September 17, 2004

Spotlight On… Petra: Lost City of Stone

Frederic Edwin Church.
El Khasné, Petra, 1874.
Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

The ancient Nabataean city of Petra flourished two thousand years ago as a center of international commerce and culture, due in large part to its location at the crossroads of two major caravan routes between Arabia and the Mediterranean. In addition to being accomplished traders, the Nabataeans were noted for their skill in architecture and hydraulic engineering. They carved magnificent tombs directly into the rose-colored sandstone cliffs and built thousands of other structures including temples, burial chambers, theaters, shops, and houses. Engineers developed and maintained an elaborate network of terraces, damns, and irrigation channels that allowed the Nabataeans to cultivate the soil of the surrounding plateau and bring running water into the city. At the height of its prosperity, Petra was home to a diverse population over 20,000 people.

Today, you can see a selection of treasures from this magnificent desert city at Petra: Lost City of Stone, an exhibit on view at the Cincinnati Art Museum from September 14 through January 30, 2005. Over two hundred objects are on display, many appearing in the United States for the first time, including sandstone architectural artifacts, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, and metalwork. The exhibit offers Cincinnatians a unique opportunity to explore the remarkable artistic, architectural, and engineering achievements of the Nabataeans.

To make it easier for you to delve deeper into the fascinating history of Petra, we’ve selected some titles from our collection that you may find helpful:

cover of Petra Rediscovered: Lost City of the Nabataeans

Petra Rediscovered: Lost City of the Nabataeans
Glenn Markoe
939.48 fP493 2003

Petra: Lost City of the Ancient World
Christian Augé
939.48 A919pE 2000

Petra
Iain Browning
939.48 B885 1989

Petra: A Guide to the Capital of the Nabataeans
Rami G. Khouri
915.6957 K45 1986

Deities and Dolphins: The Story of the Nabataeans
Nelson Glueck
913.394 qG567

The Sarcophagus of an Ancient Civilization: Petra, Edom and the Edomites
George Livingston Robinson
913.394 R66

The Hidden City of Petra
VHS 06059

Petra: Lost City of Stone, as seen at the American Museum of Natural History, 2004. Photo by Dennis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History.

And of course, the Web is also a useful source of information about Petra and the Nabataeans. On the Cincinnati Art Museum website, you will find a brief overview of Petra and the Nabataean culture and a virtual tour of the city. The American Museum of National History offers information about daily life, commerce, religion, the architecture, and the people of Petra. In addition to a chronicle of her work excavating the Great Temple of Petra, Professor Martha Sharp Joukowsky of Brown University offers a short history of the city and the Nabataeans. The Complete Petra is an exhaustive directory of Petra-related websites and images.

Petra’s economic fortunes began to fade in the second century A.D. when political and religious changes swept through the region. These changes, coupled with devastating earthquakes that struck in the fourth and sixth centuries A.D. were the final blows to the once bustling metropolis. Eventually the city disappeared from most maps and was lost to the Western world until 1812, when it was rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

Archeologists have discovered other lost cities of the ancient world, forgotten for millennia in the rubble of time.

The Vanished Cities of Arabia
Beatrice Erskine
915.3 E73

Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum
Michael Grant
913.377 G762 2001

Rediscovering Antiquity: Karl Weber and the Excavation of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae
Charles Christopher Parslow
937.7 qP266 1995

Pompeii: The Day a City Died
Robert Etienne
937.7 E84 1992

Discovery of Atlantis: The Startling Case for the Island of Cyprus
Robert Sarmast
001.94 qS246 2004

Gateway to Atlantis: The Search for the Source of a Lost Civilization
Andrew Collins
980.012 C712 2002

Imagining Atlantis
Richard Ellis
001.94 E47 1998

Lost and Found: The 9,000 Treasures of Troy: Heinrich Schliemann and the Gold that got Away
Caroline Moorehead
938 M825 1996

Troy Between Greece and Rome: Local Tradition and Imperial Power
Andrew Erskine
939.21 E73 2001

Atlantis: The Lost Civilization
VHS 06900

The Odyssey of Troy
VHS 06124

Troy Revisited
VHS 04795

Time Life’s Lost Civilizations
VHS 06459

Consider attending a program related to the exhibit. The Cincinnati Art Museum has developed a wide range of special lectures and events related to the exhibit. Or make plans to attend a program at the Library:

Petra Mosaics Craft

Create your own mosaic art and learn about the ancient Near Eastern city of Petra.

Wednesday, November 3

West End
3:30 p.m., Grades K–2 *

Tuesday, November 9

Madisonville
3:00 p.m., Ages 6–12

Miami Township
7:00 p.m., Ages 6–12

Wednesday, November 10

Cheviot
10:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m., Ages 3 and up *

Westwood
3:00 p.m., Ages 6–10

Friday, November 12

Norwood
2:00 p.m., Grades K–5

Saturday, November 13

Madeira
1:30 p.m., Ages 6 and up

Main, Children’s Learning Center
2:00 p.m., Ages 3–12

Wednesday, November 17

North Central
4:00 p.m., Ages 6–12

Saturday, November 20

Corryville
2:00 p.m., All ages

Hands–On Archaeology

Practice your skills at being an archaeologist. Learn about the tools and techniques used to study ancient cities, like the Near Eastern city of Petra.