Petra Tour: Great Temple
The largest freestanding architectural complex in Petra did not serve religious worship, but was built as a representative royal reception hall, up from the end of the 1st century BC or beginning of the 1st century AD.
For an optimal view of our website, please rotate your tablet horizontally.
All limestone capitals of the 120 columns on the lower temenos were decorated with heads of Asian elephants instead of the usual corner volutes. The estimated 536 to a maximum of 576 elephant heads, covered with a thin layer of white plaster, were naturalistic and individually designed. The stonemasons must therefore have known living animals.
Such elephant capitals were also found by archaeologists at some other sites of the Nabataeans (Khirbet Brak, Khirbet Tannur, Beidha), but there are no references to their religion. Researchers indicate a connection with Alexander the Great, whose associated symbol is the elephant, the cult of Dionysus associated with him, and the specific virtues of the animal. In this context, the elephant may have been considered by the Nabataean elite as a sign of triumph, royal splendor, power, and honor, as well as protection against evil. (Joukowsky, p. 140)
© Photo, summary: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe
The largest freestanding architectural complex in Petra did not serve religious worship, but was built as a representative royal reception hall, up from the end of the 1st century BC or beginning of the 1st century AD.