Preliminary Report on the 2001 Swiss-Liechtenstein excavations at ez Zantur
by Bernhard Kolb and Daniel Keller
II. Ez Zantur IV: A neighbourhood shrine on EZ IV?
Roughly 6 metres to the north of the main facade AQ/BB, in squares 92–92/AJ and 93/AK we encountered an altar measuring approximately 6 x 7.5 m with a preserved height of approx. 2 m and a tripartite stairway leading up to it on the east side (Fig. 1–3). Each flight of stairs on the two sides has a width of approx. 2.1 m, while the steps of the central flight which projects 1.5 m towards the east have a width of 1.7 m. The tripartite stairway has step heights of 0.16–0.19 m, and on the basis of the preserved total height of the altar it can be estimated that roughly 70% of its original length still remains. The body of the altar was hewn in the form of a squat „step pyramid“ from an elevation in the exposed sandstone bedrock. The two bottom steps served as a base for the altar cheeks built from large, well cut ashlars which can still be recognised along the west, north and south sides (Fig. 2–3). In other words, the rock core of the altar was not originally visible but was encased in masonry.
Fig. 2: View from the north of the partly rock-hewn, partly built altar 52 with the main entrance to the mansion in the upper left corner of the picture (photo: D. Keller)
Positioned at right angles to the main facade of the mansion, the altar relates to a structure which is also located on the same east-west axis – probably a small temple which could only be subjected to a preliminary study in squares 89–90/AJ and 90/AI (Figs. 1 and 4). In concordance with the topography of the altar area, on the eastern side of the terrace the bedrock rises markedly and in the zone of square 89–90/AJ, in the form of a poorly preserved foundation wall or terracing wall, it carries the northern end of a building which stood parallel to the facade of the house at a distance of just over 3 m (Fig. 8, lower third of picture). The narrow wall which continues in the same direction in square 90/AJ belongs to a later phase of construction and has nothing to do with the presumed temple building. As a result of the higher level of the rock (926.15 m. above sea level, or approximately 1 m above the level in front of the main entrance to the mansion), the structures examined in square 90/AI were only 40–45 cm below the present surface of the terrace and their state of preservation is correspondingly poor. Fig. 4 shows the remains of a neatly jointed stone slab floor which is separated from the bedrock only by a thin levelling layer. To the east, the boundary of the stone slab floor is formed by a stylobate(?) with a half-exposed column drum. Unfortunately this evidence is insufficient to give a clear picture of the body of the building.
Fig. 3: Altar 52 from the south with ez Zantur in the background (photo: D. Keller)
The important question of the date of construction of the neighbourhood shrine or its chronological relation to the mansion cannot be answered for the present. Both the altar and the structures in square 90/AI are built directly on the rock, and thus lack foundations that might contain possible dating evidence. It was decided not to carry out a partial dismantling of the altar stairways because the remaining structure shows clear signs of repair and there would be no certainty of finding undisturbed filling material beneath the steps.
Fig. 4: The rock outcrop and the remaining structures of a small temple(?) to the east of the large altar 52 in square 90/AI (photo: D. Keller)
During the excavation of square 91–92/AJ, a layer of ash with a thickness of up to 1.5 m was documented which extended from the north, continued over the altar steps and petered out on an east-west line roughly 3 m from the facade of the house. On this line the ash met with the northernmost debris of the north facade of the mansion which was destroyed in the earthquake of 363. The described clear dividing line between ash and debris is also reflected in the finds made in the two zones: the material from the lowest ash strata dates from the 2nd and in particular from the 3rd century AD (squares 91/AJ, Abs.5, FK 3611; 92/AJ, Abs.5, FK 3543 and Abs.6, FK 3549), while the small finds from the layer beneath the debris of the collapsed facade date uniformly from the 4th century (91/AK, Abs.4, FK 3339). This allows the preliminary conclusion that firstly the altar area had already been abandoned in the 4th century, and that secondly the access way to the mansion can be reconstructed, at least in the 4th century, as running along facade BB from the east, since in this area the finds from the final phase of use extend down to the bedrock.
The northwest profile of squares 92–91/AJ contained architecural parts such as fragments of bases and capitals, architraves etc. which may have belonged to a portico forming the northwest limit of the area with altar and small temple. Without further excavations in this zone it will be impossible to determine with any clarity how the small temenos to the north of the mansion was configured and how this complex fitted into the layout of the buildings in the vicinity.
