byzantine tradition. This is shown in the Discriminant Analysis (fig. 2) where the composition of the Jabal Harun pottery (GjH) differs notably from earlier groups along Canonical 2-axis.

CaveatPottery kilns found outside the town area (az-Zurrabah) attest pottery production into the second half of 6th century AD. The ceramic typology for the 5th–6th centuries AD is documented (Roman Street Project, Petra; an excavation by Acor Jordan under the direction of Z. Fiema; the pottery is not yet published, but was studied by the author). Unfortunately no corresponding chemical data are available. The Jabal Harun pottery selected for this paper (GjH) dates from a period later than groups R-B, when a new repertoire and tradition which will be called “Early Islamic” was gradually being introduced. Finally, there is a chronological gap of more than 200 years between the analysed (Early) Byzantine pottery (B) from Petra and the “transitional” pottery from Jabal Harun (see above). The question remains whether this chemical differentiation is due to the chronological gap or to the gradual change in the ceramic repertoire and typology (“Early Islamic”). Chemical analyses of 5th and 6th century pottery from Petra might fill the gap between the Early Byzantine pottery (B) and the Jabal Harun pottery from the transitional phase (GjH).

Yvonne GerberDepartement Altertumswissenschaften

Klassische Archäologie-Universität BaselPetersgraben 51

4051 Basel (Switzerland)yvonne.gerber@unibas.ch

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