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The Nabataean monumental rock‐cut tombs in the oasis of al‐Badʿ are the main heritage and tourist attraction of the Madyan peninsula, in the heart of the Neom region in Saudi Arabia. Through an analysis of their architectural and decorative features, this study provides, for the first time, a thorough overview of the 35 tombs in the necropolises of Mughāyir Shuʿayb and al‐Aṣīfir. A multiscalar examination sheds light on the processes used in their realisation, assesses the investments required for their execution and the status of the sponsors, and thus reveals a social and spatial ranking of the Nabataean necropolis. The study also reveals a 'cultural' standardisation of the tombs in terms of the techniques used to cut and decorate them, as well as a local particularity dependent on topography, geomorphology, culture and personal choices. The presence of these impressive funerary monuments at al‐Badʿ confirms the siteʼs major economic, political and cultural role within the Nabataean world, as well as the importance of the caravan route leading from the Red Sea ports to the major urban centres of the southern Levant, including Petra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the desert regions of the Southern Levant, the dating of Nabataean sherds and vessels is a critical factor in determining the dates of archaeological strata, architecture, and even entire sites. In recent years, archaeologists working at Petra and related sites have tended to date most Nabataean sherds and vessels to the 1st century CE based on the proposed typo-chronology of the Swiss–Liechtenstein excavations at al-Zantur in Petra, published by Stephan G.Schmid (2000). Accepted typo-chronologies must withstand scrutiny and can override imposed historical frameworks. However, an uncritical reliance on the ez-Zantur chronology has created an artificial gap in the material record of Petra and other Nabataean sites in the post-annexation period, that is to say, the 2nd and 3rd century CE. This paper provides a critique of the Nabataean fine-ware typo-chronology from ez-Zantur, based on finds from other excavations and sites, and proposes a revised chronology in which the production of Nabataean pottery, including painted and unpainted fine wares, unguentaria and lamps, continues unabated throughout the Middle Roman period until sometime in the first half of the 3rd century CE. The revised typo-chronology evinces a robust period of Nabataean culture at Petra and other related sites under Roman rule, like that found in other cities of the Roman East.

In the desert regions of the Southern Levant, the dating of Nabataean sherds and vessels is a critical factor in determining the dates of archaeological strata, architecture, and even entire sites. In recent years, archaeologists working at Petra and related sites have tended to date most Nabataean sherds and vessels to the 1st century CE based on the proposed typo-chronology of the Swiss-Liechtenstein excavations at ez-Zantur in Petra, published by Stephan G. Schmid (2000). Accepted typo-chronologies must withstand scrutiny and can override imposed historical frameworks. However, an uncritical reliance on the ez-Zantur chronology has created an artificial gap in the material record of Petra and other Nabataean sites in the post-annexation period, that is to say, the 2nd and 3rd century CE. This paper provides a critique of the Nabataean fine-ware typo-chronology from ez-Zantur, based on finds from other excavations and sites, and proposes a revised chronology in which the production of Nabataean pottery, including painted and unpainted fine wares, unguentaria and lamps, continues unabated throughout the Middle Roman period until sometime in the first half of the 3rd century CE. The revised typo-chronology evinces a robust period of Nabataean culture at Petra and other related sites under Roman rule, like that found in other cities of the Roman East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large U-shaped building made of stones discovered in 2011 at the top of a promontory in Dümat al-Jandal (modern Dumat, Saudi Arabia) is interpreted as a vast freestanding open-air Nabataean triclinium. Radiocarbon dating and pottery readings set the main occupation of this triclinium during a relatively short period, between the late first century b.c. and the late first century/early second century a.d. Excavation of the structure reveals pottery dishes and fireplaces regularly distributed throughout the occupation surface. Multidisciplinary studies of the archaeological material (pottery, bone, and plant remains) provide an opportunity to focus on the activities carried out within this type of cultic structure. By comparing the data with that of other studies undertaken in similar Nabataean triclinia found in Petra, Jordan, and Hegra, Saudi Arabia, in particular, this article seeks to give new insights into the question of "ritual meals". Moreover, this discovery of a first typical Nabataean building in Dümat al-Jandal confirms Nabataean control over trade routes north of the Arabian Peninsula at the turn of the Christian era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two reports on excavations carried out in 1985-1986 by archaeologist Khaled Abdulaziz al-Dayel and published in the journal Atlal (1988, 1986) have revealed the existence of 'Hellenistic tombs' in the Dūmat al-Jandal oasis (ancient Adummatu/Dumat/Dumata) in northern Saudi Arabia. Although attributed more precisely to the Nabataeans by Khalil al-Muaikel (1994), these tombs nevertheless appear not to have interested specialists of this historical period in the least. Moreover, a re-examination of the architectural data and of the grave-goods indicates the difficulty of establishing a link between the unearthed remains and a purely 'Nabataean' cultural sphere (i.e. of the Petra type). This study therefore attempts to reassess published archaeological data, formulate questions on the Nabataean presence in the oasis, and also to demonstrate the relations connecting Dumat to the great Levantine and Mesopotamian cultural spheres between the first century BC and the second century AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of carbonised grape pips ( Vitis vinifera ssp.) is problematic, and the morphological features generally used to distinguish the wild subspecies V. vinifera ssp. sylvestris from the cultivated subspecies V. vinifera ssp. vinifera are not satisfactory. Different biometric studies were carried out on Nabataean and Roman seeds found at Petra, Jordan, dated to 150 B.C. – A.D. 400, and the results were compared to known phytogeographical and climatic data. Depending on the identification method selected, the seeds were attributed either to wild grapevines (based on the ratio of breadth over length, and on discriminant analyses of size variables such as pip length, stalk length, and chalaza position), or to an archaic variety of vine with seeds morphologically close to those of wild grapevines (ratio of stalk length over total pip length). The methods used here were applied to European grape pips; they should be tested on Near Eastern material. Archaeological data did not clarify the situation, and the importance of viticulture, which was prohibited during the Nabataean period, remains difficult to evaluate at Petra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]