Description of the façade of the Royal Tomb of Al-Khazneh (Treasury), Petra, Nabatean Kingdom, Jordan. 1st c. AD. Thought I’d give some info about this amazing building we probably take for granted. I will divide it into two parts: II.- First Floor… (description in comments) [1920×1280] [OC]
by WestonWestmoreland
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The First Floor:
The first floor is a broken pediment interrupted by a tholos (a classical Greek cylindrical structure with a conical or vaulted roof).
Isis/Tyche stands in the front bay of the tholos. Dancing Amazons (female warriors) with double axes over their heads ornament the side bays of the tholos and the front and side bays of the broken pediments. Winged Victories (Nikes) decorate the rear bays between the tholos and the pediments. Eagles of Zeus, the king of the gods identified with Nabataean Dushara, crown the pediments. Those eagles would carry away the souls.
The tholos is crowned with 12 spikes and topped by a symbolic funerary urn on top of a capital, completing a decorative scheme whose every element reinforces the symbolism of the death of a hero and the glory of his city. The base of the first floor is lined with rosettes.
The Khazneh’s architectural style, including the capitals of its columns and the feature of its broken pediment interrupted by a tholos, is traceable to Hellenistic Alexandria, whose craftsmen may have been brought to Petra to help design and build the monument. The appearance of gods in human form, so unlike the native aniconism of the original Nabataeans, further demonstrates the Nabataeans’ cultural adaptation of Eastern Hellenism alongside their own native traditions. The Khazneh was both the first and the last tomb façade to be so richly decorated, as if the Nabataeans took as much as they could, in the exuberance of initial contact, but later scaled down their borrowings, in order to achieve a more comfortable fit between Hellenism and their own, more austere, traditions.
In contrast to the elaborate façade, the interior of the tomb comprises a plain main chamber and three antechambers with an interior volume of around 71,000 cu ft.
As usual, my apologies for inaccuracies and mistakes. Particularly today.