(2016) L. THOLBECQ, Th. FOURNET, N. PARIDAENS, S. DELCROS, C. DURAND, Sabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra

June 2, 2017 | Autor: Laurent Tholbecq | Categoria: Nabataeans (Archaeology), Roman Arabia (Archaeology), Ancient Greek and Roman Theatre, Nabataean Religion, Nabataean Petra

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Proceedings of the

Seminar for Arabian Studies Volume 46 2016

Papers from the forty-seventh meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 24 to 26 July 2015

Seminar for Arabian Studies Archaeopress Oxford

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Orders for copies of this volume of the Proceedings and all back numbers should be sent to Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7ED, UK. Tel +44-(0)1865-311914 Fax +44(0)1865-512231 e-mail [email protected] http://www.archaeopress.com For the availability of back issues see The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia’s website: http://www.thebfsa.org/content/seminar-proceedings Seminar for Arabian Studies c/o the Department of the Middle East, The British Museum London, WC1B 3DG, United Kingdom e-mail [email protected] The British Foundation for the Study of Arabia: www.thebfsa.org The Steering Committee of the Seminar for Arabian Studies is currently made up of fifteen academic members. The Editorial Committee of the Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies includes seven additional members as follows: STEERING COMMITTEE Dr Derek Kennet (Chair) Dr Janet Starkey (Joint Editor of PSAS) Dr Orhan Elmaz (Joint Editor of PSAS) Dr Tim Power Dr Robert Wilson (Treasurer) Dr Sarah Doherty (Secretary) Dr Rob Carter Dr Nadia Durrani Professor Robert G. Hoyland Dr Julian Jansen van Rensburg Mr Michael C.A. Macdonald Dr Harry Munt Dr Venetia Porter Dr St John Simpson Dr Lucy Wadeson

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Contents Guidelines and Transliteration�� iii Editors’ Foreword��v Peter J. Parr, The founding of the Seminar and the Society for Arabian Studies��vii In memoriam Andrzej Zaborski (1942–2014)�� xiii Ann Andersson, Trade beads of FurayΉah. Evidence of trade and connections of Qatar in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a small-finds perspective��1 Mark Jonathan Beech, Kristian Strutt, Lucy Blue, Abdulla Khalfan al-Kaabi, Waleed Awad Omar, Ahmed Abdulla al-Haj El-Faki, Anjana Reddy Lingareddy & John Martin, ΚUbaid-related sites of the southern Gulf revisited: the Abu Dhabi Coastal Heritage Initiative��9 Anne Benoist, Julien Charbonnier & Iwona Gajda, Investigating the eastern edge of the kingdom of Aksum: architecture and pottery from Wakarida��25 Francesco Paolo Caputo & Francesco Genchi, Seashell discs from the Early Iron Age graves of Daba (Dibbā, Sultanate of Oman) (poster)��41 Jose C. Carvajal Lopez, Laura Morabito, Robert Carter, Richard Fletcher & Faisal Abdullah al-Naimi, The Crowded Desert: a multi-phase archaeological survey in the north-west of Qatar��45 Michel de Vreeze, The social significance of ceramic change at the start of the Wadi Suq period. Rethinking ceramic continuity and change based on recent evidence from the tombs at Qarn al-Дarf��63 Michele Degli Esposti, Martina Renzi & Thilo Rehren, Iron Age metallurgy at Salūt (Sultanate of Oman): a preliminary note (poster)��81 Philipp Drechsler, Max Engel, Dominik Brill & Christoph Gerber, The Asaila depression, an archaeological landscape in Qatar��89 Dennys Frenez, Michele Degli Esposti, Sophie Méry & Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Bronze Age Salūt (ST1) and the Indus Civilization: recent discoveries and new insights on regional interaction��107 María del Carmen Hidalgo-Chacón Díez, The divine names at Dadan: a philological approach��125 Will M. Kennedy, Reassessing the impact of natural landscape factors on spatial strategies in the Petra hinterland in Nabataean-Roman times��137 Derek Kennet, William M. Deadman & Nasser Said al-Jahwari, The Rustaq-Batinah Archaeological Survey��155 Maria Pia Maiorano, Lithic assemblage from FNS-7 (Wādī al-Дarīmah): new evidence about the fifth-millennium BC hunter-gatherers of coastal Oman (poster)��169

