Athena Review Image Archive ™
Petra: The Ed Deir or "Monastery"
Petra: The Ed Deir or Monastery (Roberts 1839-49/Wellcome Collection)
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 image by David Roberts, painted in 1839 and publiched in 1849, shows the mid-2nd century AD Nabataean structure named Ed Deir,
Arabic for "the Monastery." 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 the Deir was a temple or a tomb, as a nearby
inscription may connect it to the earlier cult of Obodas I (96-86 BC).
The
facade, similar to 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 David Roberts prints are held at the Wellcome Collection in London.
.Copyright © 1996-2020 Rust Family Foundation (All Rights Reserved).