Preliminary Report on the 2000 Swiss-Liechtenstein excavations at ez Zantur
by Bernhard Kolb and Daniel Keller
VI. Ez Zantur IV: Rooms 38–40 – A private bath on the southwestern edge of EZ IV (PQ 92/AR, 93/AP–AR)
During the last days of the campaign we examined a small complex of three interconnected rooms (38–40) on the southwestern edge of EZ IV (Figs. 2. 11). Room 40, the largest of the three, is a small caldarium, 2.25 m wide and with a preserved length of approx. 4 m; due to the exposed position on the edge of the slope, the walls and the floor construction are in very bad repair. The sub-floor (level: 921.85 m) consists of broken tiles set into a floor of beaten earth. Along wall AV a few remains of the former columns made of circular bricks (pilae) which originally supported the suspended floor (suspensura) were found in situ. In the eastern wall a firing hole, its sides faced with bricks is clearly visible, linking the floor-heated room with the small praefurnium 39. So far, we have not yet cleared the firing hole, thus protecting the very fragile structure. The praefurnium 39 measures 1.9 x 1.5 m, its floor has been cut from the rock (921.70 m), and along wall Q it is equipped with a narrow bench, 0.3 m high, still bearing remains of a mortar coat. Towards the north, a door connects rooms 39 and 29 – the praefurnium of room 14 Cf. Kolb – Keller 2000: 361f. . Immediately to the west of this door another opening – which was later blocked up – connected the two firing rooms with the roughly cobbled, lower room 38 (floor level approx. 921.50 m, cf. Fig. 11). Its small size (0.85 x 1.75 m) indicates that this was where the fuel was stored used for heating rooms 14 and 40.
Fig. 11: EZ IV. Rooms 39, 40, 38 and 29 seen from wall W towards the west (photo: D. Keller)
As yet we cannot ascertain whether the caldarium 40 was connected to the main building via room 10. Without doubt we can say that the firing and storage rooms 29, 38 and 39 were necessary for heating the winter living room 14 and the caldarium 40. Further, going by the findings made in room 14, we can assume that the newly discovered structures were built during the second construction phase, which has been provisionally set on the turn of the 1st to the 2nd century AD.
Rooms 32 and 41 on the western slope (PQ 93/AP–AQ; 95/AM–AN)
Wall AW of triclinium 32 is of first class workmanship and joins right onto the northern wall of room 38 (Figs. 1–2. 12). The triclinium measures 6.2 x 4.5 m and has been cut into the bedrock of the western slope of the terrace EZ IV, opening with a door towards the west. Benches (0.6 m high, 1.5 – 1.6 m wide) have been built along walls AW, AT and AU, their sufaces covered with beaten earth. The floor level (920.25 m) is by 0.3 m lower than that of room 38. North of the triclinium the rock has been cut down to a depth of at least 1.5 m The bedrock in this area has not yet been reached. between walls AU and E, so that wall AU has been erected on a stepped rocky ledge (cf. Fig. 12). The fact that a deep aisle has been cut into the rock between walls AU and E and that there are no doors or stairs leading to the adjacent rooms probably means that the triclinium was no part of the mansion on the terrace and thus belonged to a different building erected on the western slope.
Fig. 12: EZ IV. Triclinium 32 seen from wall E to the south (photo: D. Keller)
No data could be collected either in rooms 38–40 or in the triclinium 32 to help us date the structures. However, the striking difference in building technique and quality indicates that in all likelihood the triclinium had already been constructed when the necessary changes in infrastructure were undertaken to provide heating for rooms 14 and 40 during the second building phase of the mansion.
Yet another structure not connected with the mansion has been found in the northwestern corner of the excavation site: staircase 41 in PQ 95/AM–AN, situated on the northwestern slope of the terrace EZ IV. To the west of outer wall AY the rock has been hewn to a depth of 2 m, thus forming a first artificial step in the sloping terrain (Fig. 13) Bedrock level immediately west of wall AY: 924.65–75 m; bedrock level in staircase 41: 922.70–80 m. .
Fig. 13: EZ IV. Staircase 41 seen from wall AY to the northwest (photo: D. Keller)
On this smoothed rock surface three steps of a staircase are preserved, originally leading up to a sidewalk-like paved surface along wall AY. Since there are no doors in outer wall AY and since the floor levels of rooms 30 and 42 differ by 0.7 m from the outer pavement it can be deduced that the staircase was not part of the mansion, but might have been connected to an access along the slope, leading to buildings further north. In PQ 94/AO yet another room on the western slope has been partially excavated; trying to reach the floor had to be abandoned at a 3.5 m subsurface level for security reasons for the time being.
The investigation of the structures along the western slope – which has yet to be completed – will furnish further data concerning the planning and the infrastructure of the housing districts of Petra. It is quite obvious by now, that the built up areas were not limited to the natural terraces but embraced also the steep slopes – thus confirming the findings on site EZ I, i. e., rooms XXI and XXV on the northwestern slope Cf. Bignasca et al., Petra Ez Zantur I. Ergebnisse der Schweizerisch-Liechtensteinischen Ausgrabungen 1988–1992. Terra Archaeologica Vol. II (Mainz 1996) Plans 2 and 6. .