Let us briefly consider the question of which deity the area was dedicated to. In square 91/AJ, between the large altar and the probable temple, in Abs. 4 a very well preserved fragment of a cast bronze statuette came to light, a lyre – the instrument of Apollo (EF 3483, height 5.1 cm, max. width 4.7 cm). On the back of this masterfully formed instrument, the left hand by which it is held and the wrist are preserved. Some 6 m to the west of the altar, in the areas of rooms 44 and 49, two statuette fragments of enthroned female deities in stone were recovered. Fig. 5 shows the heavily weathered, preserved legs of a seated female figure in Egyptian alabaster (95/AK, Abs. 3, EF 3430, height: 17 cm, width: 18 cm, depth: 18 cm). The certain origin of the stone and the still recognisable seat leave little doubt as to the subject’s identity as a mourning or nursing Isis The mourning Isis is well documented in Petra. Cf. Bricault 1992: 37–49; Hammond 1990: 115–130. For more general information on Isis see V. Tran Tam Tinh, Isis in LIMC V 1 (Zurich and Munich 1990): 761–796. .
Fig. 5: Fragment of an imported alabaster statuette of Isis (photo: R. Hügli)
The second statuette fragment (Fig. 6) can also be presumed to be part of the same type of Isis, of which various examples have been documented in Petra. Again only the lower part, sculptured in a block-like form and made in this case from local calcareous sandstone, is preserved (Square 95/AL, Abs. 1, EF 3379, height: 8.8 cm, width: 5.7 cm, depth: 5.7 cm).
Fig. 6: Fragment of a statuette of Isis made from Petra limestone (photo: R. Hügli)
If we also consider the relief medallions with positively identified representations of the gods Ares/Dusares and Allath/Athena, the circle of possible „candidates“ is further enlarged Kolb – Keller 2001: 314–315 with Fig. 6. . The remarkable number of possibilities opened up by the finds does not allow the deity to be named with any certainty – a situation which is typical of Petra. For none of the three temples so far excavated at Petra has a principal deity been positively identified yet. In this connection mention should also be made of the eye idol briefly presented in the report of the previous season, which was found secondarily incorporated into a stone alignement Kolb – Keller 2001: 320–321 with Fig. 14. ; finally, among the new finds with a cult significance, a fragment of a miniature altar (Fig. 7) warrants mention which was found in square 86/AN, Abs. 5, in the sloping area to the east of the outer wall (EF 3460, height: 3 cm, width: 2.6 cm, depth: 1.8 cm).
Fig. 7: Fragment of a miniature horned altar in limestone (photo: R. Hügli)
The findings made in 2001 throw a new light upon the architecture and painted decoration of the northern facade as presented in the report on the 2000 campaign Kolb – Keller 2001: 315 with Figs. 4–6. : A year ago, the reconstructed quasi-monumental main entrance to the mansion with its lateral pilasters supporting a Doric frieze with busts of gods in medallion frames, and also the paintings which depict a libation on the lateral surfaces of the facade, confronted us with a number of interpretation problems. The most recently unearthed structures now show that the whole configuration of the northern facade can be regarded as a decorative boundary to the sacred space in front of the main entrance. But there is also no doubt that the owner of the mansion (and possibly also priest) could count on his house being „ennobled“ by having the shrine in the immediate vicinity. His two-storied domicile was enthroned upon the highest rock terrace of the Katuteh ridge, and its exposed south, west and east sides probably dominated the view from the whole southern part of the city of Petra. Only the northern side was hidden by the rocky hill of ez Zantur, and it is here that we find the little shrine set in front of the mansion. We can confidently say that the building was sited in this way with the specific aim of enhancing status, in the same way as is familiar to us from late Hellenistic and Roman republican private architecture of the highest level.
To sum up the activities in the northernmost grid squares, it can be said that after the completion of the excavation on EZ IV, not only has the most important Nabataean private building of Petra been exposed, but also that with the discovery of the close spatial connection with the probable neighbourhood shrine, this building complex has been revealed as one which seeks its equal even beyond the limits of the Nabataean realm. The only parallel that can be named in the narrower geographical area is the Herodian construction at Samaria (Israel). Beside of the large temple dedicated to Augustus lie the remains of a peristyle villa from the late 1st century BC, which was most recently interpreted as part of the palace area of Herod the Great Barag 1993: 4ff, considers the peristyle house to be part of a complex consisting of various buildings which was built for Herod the Great in Samaria. It is quite conceivable that in the choice of the site for the dwelling house Herod was inspired by the house of Augustus in Rome, which is known to have been built beside the Temple of Apollo. Cf. Carettoni 1983. . In contrast to EZ IV, however, the podium temple dominated the private building that stood beside it in every respect.
