Petra Tour: Royal Tombs
Some of the most impressive tombs in Petra, sculpted out of the western slope of the Jabal al-Hubta rock massif, overlooking the city center.
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The Tomb numbered 765 by Brünnow & von Domaszewski, and described as boasting a "palace front," is one of the largest monuments of Petra. Its five-storey façade (49 m width and approx. 46 m height) shows an overwhelming proliferation of architectural elements for purely ornamental purposes, with an intricate rhythmization of pilasters, columns and entablature elements.
The lower order is structured by a total of twelve supports crowned by Nabataean capitals. These narrow pilasters have a quarter column alternatively engaged on one side (see detail above). The four doorways, approached by steps, have a tall superstructure of entablatures, dwarf pilasters and moldings. This magnifies the decorative effect of the doorway frame, together with the pediments, which are triangular in the centre, and segmental (curved) on the sides. The doors lead to four interior chambers. The two central ones are connected by a narrow passage.
The second order consists of 18 half columns with pseudo-ionic capitals (simplified form of a classic Ionic capital). The centre bays are wider than the others. Six flat niches in the bays towards the left probably served to contain memorial slabs. The seventh niche from the left has an opening at its base, leading to a vertical shaft behind the facade, which provides access to the cliff above the tomb, where there is a skillfully conceived water collecting system of channels and cisterns.
The eighteen dwarf pilasters of the third order are in alignment with those of the order below. The fourth order is very weathered, and from the topmost order, which is set further back, only seven half columns survive.
A part of the upper facade was built free-standing: On the left side, about a third of the pseudo-ionic entablature has been bricked up using sandstone blocks, supported by vaulting and timber beams. Also masonry-built are the left two-thirds of the dwarf order above, and similarly would have been the top two orders.
© Photos, text, translations: Haupt & Binder
Some of the most impressive tombs in Petra, sculpted out of the western slope of the Jabal al-Hubta rock massif, overlooking the city center.
Rudolf-Ernst Brünnow and Alfred von Domaszewski: Die Provincia Arabia, Volume 1.
Verlag Karl J. Trübner, Strasbourg 1904.
The catalogue of grave facades and other monuments in Petra, compiled by the researchers during their travels in 1897 and 1898, still serves as a reference today - abbreviated BD or Br. with the respective number.