The only visible structure on the surface of the Southern Terrace was a wall fragment in front of the small lateral chamber D. 16 (fig. 1) which was checked in sounding S 6 (fig. 12). Since the visible stones are not so well built, it was not clear in the beginning how to classify and to date this wall. One evidence for the dating was given by the construction technique of the wall itself. Below the upper row of large stones we excavated a layer of medium sized stones, under which a layer of small stones, pebbles and earth were found. The wall is founded on bedrock with a thin layer of earth and small stones and pebbles between the rock and its lowest layer (fig. 13).
Fig. 12: Southern Terrace. Sounding S 6 with wall 4 (photo: L. Gorgerat)Fig. 13: Southern Terrace. Sounding S 6. Detail of wall 4 (photo: L. Gorgerat)
Medieval pottery finds and the presence of ballistae (fig. 14), however, supported the thesis that wall 4 was built in the Middle Ages by the Crusaders. The limestone blocs used to build this wall were possibly taken from the Nabataean building at the Northern Terrace. The bedrock slopes to the west and can be reached from both side of the wall. The southeast corner lies on bedrock, which is weaker and partly missing beyond this point. In accordance with other archaeological finds from the Crusader’s presence in Petra, the wall could belong to a post or a watchtower controlling the access to the city.
Fig. 14: Medieval pottery and ballista from sounding S 6 (photo: L. Gorgerat)
