The Capitals of the Capital - New Insights into Freestanding Nabataean Architecture in Petra

Abstract

Since Judith McKenzie‘s work on the architecture of Petra, which is largely based on the research of the famous rock-cut architecture, numerous archaeological projects in Petra and other Nabataean sites have provided an immense amount of new information about the way the Nabataeans built. In course of the North-Eastern Petra Project several hundred architectural elements have been documented and studied. The main purpose of this study is to present a detailed analysis of a specific architectural element: the blocked-out Nabataean capital and, in particular, its use in free-standing architecture. So far, this type of capital seems to be underrepresented in free-standing buildings in Petra. Therefore, this study will provide new insights into the use of the capital in the buildings of Petra’s city center