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Clara Mancarella, The Awām Temple cemetery in Marib (MaΜrib) revisited��179 Marjan Mashkour, Mark Jonathan Beech, Karyne Debue, Lisa Yeomans, Stéphanie Bréhard, Dalia Gasparini & Sophie Méry, Middle to Late Neolithic animal exploitation at UAQ2 (5500–4000 cal BC): an ΚUbaid-related coastal site at Umm al-Quwain Emirate, United Arab Emirates��195 Eric Olijdam, Humble beginnings? A closer look at social formation during Early Dilmun’s formative phase (c.2200–2050 BC)��211 Timothy Power, Peter Sheehan, Shamsa Mohamed Al Dhaheri, Mariyam Abd Al Aziz Al Hammadi, Khuloud Ibrahim Al Hammadi & Afra Adnan Al Noaimi with Ayesha Muhsen Al Subaihi, Hamda Hasan Al Omar, Fatima Thani al-Romeithi, Muzna Khalifa Al Mansoori, Leqa Jawher Al Zaabi, Zainab Rubaiya Al Naemi, Mohamed Khalifa & Mohamed Al Dhaheri, Al Ain Oases Mapping Project: QaΓΓārah Oasis, past and present (poster)��227 Martina Renzi, Andrea Intilia, Arnulf Hausleiter & Thilo Rehren, Early Iron Age metal circulation in the Arabian Peninsula: the oasis of TaymāΜ as part of a dynamic network (poster)��237 Conrad Schmidt & Stephanie Döpper, Umm an-Nar pottery assemblages from Bāt and al-Zībā and their functional contexts��247 Peter Stein, Tobias J. Jocham & Michael J. Marx, Ancient South Arabian correspondence on wooden sticks: new radiocarbon data��263 Laurent Tholbecq, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, Soline Delcros & Caroline Durand, Сabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra��277 Papers read at the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, on 24–26 July 2015��299

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Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 46 (2016): 277–303

Сabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra Laurent Tholbecq, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, Soline Delcros & Caroline Durand Summary This paper aims to provide the first reassessment of the available documentation concerning the Nabataean-Roman site of Сabrah, situated in Wādī Сabrah, 6.5 km south of Petra. A major sanctuary developed at the latest between the first and early fourth century AD, together with major adjacent structures such as a bath-house and a theatre, in a small oasis situated on a track joining Wādī ΚArabah to the Nabataean capital and supplied by spring and rainfall water. For the first time since its discovery in 1828, a 1:50 top plan of its visible remains has been drawn. Along with a general description and surface ceramic material, it gives a first general image of the site and serves as the basis for renewed analysis. Keywords: Nabataean sanctuary, Provincia Arabia, baths, theatre, Wādī Сabrah

Introduction Several questions have remained unanswered concerning the interpretation of Сabrah, a satellite hamlet situated 6.5 km south of Petra’s city centre, not least because of the lack of substantial fieldwork undertaken there. The site’s remains cover about 20 ha (c.600 x 300 m), on both banks of Wādī Сabrah, a narrow valley linking Wādī ΚArabah to the southern suburbs of Petra, thus forming a natural route to the Nabataean capital (Fig. 1). Сabrah includes several built and rock-cut complexes, in particular a theatre associated with water amenities and a hydraulic system developed at the foot of Jabal alJathūm (1175 m above sea level). Wādī Сabrah is also fed by a perennial spring that gives life to a small oasis, at the confluence of a secondary torrential wadi that created a naturally protected small hill on the right bank of Wādī Сabrah, called an ‘acropolis’ by nineteenth-century travellers. The site was discovered in 1828 by M.L. Linant de Bellefonds (1798–1883) and L. de Laborde (1807–1869), on their way back from a visit to Petra, two decades after the rediscovery of Petra by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812 (Fig. 2) (Laborde 1830: 61; Augé & Linant de Bellefonds 1994: 196–197). ‘Dragging their camels’ on ‘a new track’ to Wādī ΚArabah, de Laborde and Linant de Bellefonds were ‘struck by retaining walls, construction debris and the seats of a theatre’. The presence of an impressive open-air reservoir behind the cavea suggested to de Laborde, although not

