Dating in the dark petra
08-Nov-2020 23:55
The archaeologists have also found underground channels that helped control runoff during the rainy season, revealing the true complexity of the system for the first time.
The intricate system of channels, ceramic pipelines, underground cisterns and water tanks, which also filtered the water, allowed the people of Petra to cultivate crops, harvest fruit, produce wine and olive oil as well as build a lavish garden with a monumental open air pool in the middle of the desert.
It was one of the most famous water stops in the Middle East, where camel caravan routes linked distant cities.
It had previously been unthinkable that water, a scarce resource in the desert wastes, would have been used for anything but necessity.
City carved in rock The citizens of Petra now only knew how to work with water, they were also masters at masonry.
The very name Petra, which means “Mass of Rock,” summons up visions of stone.
Describing Petra in the late-first century BCE, the Greek historian, Strabo wrote that there were "abundant springs of water both for domestic purposes and for watering gardens" (Geog.
XVI.4.2 1) Botanical studies show that the garden was highly ornate, adorned with palm trees and grass species., The Treasury, seen in the climax to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where the hero archaeologists, played by Harrison Ford and Sean Connery, ride out of the canyon and into the Treasury in their quest for the Holy Grail.