Situated in mountainous terrain, the ancient city of Petra is an abandoned necropolis of temples and tombs cut into towering cliffs of red sandstone. Primarily known as the capital of the Nabataean culture during the centuries around the time of Christ, the region of Petra was inhabited in far greater antiquity. Archaeological excavations have revealed Paleolithic and Neolithic settlement sites and the region was occupied around 1200 BC by the Edomite culture of the Old Testament. During the 6th –4th centuries BC, the Nabataeans entered the Edomite territory and began construction of the city of Petra. By the 2nd century BC, Petra had developed into a powerful center of the caravan trade and during the next four hundred years its dominion spread as far north as Damascus. In 106 AD, the Nabataean kingdom came under the control of the Roman Empire yet Petra continued to prosper. With Emperor Constantine’s proclamation of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire in 324 AD, Petra came under the control of the Byzantine Empire and slowly began to decline. Following the establishment of Islam in the 7th century, the region of Petra virtually disappeared from the historical record, only to be rediscovered in 1812 by the Swiss adventurer Johann Burckhardt.

Petra was revered by the Nabataeans as the sacred precinct of their god Dushara, whose main temple, Al Deir, was located in a gorge northwest of the city. Dated to the 1st century AD, the temple is carved entirely out of the rock cliff; it is 50 meters wide by 45 meters tall, with an 8-meter tall entrance door. Inside the single empty chamber, the walls are unadorned except for a block of stone representing the deity Dushara, whose symbolic animal was the bull. A processional way leads to Al Deir from the center of Petra and the large courtyard in front of the temple suggests that the site was used for grand ceremonies. Al Deir is sometimes called ‘The Monastery’ because of a belief that it served as a church during Byzantine times.

Photo: Nabataean temple of Al-Deir, Petra

More on Petra from Sacred Sites.

Written by  Martin Gray.

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