without hesitation, that the rock-cut orchestra of the theatre could be interpreted as a space dedicated to naumachia, a hypothesis that was later rejected.1 The site was then visited by several travellers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and various interpretations were put forward by scholars (Lindner & Zeitler 1997–1998: 535–537). Impressed by the ruins of the ‘acropolis’, in 1924 H.StJ. Philby interpreted the site as a Roman fortress protecting Petra’s southern outskirts (Kennedy 1925: 19). G. Horsfield and A. Conway, however, described Сabrah in 1929 as a ‘copper smelting station’ after the discovery of metal slag on its surface, an opinion confirmed by N. Glueck who identified them as ‘purely Nabataean — in other words, not belonging to the Iron Age —’ in 1935 (Horsfield & Conway 1930: 376, 381, fig. 24; Glueck 1935: 80–81). Apart from these short visits, Wādī Сabrah remained largely unexplored till the 1980s and 1990s when M. Lindner surveyed the area under the Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nurenberg (NHG) (Lindner 1982; Zeitler 1992; Lindner & Zeitler 1997–1998). Several surveys were undertaken in the 1980s (Lindner 1986a; 1991), specifically on the hydraulic systems of Jabal al-Jathūm and the water-supply network that fed the major reservoir built behind the theatre (Lindner 1982; Gebel 1983–1984; Lindner 1986b; 1986c; 1989; 1992; 1993; 2003a; 2005); a survey in 1983 on copper ore deposits from Wādī Umm al-ΚAmad, about 20 km south-west of Сabrah (Lindner On the absence of such buildings in the Near East see Gatier 2007: 177–179, esp. p. 178 and n. 65.

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Figure 1. The general location of Wādī Сabrah (T. Fournet). 1986d; 2003b); and, finally, in 1989, on small quarries and a rock-cut tomb located about 850 m north-west of the site (Lindner 2006a). These surveys mainly focused on remains from the classical period.2 In addition to these surveys, a few probes were opened in specific parts of the site. In 1982 and 1984, two 6 x 2 m trenches were opened by F. Zayadine in the courtyard of what can now be interpreted as a bath-house, on the south-western edge of the site (Fournet & Tholbecq 2015). A pavement and an in situ sandstone column were discovered, together with

what is interpreted as late Roman and Byzantine ceramic material by the excavators (Zayadine 1985: 149–150, figs 5–6; Lindner & Zeitler 1997–1998: 542–544, fig. 11; Lindner 2003b: 96, fig. 12). The second probe revealed a fragmentary marble Crouching Venus (original height c.0.7 m) (Lindner & Zeitler 1997–1998: 544, fig. 10), a figure that is not surprising to find in a bath complex.3 In 1990 and 1992, J.P. Zeitler opened limited probes in a rather flat area of the right bank, immediately east The presence of such a statue does not indicate that the building is a sanctuary, contra Zayadine (1997: 55).

3 2

For earlier periods, see now Schyle & Richter 2015.

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Figure 2. A top plan of Wādī Сabrah by Léon de Laborde and Linant de Bellefonds (Laborde 1830: pl. 33). of the ‘acropolis’, revealing a 10.10 x 7.75 m building that has been rightly interpreted as a temple, in a c.50 x 44 m precinct (Zeitler 1992; Lindner & Zeitler 1997– 1998: 551–558). On the basis of a careful analysis of the architectural fragments lying around the temple, Zeitler associates the building to J. McKenzie group B of Petra’s monumental buildings, dating it to the first half of the first century AD. The excavation of the complex of tomb 239 that belongs to the same group B, however, provided new chronological evidence for this group and it should now be dated slightly later, between the middle and the third quarter of the first century AD (McKenzie 2014: 312).4 In addition, in an article published shortly before his death, Lindner suggested that the area could have been used during the late Roman and Byzantine period, and eventually transformed into a church (Lindner 2003b: 94). Zeitler complemented the probe on the central 4

For other architectural fragments, see Lindner 1986e.

temple with limited openings at regular intervals on the column bases of a supposed portico running around the temenos court. The proposed available hypotheses before work was resumed are thus the following: a Roman fortress; a copper-smelting site (Zayadine 1992: 227; Lindner 1993: 264); and a sanctuary and an associated theatre (Segal 1995: 93–95, figs 144–147) — an interpretation that deserves attention. All these are propositions that need to be discussed. Nevertheless, despite these numerous surveys, Wādī Сabrah remained poorly documented, the only available general plan of the remains being the one published in 1830 by the French explorers (Fig. 2). French and Belgian archaeological missions to Petra, therefore, recently asked the Department of Antiquities of Jordan for permission to draw the first general map of the site at a scale of 1:50, which will subsequently enable a new understanding and interpretation of its archaeological features.

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Laurent Tholbecq, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, Soline Delcros & Caroline Durand

Figure 3. Wādī Сabrah: a general top plan, 2014 (S. Delcros, W. Abu Azizeh, P. Rieth, L. Vallières).

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Figure 4. A general picture of the right bank of Wādī Сabrah, looking south: from left to right, the bath area, the temenos, and the ‘acropolis’, 2014 (W. Abu Azizeh).

