#petra's treasury

[heavenskiriot]

The Treasury الخزنة | Petra, Jordan

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[blueiscoool]

Tomb Filled With a Dozen skeletons Found Underneath the Treasury in Jordan

At the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or the Treasury.

And buried beneath that edifice, archaeologists recently discovered, is a tomb with at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts that are estimated to be at least 2,000 years old.

Archaeologists led by Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research, unearthed the ancient tomb. The expedition was studying the Treasury after years of speculation that two tombs found below the left side of the monument in 2003 weren’t the only secret underground chambers. But that theory had not been confirmed — until now.

Creasman and his team performed ground-penetrating radar — a remote sensing technique that uses radar pulses to detect underground objects — earlier this year to see whether the physical features on the left, where the original tombs were found, matched those on the right. The detections revealed strong similarities among the two sides, and it was the proof they needed to receive permission from the Jordanian government to dig beneath the Treasury.

At this point, Creasman contacted Josh Gates, host of Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown.” “I think we’ve got something,” Creasman said he told the explorer over the phone.

With a film crew, the team excavated the newly uncovered tomb in August. But the real surprise was what lay within the tomb. While many tombs uncovered within Petra are found empty or disturbed, the chamber was filled with complete skeletal remains and grave goods made from bronze, iron and ceramic. The intact burial found beneath the Treasury provides rare insight into the lives of the , ancient Arabian nomads whose desert kingdom thrived during fourth century BC to AD 106, Creasman said.

“This is a hugely rare discovery — in the two centuries that Petra has been investigated by archaeologists, nothing like this has been found before,” Gates said. “Even in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world … there are still huge discoveries to be made.”

The significant finding may be the largest collection of human remains found in one place within Petra, according to researchers, and it was featured Wednesday on the season premiere of “Expedition Unknown.”

Exploring Petra, a world wonder

Petra was voted as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in the 2000s for its unique architecture and the many mysteries that still surround the city. While experts have debated the Treasury’s purpose for centuries, the most popular theory is that the monument serves as a mausoleum, although no skeletal remains have been found within the building itself, Gates said.

The Treasury receives hundreds of thousands of tourists a year, and it has also been featured in several movies, most prominently as the site of the Holy Grail in the 1989 film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”

Among the artifacts were several vessels, with one skeleton found clutching a ceramic chalice that resembled the shape of the Holy Grail. “It really was this awesome moment of history imitating art,” Gates said.

The artifacts are extremely well-preserved, Creasman said. However, the human remains, while intact, are in more delicate shape than expected. Their condition may be a result of the humidity and seasonal floods in Petra as well as the porous sandstone surrounding the tomb that has entrapped moisture, he said. Some of the skeletons were found with mold.

Only a handful of tombs uncovered in Petra in the past several decades have been found with untouched burials, Creasman said. Grave disturbances were most likely due to travelers looking for shade and protection in the desert, he added.

The two tombs uncovered beneath the left side of the Treasury two decades ago by archaeologists from the Jordan Department of Antiquities had partial skeletal remains, but the data was not published, so it’s unclear how many individuals were found, Creasman said.

“We were hopeful to find anything that might tell us more about the ancient people and place — human remains can be a really valuable tool in that regard,” Creasman said. “The burials in this tomb are articulated, so the bones haven’t been rummaged around and moved, so that’s exceedingly rare.”

Rare insight into the ancient Nabataeans

One mystery that remains surrounding the Nabataeans are their burial practices. In literature, Nabataean society is often described as being more egalitarian, with the king more integrated with lower classes than leaders of other civilizations, Creasman said. So far, out of the Nabataean tombs found, there does not seem to be a huge difference between royal and regular burials, so it’s difficult to say whether the recently discovered tombs below the Treasury were designed for royalty.

The researchers also suspect that many of the textiles and jewelry that are usually found in Nabataean burials, such as cloth wrappings and necklaces and other beads adorning the bodies, were lost due to the humidity and floodwaters seeping into the tomb, Gates said.

As the researchers continue to study the skeletons, Creasman said they are hopeful more details will come to light about who the people were in life. Researchers would like to date the skeletons and artifacts as well as use extracted DNA to determine whether the dozen skeletons are related. Other analyses may be able to help assess their diets and unravel whether they had physical jobs, Creasman said.

“They must be hugely important people, because where they’re buried is such prime real estate; it really is the main entrance to the city,” Gates said. “I think learning who they are is really going to help unlock part of the story of the Treasury.”

By Taylor Nicioli.

[a-state-of-bliss]

The Treasury at Petra, Jordan

[misterlemonztenth]

04-13-24 | The "Treasury," Petra, Jordan. misterlemonztenth.tumblr.com/archive

[alma-ste]

[dream-of-loneliness]

Fulminata con uno sguardo.

Giordania.

