The Masons of Nabataea

After a half-hour-long walk through a tight canyon the colour of desert dust and sunlight - only 2 meters wide at some points - you reach the light at the end of the tunnel. An intricate rock edifice carved out of and built into the canyon’s wall peeks around the corner, offering glimpses of something ancient and hewn of utter dedication. This is the entrance to Petra, one of the most well-preserved Wonders of the World. Who are the people who built (and carved) this ancient city? What’s their story, and what’s the story of their capital city?

The builders and founders of Petra, the Nabataeans, were a tribe of nomadic Arab merchants whose kingdom lasted from c.400 B.C. to 106 A.D. They had their own religion, language (Nabataean Aramaic), writing system, and distinct society. Due to the caravan trade routes they controlled, they became wealthy enough to gradually settle down into their first city.

Something to remember when looking at history: trade routes never exclusively transport goods. There’s always a transfer of ideas, methods, culture, and more. Nabataean trade routes were highly expansive, spanning from China to Rome. You can see evidence of their interactions with other cultures in Petra’s architecture. Famously, its masonry shows much Hellenistic influence. For example, The Treasury (also known as Al-Khazneh), the most iconic building of Petra, was carved with Greek elements such as a pediment, Corinthian columns, and statues of figures from Greek mythology. Petra also shows Roman influence, having a Roman-style amphitheater chiseled from the foot of a mountain. Furthermore, constantly travelling along their caravan routes made the Nabataeans adept at finding and preserving water, a skill that was vital in a desert city like Petra. They constructed a complex water system of dams, cisterns, and aqueducts, taking advantage of the region’s flash floods. Whereas others had to barter for water, the Nabataeans’ control of it made them incredibly powerful. 

However, there are many unanswered mysteries about Nabataea and Petra. For instance, why are there thousands of tombs in the city? What’s more, why are so many of them unused? Tombs that are in use typically house entire families and even members of extended family, so this means that the thousands of tombs could have accommodated not thousands of people, but tens of thousands. But so many of the city’s buildings are, in fact, rock-hewn tombs, so there would have been very little space for this many people to live. Most of the uncovered buildings in Petra were public spaces such as marketplaces, temples, a bathhouse, and, as mentioned, a theater. Did people within the city live in tents, as they traditionally did? Were there residential areas outside of the city center that no longer exist? It’s assumed to be the former, but we still don’t know for sure.

In 106, Petra was annexed by the Romans, bringing to an end 500 years of Nabataean rule. Under the Romans, the kingdom was renamed to the province of Arabia Petrea. However, the Petra we see today is not identical to the one first inhabited by the Nabataeans. When the Byzantines replaced the Romans after the fall of the Roman Empire, they left their own architectural impressions on the city. Now, Petra is a miraculous blend of Arabic, Roman, and Byzantine styles, making it ever more deserving of its title as a Wonder of the World.

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