Brief description of the remains A topographic grid was defined into the global positioning system (GPS), with a metre margin of error, based on twelve reference points. Architectural drawings and the topographic grid were then placed on a digital terrain model (DTM), based on satellite, aerial, and landscape photographs, generating 1 m interval contour lines (Fig. 3). The site is cut through by Wādī Сabrah but its core lies close to the confluence of a secondary torrential wadi on its right bank, where three different spaces can easily be identified: a large flat area (c.70 x 50 m) along Wādī Сabrah corresponding to the sanctuary and its extensions; a built zone (c.40 x 25 m) that dominates the temenos (the ‘acropolis’); and, on the southern side of the secondary wadi a bath complex, possibly connected to the sanctuary by a bridge, as mentioned by de Laborde (Fig. 4). Major architectural features are also visible north of the temenos precint, on a hill heavily cut by the wadi

floods, causing damage clearly visible on the DTM image, and providing a useful archaeological section of the site on the right bank of Wādī Сabrah. The main monument on the opposite bank is naturally the rock-cut theatre, with its associated infrastructures (reservoir, aqueduct), to which one should now add several structures built north of the theatre, on a c.200 x 25 m area along a c.6 m-wide paved road, partially washed away, which runs along the left bank of the wadi. Close to the theatre, a 23 x 12 m structure has emerged from the sand which might eventually be interpreted as a possible caravanserai. The sanctuary and its associated structures: a second temple Our survey provided a first complete plan of the sanctuary and its associated structures, in particular a bath complex, the pseudo-acropolis, and several other buildings visible in the vicinity, south-east (‘industrial area’) and north of

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Figure 5. A plan of the sanctuary and its vicinity, 2014 (drawing 1:50).

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Figure 6. A top plan of the central temple, 2014 (G. Dumont, L. Tholbecq, S. Delcros).

the temenos (Fig. 5). The temple partly probed by Zeitler (1992; Lindner & Zeitler 1997–1998: 551–558; Fig. 6) lies in a c.35 x 40 m quadrangular temenos (826 m asl), the north-east corner of which was totally swept away by floods down Wādī Сabrah. Column bases described by Zeitler define the internal limits of porticoes of which the external retaining walls are visible on both

the northern and eastern sides, in the sections created by cuts in the wadi banks. These two porticoes are supported by c.3.40 m-wide crypto-porticoes. They define two different floor levels linked by a staircase visible along the northern portico. A third portico fits into the same grid on the southern limit of the temenos, and this is also true of other structures built south and north of the

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Figure 7. A top plan of the southern part of the temenos, 2014 (G. Dumont, N. Paridaens, S. Delcros). religious complex. As Zeitler noted, the central temple is slightly off this grid, but another possible 15 x 10.15 m rectangular building, situated on the southern limits of the

precinct and which fits into the same grid as the temenos, seems to belong to the typology of Nabataean religious architecture (Fig. 7).

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Figure 8. A sketch of the section naturally opened by the wadi along the right bank, south-east of the temenos (drawing: N. Paridaens; pottery reading: C. Durand). This structure is articulated on the southern portico, either by the colonnade or, more likely, by a distyle in antis open facade (central intercolumniation 4.95 m; lateral intercolumniation c.2.55 m). Its plan seems to be defined by two different areas: in the north a hypostyle 10.15 x c.9 m, probably a room two columns of which are visible in situ; and to the south, three contiguous rooms corresponding to a clear division of the space between a c.3.80 m-wide central naos (its facade is limited by two half-columns) flanked by c.2.60 m-wide adjacent rooms. The area has undergone extensive transformation,5 thus limiting the interpretation of the complex but it seems that these southern rooms are c.5.30 m deep. The general layout of this building seems to be that of a Nabatean temple with a hypostyle vestibule (similar to the ‘Temple of the Winged Lions’ in Petra) and a tripartite inner naos (similar to QaΒr al-Bint, Khirbat al-DharīΉ). This building might provide an explanation for the inconsistent orientation of the central temple noticed by Zeitler, and suggests that the sanctuary underwent major transformations during its multiphase history. A lamp (Type Grawehr K.6, c. AD 300–350) was found during the cleaning of these southern walls (pottery reading C. Durand).

