Athena Review Image Archive ™
Petra: The Ed Deir or Monastery
Petra: The Ed Deir or Monastery (photo: Bell Archive A-421)
Petra is located in southwestern Jordan. The site represents a unique complex of ancient temples and tombs carved into the sides of cliffs, dating from the Nabataean, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods.
This March, 1900 photo by Gertrude Bell shows the facade of the mid-2nd century AD Nabataean structure named Ed Deir,
Arabic for "the Monastery." As Bell points out in her notes,
the Ed Deir has the largest facade in Petra, measuring
47 x 48 meters (155' x 158'). Located in the northwest portion of
Petra at high elevation, the Deir is thought to have been carved in the
mid-first century AD. It is uncertain whether it served as a temple or
tomb, as a nearby inscription may connect the Deir to the earlier cult
of Obodas I (96-86 BC).
The facade, similar to those of both the Treasury
and the Corinthian Tomb, has an upper storey whose pediment is
interrupted by a tholos topped by a large urn. It is framed by columns
with distinctive Nabataean "horned capitals." A continuous frieze
consists of a band of alternating triglyphs and disks.
The Gertrude Bell Archive is located at Newcastle University.
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