The mysterious Nabataeans, builders of the magnificent city of Petra, have long fascinated scholars and the public. Scant archaeological research and minimal textual sources have not clarified the shift from a primarily nomadic encampment in the late 4^th century BC into a major capital city by the 1^st century BC. Our understanding of Petra’s urban life recently has been transformed with the excavation of tombs within the ancient city. The human skeletal remains from these tombs have illuminated the origins of the city’s residents, their disease profiles, and what foods they relied on in this desert environment. This lecture demonstrates how Petra’s dead can inform what life was like in this ancient city.

Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic:

Perry, M.A. 2018. Le Petra North Ridge Project. Les tombes reflets des conditions de vie à Pétra. Dossiers d’Archéologie 386:50-51.

Perry, M.A. 2017. Sensing the Dead: Mortuary Ritual and Tomb Visitation at Nabataean Petra. Syria 94:99-106.

http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/petras-rarely-excavated-tombs-still-hold-answers-areas-ancient-burial-practices-%E2%80%94

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3787812/Archaeologists-unearth-human-bones-remarkable-marble-statues-mythological-deities-site-ancient-city-Jordan.html