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Associated sectors: the area south-east of the temenos Similar information is provided by the analysis of a 4 m-high archaeological section (817–821 m asl) naturally cut along Wādī Сabrah, south-east of the sanctuary (Fig. 8), where a large amount of slag was found. The earlier archaeological horizon (A) that lies on the river pebbles shows a limited but coherent quantity of painted Nabataean ware dated from the late first century BC to the early first century AD. It is topped by an ashy layer (horizon B), a dump filled with late firstcentury to early second-century AD ceramic material, demonstrating an intensive use of the area (probably the sanctuary itself) at this time. Very interestingly, these levels are cut through by deep foundations of an unknown complex associated with poorly dated pinkish fills topped by a third archaeological horizon (C), a grey ashy layer containing a lot of ceramic material dated to the Roman period (second and possibly third century AD). Significantly, slag is concentrated on the top of this 4 m-high stratigraphy, right under the final destruction of the buildings in the sector. This provides two important items of information: firstly, the area was built during the Roman period (after horizon B), following two

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Figure 9. The Wādī Сabrah bath complex (T. Fournet).

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Сabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra Nabatean horizons A (tentatively associated to the pretemenos period or the first phase of the sanctuary) and B (tentatively associated with the use of the sanctuary). Secondly, the metallurgic activity does not seem earlier, at least in this area, than the late Roman period. This would indicate that the complex built south-east of the precinct could be a Roman adjunction to the Nabataean temenos itself and the metallurgic activity, regardless of its precise nature, should be considered as belonging to a later phase of use. The baths At the junction between Wādī Сabrah and the secondary wadi that runs south of the temenos lie the ruins of a c.42 x 18 m north–south rectangular bath complex. Its eastern facade has been heavily destroyed by Wādī Сabrah, providing an impressive section on the eastern successive rooms, while its western half is totally covered by slope deposits (Fig. 9) (Fournet & Tholbecq 2015). It is divided between two distinctive sectors: one entered the complex through a large northern court, 18 x 16.50 m, with porticoes (room 1); in the south, the bath-house itself comprises a cold room (2), 6.30 m by at least 7.45 m, accessible from the court; one hot humid room (3), 3.90 x 3.90 m, with two adjoining alcoves with basins and a hypocaust system; and another service room (4), 3.50 x 3.80 m, connected to the praefurnium south of it. Other intermediate service rooms, probably partly heated (dry-heated room 5), among which there is a circular room on the west side (6, probably a laconicum), to complement the bather’s visit. The plan of the baths remains incomplete as its western rooms are hidden by slope debris. The proximity between the baths and the sanctuary is remarkable and provides a first context for interpretation. Similarly, its plan can be linked to other specific local features, such as the circular room 6 (Fig. 9), a similar structure found in other local baths such as in Wādī Ramm (Dudley & Reeves 2007), and the Petra ‘Great Temple’ in their first phase laconicum,6 to limit our comparisons to the Nabataean world. If our reading of the remains is correct, the existence of a laconicum would suggest a group of small local baths generally dated from the end of the first to the early second century AD. Moreover, the proximity of the baths and the sanctuary in Wādī Сabrah is also found at the same period in Khirbat alDharīΉ (Durand 2015), but these are preliminary thoughts Joukowsky 2007; this bath-house, similarly associated with a large court with porticoes, provides the best parallel in the area.

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that should be verified by excavation. The building underwent major stuctural transformations, reflecting a reorganization of the inner layout and original functions of some of its rooms. This evidence of a secondary use of the building should be integrated in the broader image of the site’s history. The pseudo-‘acropolis’ The area defined since de Laborde as an ‘acropolis’ has never been described (Fig. 10). We shall limit our description to some general remarks, pending additional information on the pathways and structures. This c.40 x 25 m area slopes gently towards the east, from the northwestern top (844 m asl) to a c.6 x 4 m rectangular tower situated on the eastern edge of the ‘acropolis’ (838 m asl) and dominating the sanctuary’s temenos (824 m asl). The transitional area between the acropolis and the precinct is steep, the western edge of the temenos having been cut into the hill, and the transitional area possibly hidden by a portico. The southern edge of the area is limited by aligned quadrangular partly rock-cut structures (c.3 x 4 m; 4 x 5.5 m), some preserving their arch-vaulted ceilings. One might conclude that there were two floor levels of rooms partially superposed on the slope. Two long walls running along the north-west and northeastern slopes limit the living quarters and join on the higher point of the ‘acropolis’ marked by an impressive tumble of fallen stone debris tentatively interpreted as an angular tower. It seems that the uppermost part of the hill is organized possibly around one or several inner courts to which converge two (or perhaps three) narrow paths (c.2 m wide) that open into the slope between the built units (Fig. 11). At the northern end, the buildings are limited by two sections of a 25 m wall; it is partly lined by a second wall, bringing the width of this rampart up to 1.55 m. Massive looted dumps are visible along the external northern face of this wall. The ceramic material suggests a massive occupation of the area during the Roman period (second and third centuries AD). It is too early to interpret this complex but clear evidence of a reinforcement of the northern wall suggests the existence of at least two major phases, the surface collection belonging to the latest one. One might therefore suggest that an early complex, possibly linked to the sanctuary (a house?), could have been (considering the impressive total width of this northern wall) radically transformed during the Roman period (a village or a garrison?). Here again, answers can only be provided by excavation.

