Petra Unit - Part Three

PETRA - UNIT THREE
Water in Ancient Petra

The Role of a Garden
During the Nabataean and Roman periods, the pool complex and garden at Petra offered a refreshing retreat from the city center and the heat of the desert. Two perennial springs, Ain Musa and Ain Braq, located in the hills to the east of the city, and two additional springs within the city limits in Wadi Siagha and Wadi Abu 'Ollegha were the main sources of water for the city. However, as the population of the city grew, it became more and more necessary to devise ways to collect and distribute water.

The Nabataeans are known for their ingenious engineering skills with which they developed a complex system of dams, runnels, diversion channels, reservoirs and cisterns to collect virtually every drop of water runoff in order to fulfill their domestic needs and to irrigate their fields. In addition to their practical needs, the Nabataeans also wished to establish Petra, their political, religious and cultural center, as a prosperous and thriving metropolis. The presence of a large garden, a virtual oasis in the desert, would have made a powerful statement to merchants and foreign delegates passing through city after a long journey through the desert.

The Lion fountain is just one example of how the Nabataeans found ways to create an aesthetic appearance for an otherwise functional installation. In the Lion fountain, water was channeled down the rock mountain, passing through the open mouth of the lion. Another example would be a waterfall that distributed water from the al-Khubta aqueduct to pools and terraced fields below it.

Excavation Results:
The unexpected result of the 1998 season was the discovery of a monumental open-air pool (interior dimensions: 43m x 23m x 2.5m) with island-pavillion that occupies the entire southern half of what is known as the "Lower Market". It was determined that the "Lower Market" was not, in fact, a marketplace, but the site of a luxurious pool-complex, most likely associated with a formal garden.

Pool
The East-West Wall functioned as a dam across the site transforming the quarried-out space to the south into a large reservoir or pool. Clearance of earth and rubble from the East-West Wall revealed a monumental construction 2.2m high and 3.5m wide. The exterior faces are made up of close-fitting sandstone ashlars typical of Nabataean masonry. Between them is a solid construction composed of alternating rows of roughly hewn sandstone blocks and rubble bonded with an impervious white mortar.

The south face of the East-West Wall - the interior of the pool - is lined with a thick coat of concrete such as is typically used to line the reservoir and cisterns found in many Nabataean settlements. The northwestern and northeastern corners of the pool were located 43m apart, equidistant from the site's central north-south axis. The top four steps of a staircase leading to the pool's floor were uncovered in the northeastern corner. Four rectangular pavers found along the eastern edge of the pool are the only evidence for a nicely paved promenade around the pool's perimeter.

Comprehension Questions:
1. Were the pool and garden like, or unlike, the area around Petra?

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2. What were the names of the two springs east of the city that provided it with water?

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3. How many springs were inside of the city itself?

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4. Why did these original sources of water become not enough for the city’s water needs?

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6. For which skills were the Nabataeans most famous?

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7. In your own words, what did the Nabataeans do with these skills?

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8. Who would see the large garden that the Nabataeans built? (Name two types of people.)

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9. Was the Lion Fountain built just for its beauty, in order to impress foreigners?

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10. Name two types of places that received water from the al-Khubta aqueduct?

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11. In what year did archeologists find the great open-air pool in the “Lower Market”?

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12. What did the Nabataeans sell in the “Lower Market”?

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13. What was the function of the East-West Wall in the “Lower Market”?

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14. How high was this wall?

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15. How thick was this wall?

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16. How wide was the northern end of the great pool?

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Read and Think:
1. When you turn on the tap to get water, where does your drinking water come from? How many miles does it have to flow to get to your home?

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2. Is the capital of your country also the cultural and religious center of the country?

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3. Is there anything special in the capital of your country that impresses foreigners? What?

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4. What do you think ancient travelers thought when they finished a long trip through the desert, probably riding on camels, and saw the great gardens and pools of Petra?

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5. Are the functional structures in your country (like fountains and bridges) very beautiful, or are they just functional?

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6. In your country, would you expect to see a beautiful waterfall bringing water to farm land?

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7. In ancient times, getting enough water was one of the most important problems in the Middle East. Is this still true?

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POINTS OF THE COMPASS

This reading passage uses the points of the compass: north, east, west, south. Please fill in the compass below:

(Here’s a hint for remembering the points of the compass in English: NEWS is made up of the first letter of each of the directions.)

Now write the adjectives of the following compass points. (Use a dictionary if you need help.)

Noun	Adjective
North
East
West
South

“In-Between” the Compass Points:

What is the direction between the main points of the compass? Simple, use both of those points in one new word, but use “north” or “south” first! Now let’s try it:

What is the direction between north and east? (You can find it in the reading passage.)

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What is the direction between east and south?

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What is the direction between south and west?

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What is the direction between west and north? (You can find it in the reading passage.)

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PARTS OF SPEECH

Here are some words from the reading passage. With a good dictionary, fill in the Parts of Speech.

NOUNS	VERBS	ADJECTIVES	ADVERBS
		additional
excavation		--	--
center			--
channel			--
	collect
construction		--	--
	create
	--	cultural
	develop
discovery
	establish		--
		functional
information			--
irrigation			--
	limit		--
	locate		--
	--	monumental
need
			nicely
	offer		--
	--	political
	--	powerful
		practical
		prosperous

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REVIEW OF THE PASSIVE

Look at the reading passage and find six examples of verbs in the PASSIVE VOICE. Please write them here:

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VOCABULARY

Using a good bilingual dictionary, please write the meaning of the following words or phrases in your native language

WORD	MEANING	WORD	MEANING
alternating		in addition to
appearance		in order to
aqueduct		ingenious
axis		installation
blocks		journey
complex		luxurious
composed of		marketplace
concrete		merchants
dam		metropolis
delegate		mortar
dimensions		oasis
distribute		paved
domestic		perennial
engineering		population
equidistant		quarried
exterior		rectangular
foreign		refreshing
fountain		reservoir
fulfill		unexpected

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