: "Petra: Lost City of Stone," the most comprehensive exhibition
ever presented on the ancient city of Petra and its creators the
Nabataeans, is open at the American Museum of Natural History
through July 6, 2004.
It offers North American audiences the opportunity to learn about
the ancient metropolis of Petra, which was literally carved from
the red sandstone in the harsh desert cliffs of southern Jordan.
From Second Century BC to Second Century AD, Petra stood at a
nexus of international silk and spice trade routes linking China,
India and Southern Arabia with markets of Greece, Rome, Egypt and
Syria and was governed by the Nabataeans who were renowned for
their great skills in trade, agriculture, engineering and
architecture.
The exhibit features approximately 200 objects on loan from
collections in Jordan and Europe, many on view for the first time
in the United States, and from collections in the United States.
Stone sculptures and reliefs, ceramics, metalwork, stuccowork,
ancient inscriptions and a selection of some 25 Nineteenth
Century paintings, drawings and prints are displayed alongside
architectural sections from several of Petra's famous monuments.
Among the highlights are several pieces recently discovered by
archaeologists working in Jordan such as an elephant-headed
capital from Petra and a monumental frieze from a Nabataean
temple at Khirbet Dharih.
Located in the Jordan Rift Valley at the crossroads of
international trade routes, Petra was one of the most influential
and prosperous commercial centers in antiquity. The forbidding
desert was transformed by the Nabataeans into a bustling
metropolis with monumental tombs carved directly into the red
sandstone hills and hundreds of other structures including burial
chambers, funerary banquet halls, residences, theaters, bath
complexes, arched gates and a complex system of water channels
and reservoirs. The Nabataeans were skilled engineers and
developed and maintained an elaborate system of damming,
terracing and irrigation that allowed them to maximize the
agricultural potential of the surrounding Petra plateau.
The development of Nabataean writing coincided with and
facilitated urbanization and the rich cultural life of the city
reflected a confluence of Eastern and Western styles and
traditions. From Second Century BC through Third Century AD,
Petra prospered. A massive earthquake in 363 AD destroyed much of
the city and, although partially revived after that, Petra was no
longer the economic powerhouse it had been.
From its rediscovery by Swiss explorer Johann Lud-wig Burckhardt
in 1812, Petra, with its savage beauty, desolate setting, the
mystery and splendor of its rock-carved architectural ruins and
the variegated color of its cliff faces has been a source of deep
fascination for Westerners. It became a major pilgrimage site for
Nineteenth Century European and Ameri-can artists and other
travelers and it continues to enthrall. It was even used as a
location for the popular 1989 feature film Indian Jones and
the Last Crusade.
Among the highlights are several important architectural pieces,
such as a sculpted garland frieze from a major temple at Petra, a
sculptured window frame from a private villa, a portion of a
monumental temple façade featuring figures from the zodiac and a
limestone pulpit from a Byzantine church (Sixth Century AD). Key
masterworks include a monumental limestone head of a Nabataean
male deity, a seated sandstone cult statue of a storm god, a
life-size cast bronze statue of the goddess Artemis and a marble
head of a Roman emperor.
The theme of European rediscovery of the ancient site is explored
through paintings, drawings and prints by David Roberts, William
Bartlett, Edward Lear and Frederic Church, including Church's
large-scale oil painting of the famous Treasury (1874).
Small-scale luxury items, including a selection of fine-painted
ceramics and delicate interior stucco work, are shown.
The museum is at Central Park West at 79th Street. For
information, 212-769-5800 or www.amnh.org.