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Figure 10. The pseudo-‘acropolis’: a general view from the south, 2014 (L. Tholbecq).

The area north of the sanctuary On the western bank of the wadi, on a c.25 m-high slope situated immediately north of the temenos are the remains of important dwellings that fan out following the curve of the wadi over c.30 x 45 m (Fig. 12). Erosion has cleared out several superposed floor levels, surfaces, and inner pavements up to 8 to 10 m above the pebble bed of the actual wadi. The general layout of the structures cannot be clearly established but the area must have been densely settled. Here again, a 12 m-long wall perpendicular to the slope seems to constitute a limit or eventually a path on the hill. A hundred metres to the north, some wall remains are visible but do not define any coherent grid; they have been drawn at a 1:100 scale. The theatre and its associated sector We did not focus specifically on the theatre during this 2014 preliminary survey, the rock-cut building carved

into the left bank of the wadi having been carefully described by others (Fig. 13) (Lindner & Zeitler 1997– 1998: 547–548; Segal 1995: 93–95: Lindner 2006b). This theatre, exceptional in many ways, will be thoroughly studied in the near future. Nevertheless, our general mapping improved its overall reading, identifying a wall, c.11 m long by 1.38 m wide, closing the orchestra facing the wadi, probably the substructure of a platform rather than an element of a proper ‘stage platform’ (Fig. 14). Interestingly enough, two oblique wall segments converge towards this supposed stage platform with about 50°–130° angles, defining the extremities of the cavea (seating area). Similarly, a rock-cut water channel carved under the upper seats of the northern half of the theatre linked the major cistern built east of the orchestra to a 1.25 m-wide aqueduct crossing the wadi; the pier, 2 x 1.4 m, of this aqueduct is visible west of the theatre, 9.2 m from the eastern bank of the wadi (Fig. 15).

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Figure 11. A top plan and pathways in the pseudo-‘acropolis’, 2014 (S. Delcros, G. Dumont, N. Paridaens).

North of the theatre, the wadi bank is protected by massive retaining walls that appear to support part of a c.6 m-wide paved path, a long stretch of which can be traced along the eastern side of the wadi. This might be the structure indicated on the top plan published by de Laborde in 1830, aligned with the ‘stage platform’. Several orthogonal successive structures, also drawn to a 1:50 scale, stretch over the adjacent northern area for about 200 m (Fig. 16); the surface ceramic material is dated to the late first or early second century AD.

An isolated structure In the wadi, about 30 m south-west of the theatre, lies an apparently isolated building partially exposed by the floods, of which an area measuring c.23 x c.12 m is visible (Figs 17 & 18). It exhibits a partly preserved 23 m-long blind wall on its eastern side articulated to several perpendicular walls, defining either open rooms or filled compartments. It is again too early to determine its function, which depends on the eventual presence of

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Figure 12. The right bank of Wādī Сabrah: remains visible north of the temenos, 2014 (L. Tholbecq).

Figure 13. The theatre of Wādī Сabrah in 1828, as published by L. de Laborde (1830: pl. 34).

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830.00 830.21

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0

1

2

4

6

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10 m

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828.85

Figure 14. Wādī Сabrah: a partial top plan of the theatre and associated remains, 2014 (G. Dumont, N. Paridaens, S. Delcros).

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Laurent Tholbecq, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, Soline Delcros & Caroline Durand an inner court (in which case it might have been a khān or a fort). One might also have to consider the visible walls as substructures of a destroyed building.

Chronology Earlier excavations and surface pottery indicate that the site was occupied between the end of the first century BC and the late Roman period; the ceramic material comes mainly from Petra, except for some artefacts produced in ΚAylah/ΚAqabah and in North Africa (African Red Slip Ware).7

Hypotheses and interpretations

Figure 15. A channel running under the upper bench, looking towards the north-west, 2013 (L. Tholbecq).

