Graven Images No Problem for Nabateans

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A recently restored painting from the Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan shows that Nabateans were much more comfortable with graven images than their Jewish neighbors in Judea.

The masterful first-century C.E. painting, known to scholars since the 1980s but only recently and painstakingly restored, was found in a cave outside the ancient city in the area of Beidha, more commonly referred to as “Little Petra.”

Amid the colorful painting’s naturalistic and intricately detailed backdrop of twisting, climbing vines and grape leaves are several depictions of winged, cupid-like children who play flutes, pick fruit from the vines and fend off birds who’ve come to nibble at grapes. Until the three-year restoration project was completed last summer, the painting’s brilliant colors, extraordinary details and luxurious craftsmanship—including the use of gilding and translucent glazes—had been almost completely obscured beneath a blackened veneer of soot and grime that had built up in the cave over the centuries.

While relatively little is known about Nabatean culture and religious beliefs, the painting’s lively, colorful depictions of winged children and birds suggest the Nabateans had no objection to adorning their houses and halls with Hellenistic-style figurative paintings. In fact, the 017018Nabateans, who grew wealthy from their control of the lucrative Arabian spice trade, appear to have taken great pride in incorporating the latest Hellenistic figurative styles into their own artistic traditions.^a This contrasted sharply with the religious sensitivities of Jews in neighboring Judea, where the production of figurative decoration, whether on paintings, coins or mosaics, was almost completely avoided, in deference to a strict interpretation of the Second Commandment’s prohibition against graven images.^b

The painting, one of the few in Nabatea to have survived in situ, adorns the ceiling and walls of a spacious rock-hewn chamber lined with benches. Experts believe the room may have been used as a ritual banquet hall for the cult of Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine whom the Nabateans commonly identified with their native god Dushara. Both history and archaeology record the Nabatean love of wine and drinking. The Greek geographer Strabo reports that Nabatean kings held “drinking bouts in magnificent style” during which participants could fill their cups as many as 11 times. And archaeologists working at Beidha have now identified the remains of vineyards and grape presses used to produce the wine that was so lavishly consumed at these banquets.

A recently restored painting from the Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan shows that Nabateans were much more comfortable with graven images than their Jewish neighbors in Judea.