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Descriptive Attribute Value(s)
Stage Description Building up and leveling of the fill of the Lower Temenos and the installation of the Hexagonal Pavement. A layer of hard-packed soil indicates the level of the pavement be...
Definition Plaster.
Phase Description Phase IV: Nabataean Grand Design: 1st c. BCE to CE 1st c. The full Lower Temenos is constructed, complete...
Stage Stage 1
Bottom (m) Bottom elevation: 898.626 m.
Description
  • Found in Loci 1 and 3 and on top of the stylobate in Trench 28, this locus is what was originally named Locus 5 in Trench 28. It is a mass of molded plaster that had been attached to a column, probably the second column from the south as exposed in Trench 36 in the middle colonnade. As in Trench 28, many sections of this plaster, while broken, were still together as they had fallen. These sections were carefully removed and reconstructed. The plaster was found all in a line, indicating that it probably came from one column. The locus did not extend all the way across the trench but rather stopped about 2 m from the wall. However, more plaster of the same sort was found directly at the base of the wall. It is likely that the missing parts were disturbed by agricultural activity. This locus is very confusing because it is found in multiple loci through a depth of 0.41 m. The highest part of the locus is in the west (next to the missing sections that were presumably disturbed by plowing) while the lowest is in the east. At the lowest point it lies directly on top of the easternmost stylobate in Trench 28. At the highest point it is in the middle of the topsoil layer, only about 0.10-0.20 m below the surface.
  • As mentioned in the introduction to this report, the destruction of the columns and the attendant deposition of Locus 2 present some problems. The plaster was found in large amounts directly on top of the Eastern Stylobate in Trench 28, an area where a column drum had been placed. This means that the column drum had been removed before the plaster had fallen. The column in the Eastern Colonnade was completely gone while one in the middle colonnade was still completely intact. That makes it likely that the column in the Eastern Colonnade was deliberately dismantled.
Phase IV
Top (m) Top elevation: 899.036 m.
Architectural or Soil Locus? Architectural
Suggested Citation

Martha Sharp Joukowsky. (2007) "Locus 2 from Asia/Jordan/Petra Great Temple/Lower Temenos/Trench 36". In Petra Great Temple Excavations. Martha Sharp Joukowsky (Ed). Released: 2007-11-11. Open Context. <https://opencontext.org/subjects/8179fa5f-48a5-49af-4c98-b0d989c3d57d> ARK (Archive): https://n2t.net/ark:/28722/k23r0z89n

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Petra Great Temple Excavations
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