This first complete plan of the visible remains of Сabrah enables a re-evaluation of old hypotheses and provides a renewed vision of the problems of interpretation. It is clear that the sanctuary is the heart of the site. Its temenos is firmly established on the right bank of the wadi and is surrounded by three porticoes partly or completely built on crypto-porticoes. Combined information from earlier studies and the stratigraphy recorded in the naturally eroded bank of the wadi provide a first tentative phasing of the area. The earlier occupation seems to date from the 7

Pottery reading by Caroline Durand.

Figure 16. Structures on the left bank of Wādī Сabrah, viewed from the south, with the theatre in the background, 2013 (L. Tholbecq).

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Сabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra

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? 821.66

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4

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Figure 17. Wādī Сabrah: a top plan of the isolated structure, south-west of the theatre (N. Paridaens, S. Delcros). beginning of the first century BC to the first century AD. It is followed by the construction in the mid-first century AD of a central temple that was partly exposed by Zeitler. A major extension of the temenos seems to have occurred after the turn of the first century AD and in the second century AD, while the building of the bath complex provides parallel evidence. Similarly, dumps containing material from the later first to the early second century

AD are cut by deep foundation walls, attesting a major construction phase in the area. Both the sanctuary and the baths were in use during the Roman period and seem to have undergone extensive transformations during the late Roman period. Furthermore, this tentative preliminary phasing of the area linked to both the sanctuary and the baths appears to echo the phasing of the sanctuary of Khirbat al-DharīΉ, on the northern edge of the territory

0

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Laurent Tholbecq, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, Soline Delcros & Caroline Durand

Figure 18. Wādī Сabrah: isolated structure, looking towards the west, 2014 (L. Vallières). of Petra, which underwent a major development at the turn of the first and second centuries AD, with the contemporaneous construction of a caravanserai and a bath complex (Durand 2015). In this context, it is not surprising to find a theatre in Wādī Сabrah with a capacity of a few hundred people to accommodate specific audiences during religious festivals. The oasis, supplied in drinking water by both perennial spring rains and cisterns associated with the theatre, would support the presence of a few hundred people. Nabataean religious festivals, associated with major fairs and commercial activites, are well attested by ancient literary sources (e.g. Diodorus Library of History 19.95.1; Strabo Geography 16.4.18). The geographical location of the site, on a natural access route between Petra and Wādī ΚArabah, a few hundred metres south of a break in the slope (RaΜs Сabrah) suggests the interpretation of the area as a possible bulk-breaking and eventual trans-shipment area for some imported goods. Religious feasting could correspond to the departure or arrival of major commercial caravans and provide a frame for economic and social exchanges caused by gatherings of merchants and communities involved in these commercial

and transportational activities. The possible presence in Wādī Сabrah of a caravansarai would support this interpretation. On the other hand, Сabrah’s raison d’être could be totally independent of any commercial factor. How should we value an early hypothesis, namely the presence of a Roman fortress and the interpretation of Сabrah as a ‘smelting station’? It is evident that the pseudo-acropolis shows massive constructions, among which are a possible isolated tower dominating the sanctuary, thick strengthened walls running along the slopes, an impressive ruin located at the higher point of the area on its north-western corner, and several units built along its southern limit. It is also clear that the pottery collected on the surface provides evidence of occupation during the second and third centuries, but it is too early to try to interpret these ruins without excavations. Similarly, concrete evidence of smelting activity seems to be concentrated in a specific area of the site and to be rather late in Сabrah’s history. Further investigation is now required to outline and eventually confirm this tentative interpretation of the elements gathered together during this preliminary updating of the available documentation.

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Сabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra

Acknowledgements The Department of Antiquities was represented by Hani Falahat. The team comprised Wael Abu Azizeh (aerial photography); Laurent Vallières and Pascal Rieth (topography and Digital Terrain Model, DTM); Soline

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Delcros, Gaëlle Dumont, Thibaud Fournet, Nicolas Paridaens, and Laurent Tholbecq (measured drawings); Thibaud Fournet (architectural study of the baths) and Caroline Durand (pottery reading); computer-aided design (CAD) was undertaken by Nathalie Bloch and Soline Delcros.