[ultralowoxygen]

The Treasury by Tim van Driel Via Flickr: 2023 Petra, Jordan Canon A-1, nFD 50mm f/1.8, Kodak Vision3 500T

[jontycrane]

Petra

Probably Jordan’s most famous sight, Petra attracts around a million visitors a year to see the iconic Treasury carved out of the colourful sandstone, best known from the ending of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There is much more to Petra though, it is a vast place which takes days to properly explore, though in May the heat and lack of shade made this an exhausting experience. Petra was…

[bingwallpaper]

Petra, Jordan

Al-Khazneh, one of the ancient temples in Petra, Jordan, in Arabic translates to 'The Treasury'. For ages, Petra was hidden from the world, with only the Bedouin people aware of it because they lived in the surrounding desert. The Treasury was carved out of a single sandstone rock approximately 2,000 years ago by the Nabatean people, the original inhabitants of Petra. They were skilled architects who constructed an impressive network of cisterns, water channels and other amenities. Al-Khazneh is the epitome of Nabatean architecture, standing over 40 metres tall and boasting a mesmerisingly beautiful doorway with two towering columns and carvings that represent mythological creatures like sphinxes. It is believed that Nabatean King Aretas IV was laid to rest here.

[travel-kat]

Das weltberühmte Schatzhaus von Petra. Atemberaubend! Der Name ist irreführend, denn es wurde als Mausoleum genutzt und von den Nabatäern vor über 2000 Jahren aus Fels gemeißelt.

[streamingthruamerica]

I Love Petra

Weather in Petra can be hit-or-miss during late January. A year ago it was snowing on this date, but the temperature would reach 60o on this day and the sky would remain cloudless. What better time to take a hike through history...

Weather in Petra can be hit-or-miss during late January. A year ago it was snowing on this date, but the temperature would reach 60o on this day and the sky would remain cloudless. What better time to take a hike through history, and walk amongst one of history’s most remarkable endeavors. With overnight accommodations at Movenpick–directly across the street from the Petra Visitor Center–access…

[heavenskiriot]

The Treasury الخزنة | Petra, Jordan

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[dknuth]

Little Petra and the hike to Petra

We left the Bedouin camp and walked to Little Petra where we got our tickets and took a quick look around Little Petra. Like Petra there's a narrow slot in the stone wall that's the entrance to the site.

Inside the tombs, residences, etc. are all carved into the stone walls.

There were also stairs carved into the walls, but I have no idea where they were going.

The stone both here and in Petra the stone tends to have natural holes that people carved out larger.

After a brief walk around Little Petra, we headed out to walk to Petra itself.

There were a lot of stairs going both up and down along the way. But we ended up in front of the Monastery, the largest and highest tomb in Petra.

From there it was down, down down. Most people come from the other end of the town and have to hike up these long stairs to get there. Most of them have no idea how far up it is. As we approached the bottom we could hear people talking about "all the stairs."

The guys delivering stuff to shops use donkeys in the same space as the pedestrians. The donkeys are not very well under control. I saw one coming up with a large gas bottle on each side. A middle age couple also coming up the stairs didn't hear it coming and the gas bottle on the right side just bowled the woman over, into her husband who almost went over the side.

When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs we were in the middle of Petra. We met our local guide for the rest of the day and went to have lunch. We'd brought sack lunches and we just wanted a shady place to sit. Those were hard to find, so the guide said he knew a good place 200 meters farther. It was more like a kilometer., but it was available.

The guide talked very quickly, more quickly than he could actually pronounce the words, so was very hard to understand. I had done a lot of reading in advance, so didn't get much out of him. But most people in the group had done no advanced reading.

We headed for the other famous tomb, The Treasury. It was a zoo in front of it. Huge crowds of people, many in large groups with camels in between and horsemen rushing through.

One interesting thing to me was the clear evidence that the ground level it greatly raised from the original. In the front of The Treasury, there are grates over the excavation of the actual ground level.

Then we headed out to town and our hotel. But the entrance there is down a long slot canyon.

It's almost a kilometer through the canyon and another one to the entrance of the preserve.

In the end it was a 21 km day with 534 meters of climb. When you add in the standing around it was a long day.

[dlyarchitecture]

[kizo2703]

[whencyclopedia]

20 Images of Petra

This gallery showcases 20 photos of Petra (Jordan), the former capital of the Nabataean kingdom, which thrived as a trading centre from the 4th century BCE to the 3rd century CE.

Petra is an ancient city carved into a canyon by the Nabataeans, a tribe from Western Arabia skilled in trade and engineering. The ruins of Petra cover an area of 264 square kilometres and include sacred sculptures, monuments, and around 800 tombs, the most famous of which is known as the Treasury. The Treasury is believed to have been the mausoleum of Nabataean King Aretas III and dates back to the 1st century CE.

In 106 CE, the city of Petra was at its peak when the Roman emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE) annexed the Kingdom of Nabataea and transformed it into a Roman province named Arabia Petraea. The Romans adopted their city planning, and many new structures were built, including the Roman Soldier Tomb, the Sextius Florentinus Tomb, and the colonnaded street. Petra remained prosperous for over 250 years until the middle of the 4th century CE when an earthquake destroyed many of the city's buildings.

Petra remained hidden for centuries until its rediscovery in 1812. Today, it is Jordan's most renowned tourist attraction and continues to fascinate and inspire visitors from all over the world. It is known as the "Rose City" because of the colour of its stones, and it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Its worldwide recognition was further amplified when it was declared one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

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