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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Its 26 m x 16.49 m façade is structured by two half columns at the center and two pilasters with engaged quarter columns at the corners, erected on a podium on either side of the doorway order. They bear Nabataean capitals and support a weathered entablature whose frieze contains four panels with bust-reliefs. These unusual frieze figures with their heads intruding the upper frame probably represent Nabataean deities. The dwarf pilasters of the upper order are in alignment with the bust-reliefs and the supports of the lower order. The triangular pediment is crowned by a lidded urn, which has given the tomb its name.
Another unique feature are the three burial niches (loculi) in the intercolumnar spaces high up on the façade, becoming an integral part of its design. In the opening of the middle one, there is still a relief plate on which the bust of a dignitary dressed in a tunic can be seen. Unfortunately his face is completely destroyed. Due to missing inscriptions it will never be known who was once portrayed here, but scholars believe that it is the bust of a Nabataean king, perhaps Malichus II (40-70 AD). In fact, the dwarf pilasters suggest that the tomb was made in the second half of the 1st century AD, according to: Fawzi Zayadine.
The doorway frame has two pilasters topped by Nabataean capitals with a necking band, on which a metope-triglyph frieze with several decorative mouldings and a triangular pediment rest. The window above it was opened during its Byzantine use as church (see interior chamber).
© Photos, text: 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.