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Khirbet et-Tannur is a Nabataean site dating from the second century B.C. to the fourth to sixth centuries A.D. located on a hilltop above the Wadi el-Hasa near Khirbet edh-Dharih, 70 km north of Petra along the King’s Highway. In 1937, Nelson Glueck excavated Khirbet et-Tannur on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Department of Antiquities of Transjordan, but died before completing a final report. Now, in two extensively illustrated volumes, the results of Glueck’s excavations are finally published, based on previously unstudied excavation records and archaeological materials in the ASOR Nelson Glueck Archive at the Semitic Museum, Harvard University.
Volume 1 is devoted to the architecture of the temple, the dating of its successive phases, its sculptural decoration and iconography,and to a discussion of Nabataean religion, including the evidence for its connections with the religion of Iron Age Edom and its continuation at the temple of Khirbet et-Tannur well into the Christian era, before the A.D. 363 earthquake brought an end to the site. The volume closes with observations about iconoclasm at Khirbet et-Tannur, Khirbet edh-Dharih and Petra.
Annual of ASOR 67
'This final report on an excavation carried out decades ago is a fine achievement. McKenzie and her team should be congratulated for this important contribution to Nabataean history, architecture and art, and religious practice.'
Joseph Patrich, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Vol 30, 2017
'Rarely has this reviewer seen so useful and attractive an excavation report. This is all the more impressive because of the viscissitudes of attempting to integrate the evidence for an excavation of 80 years ago, performed under the strictures of that era and whose records and material cultuire are widely dispersed, with teh present state of the site - an immense task admirably performed by the principla investigator and her colleagues. The hundreds of plans and illustrations, both contemporary and historic and many in color, enhance the report. The nbarrative is clear, concise and informative, and the cataloges are useuful but not intrusive. This is a model publication about a little-known yet essential part of teh ancinet world, revealing a aite whose interpretation has languished for half a century.'
Duane W. Roller, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol 120 No 3 (July 2016)
'All these studies are extremely useful because they make an enormous amount of old and often unknown material available to scholars, not only those interested in the Nabataeans but also those interested in the ancient Middle East in general, in religion and rituals, in technology and in various sorts of archaeological material.
'The enormous number of documents studied by the authors, their nature (an archive), and the fact that the excavation took place more than seventy years ago added to the complexity of the project and made this publication a real tour de force.' (Laila Nehme, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, June 2015)
Judith S. McKenzie
won the Archaeological Institute of America Wiseman Book Award for The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, 300 B.C.–A.D. 700 (Pelican History of Art, Yale University Press, 2007). She was University Research Lecturer in Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, and Director of the Khirbet et-Tannur project.
Joseph A. Greene is Deputy Director and Curator of the Semitic Museum, Harvard University, and Series Editor of the Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Andres T. Reyes is member of Wolfson College, Oxford. He is an archaeologist who teaches Greek and Latin at Groton School. He is the author of Archaic Cyprus (Oxford University Press) and editor of C. S. Lewis’s Lost Aeneid (Yale University Press).
Catherine S. Alexander is an archaeological artist for the Archaeological Expedition to Sardis (Turkey), Harvard University.
Deirdre G. Barrett is a Research Associate of the Semitic Museum, Harvard University, and a specialist in ancient lamps.
Brian Gilmour is a metallurgist at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford.
John F. Healey is Professor of Semitic Studies at Manchester University.
Margaret O’Hea is Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Adelaide (Australia).
Nadine Schibille is Lecturer in Byzantine at History, University of Sussex (England), and was a research chemist at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford.
Stephan G. Schmid is Professor of Classical Archaeology at the Winckelmann-Institut, Humboldt University, Berlin.
Wilma Wetterstrom is Research Associate in Botany in the Harvard University Herbaria.
Contributors
Sara Whitcher Kansa is Executive Director of the Alexandria Archive Institute (Berkeley, CA), Editor of Open Context, and a specialist in zooarchaeology.
Kate da Costa is Honorary Research Affiliate in Archaeology, University of Sydney, and a specialist in ancient lamps.
Patrick Degryse is Research Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Geology Centre for Archaeological Sciences, University of Leuven (Belguim).
The late Sheila Gibson was an archaeological artist best-known for her reconstruction drawings in J. B. Ward-Perkins’ Roman Imperial Architecture.
Owen Gingerich is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science at Harvard University.
Elias Khamis is Research Associate in Classics, University of Oxford, and a specialist in ancient metal work.
Preface and Acknowledgements Judith S. McKenzie
Abbreviations
PART 1: ARCHITECTURE AND RELIGION
Chapter 1. Introduction Judith S. McKenzie
The Discovery of Khirbet et-Tannur
Glueck’s Methodology
Publication of Khirbet et-Tannur
The Present Study
Appendix 1.1: List of Workmen at Khirbet et-Tannur
Appendix 1.2: The Tell el-Kheleifeh Division and Shipping
Chapter 2. Architecture and Phases Judith S. McKenzie
The Site
Khirbet edh-Dharih
Early Phases
Main Construction Phase (Period 2): Altar Platform 2, Cult Statues, Zodiac, Inner Temenos Enclosure, Temenos, and Triclinia
Repairs ofPeriod 3: Altar Platform 3, Pair of Niches, and Colonnades
Unplaced Architectural and Sculptural Fragments of Periods 2 and 3
Later Worship and Destruction
Appendix 2.1: List of Sculptural and Architectural Fragments in Cincinnati Art Museum by Judith S. McKenzie and Joseph A. Greene
Chapter 3. Iconographic Program Judith S. McKenzie and Andres T. Reyes
Introduction
The Epigraphic Evidence for Qos, and the La'aban Spring
Iconography of the Qos Stele
The Cult Statues
Vegetation Goddess Panel
Tyche
Light at Night: the Moon and Figures with Torches
Nike Caryatid Supporting the Zodiac
The Zodiac
Busts on the Inner Temenos Enclosure Frieze
Free-standing Animals
Period 3 Iconographic Additions
Overall Interpretation
Appendix 3.1: A Note on Attempts to Date the Zodiac by Owen Gingerich
Appendix 3.2: A Note on the Zodiac Lamp from Petra by Kate da Costa
Chapter 4. Religious Practice Judith S. McKenzie and Andres T. Reyes
Introduction
High Place and Pilgrimage Centre: Summary of Local Context and Chronology
Food for the Gods
Offertory Boxes
North-east and West Altars
Personal Dedications: Incense Altars and Stelai / Betyls
Feeding the Worshippers
Lamps
The Lack of Terracotta Figurines
Edomite Heritage: Offerings and Sanctuary Design
Festival Occasions
From How Far Did the Worshippers Come?
The Designs of the Temples at Khirbet edh-Dharih and Khirbet et-Tannur Compared with Other Nabataean Temples
Internal Podia, Platforms, and Adyta
Deities in the Temples of Petra
Positions of Altars
Worshipping Standing Stones: Cult Statues, Altars, and Podia / Thrones
The Nabataean Legacy
Appendix 4.1: Note on a Hand-modeled Terracotta Animal Figurine by Andres T. Reyes
Chapter 5. Iconoclasm at Khirbet et-Tannur and Petra Judith S. McKenzie
Damage to Relief Sculptures at Petra and Medain Saleh
Damage at Khirbet edh-Dharih
Damage at Khirbet et-Tannur
The Nabataean Legacy in Early Islamic Art
Glossary
Maps
Bibliographical Abbreviations
Bibliography
Sources of Illustrations
Index