Abstract
The ancient city of Petra, a UNESCO Word Heritage Site in Southern Jordan, had come under the dominance of the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine empires that shaped the physical identity of the city from the 4th Century BCE to the 6th Century CE. The hollowed-out cliff enclosures and engraved stone facades speak for the native Nabatean hallmark practice. In contrast, the free-standing, unitary construction projects assert the practice modes of the colonizing Roman and Byzantine empires. Information about artistic adornments of Petra’s architecture in terms of physical development, artistic genera, and cultural motives are sporadic. Available archeological knowledge hardly addresses the use of the arts in supporting architectural designs. Accordingly, this paper probes the archeological heritage of Petra to characterize the artistic adornments of the architectural structures and enclosures. Petra’s physical and cultural histories provide ample opportunity to characterize the artistic adornments employed to articulate the architecture of the complex. The study isolates a sample of recognized projects endowed with artistic actions precipitated by the successive civilizations to identify the surface, relief, and sculptural elements of intervention that complement architectural design. The resulting raw data enables the characterization of artistic artifacts, genres, and cultural motives through narrative, comparative, and ranking analysis methods. The study adds to the knowledge of the use of artistic adornments in terms of artifacts, types, and motives in support of Petra’s architectural designs. Further, the study will help inspire thoughts about possible topics of investigation and ways to structure research strategies.
Presenters
Salim ElwazaniProfessor, Architecture & Environmental Design, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Artistic Adornments, Architecture, Petra World Heritage Site, Nabatean Kingdom
