“A rose-red city, half as old as time”—so the Nabatean site of Petra was described by 19th-century poet John William Burgon. Not “half as old as time,” and perhaps not even a “city,” Petra, in modern Jordan, has received too much attention from archaeologists, says Avraham Negev in “Understanding the Nabateans.” Although a major religious center, Petra was not a dwelling place, nor was it of major economic importance, in Negev’s view, and overemphasis on it has detracted from the study of other Nabatean sites. Negev’s excavations in Israel’s Negev desert have greatly increased our knowledge of the Nabatean […]