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1986c. Archäologische Erkundungen in der Petra-Region, 1982–1984. Archiv für Orientforschung 33: 183– 187. 1986d. Von Sabra über adh-Dhaman ins Wadi Araba. Pages 170–188 in M. Lindner (ed.), Petra. Neue Ausgrabungen und Entdeckungen. Munich: Delp. 1986e. Antike Architekturstücke aus Sabra bei Petra. Pages 158–169 in M. Lindner (ed.), Petra. Neue Ausgrabungen und Entdeckungen. Munich: Delp. 1989. Sabra. Pages 500–505 in D. Homès-Fredericq & J.B. Hennessy (eds), Archaeology of Jordan II.2, Field Reports, Sites L-Z. (Akkadika supplementum, 7). Leuven: Peeters. 1991. Sabra – Eine nabatäische Landstadt. Pages 188–194 in M. Lindner & J.P. Zeitler (eds), Petra, Königin der Weihrauchstrasse. (Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg. Abteilung für Archäologie des Auslandes). Fürth: VKA-Verlag. 1992. Survey of Sabra (Jordan) 1990. Preliminary Report. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 36: 193–216. 1993. Chronique archéologique. Survey of Sabra 1990: Summary. Syria 70: 263–265. 2003a. Hydraulic engineering and site significance in Nabataean-Roman southern Jordan: Baja, as-Sarah, Sabra, Umm Ratam. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 47: 183–194. 2003b. Im Südwesten von Petra. Sabra, Mukheifer und das Kupferbergwerk von Umm al-ΚAmad. Pages 91–98 in M. Lindner (ed.), Über Petra hinaus. Archäologische Erkundungen im südlichen Jordanien. Rahden: M. Leidorf. 2005. Water supply and water management at ancient Sabra (Jordan). Palestine Exploration Quarterly 137: 33–52. 2006a. Quarries and pottery at ancient Sabra (Jordan). Palestine Exploration Quarterly 138: 119–124. 2006b. Theater, Theater, Theater ... Zu Forschungen der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft in Sabra. Natur und Mensch. Jahresmitteilungen der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg: 75–84. Lindner M. & Zeitler J.P. 1997/1998. Sabra. Entdeckung, Erforschung und Siedlungsgeschichte einer antiken Oasenstadt bei Petra, Jordanien. Archiv für Orientforschung 44–45: 535–565. McKenzie J.S. 2014. Review of L. Nehmé, Atlas archéologique et épigraphique de Pétra, I, Paris, 2012. Levant 46/2: 309– 313. Schyle D. & Richter J. 2015. Die pleistozäne Archäologie der Region Petra in Jordanien. Rahden: M. Leidorf. Segal A. 1995. Theatres in Roman Palestine and Provincia Arabia. Leiden/New York: Brill. Strabo/transl. H.L. Jones 1960–1969. Geography. (8 volumes). (Loeb Classical Library). London: Heinemann/Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Zayadine F. 1985. Chronique archéologique. Recherches archéologiques récentes effectuées par le Département des Antiquités. Syria 62: 143–158. 1992. L’espace urbain du grand Pétra, les routes et les stations caravanières. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 36: 217–239. 1997. Zwischen Sîq und ed-Deir. Pages 38–55 in T. Weber & R. Wenning (eds), Petra – Antike Felsstadt zwischen arabischer Tradition und griechischer Norm. Mainz: Ph. von Zabern. Zeitler J.P. 1992. Ein nabatäisches Heiligtum des 1. Jahrhunderts aus Sabra, Südjordanien. Ein Beitrag zur freistehenden Architektur der Nabatäer. Natur und Mensch. Jahresmitteilungen der naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg: 53–92.

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Authors’ addresses Laurent Tholbecq, Chaire d’archéologie des provinces romaines, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales, Département Histoire, Arts et Archéologie, 50 av. Fr. Roosevelt CPI 133/1, B–1050 Brussels, Belgium. e-mail [email protected] website https://ulb.academia.edu/LaurentTholbecq Thibaud Fournet, Institut français du Proche-Orient, 3, Ibrahim A. Zahri Street, Jebel Amman, Jordan. e-mail [email protected] Nicolas Paridaens, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales, Département Histoire, Arts et Archéologie, 50 av. Fr. Roosevelt CPI 133/1, B–1050 Brussels, Belgium. e-mail [email protected] Soline Delcros, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Philosophie et Sciences sociales, Département Histoire, Arts et Archéologie, 50 av. Fr. Roosevelt CPI 133/1, B–1050 Brussels, Belgium. e-mail [email protected] Caroline Durand, Institut français du Proche-Orient, 3, Ibrahim A. Zahri Street, Jebel Amman, Jordan. e-mail [email protected]

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(2016) L. THOLBECQ, Th. FOURNET, N. PARIDAENS, S. DELCROS, C. DURAND, Sabrah, a satellite hamlet of Petra

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