Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
A secret tomb has been discovered underneath Al-Khazneh – the Treasury building at the World Heritage Site of the ancient city Petra in Jordan.
The unexpected find includes the remains of 12 skeletons.
Petra (originally known to inhabitants as Raqēmō) is an entire city carved by hand into the walls of a desert canyon. It was built possibly as early as the 5th century BCE by the Nabataeans – a nomadic Arab people.
People have lived in the region around Petra for at least 9,000 years.
The ancient city was announced in 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
The hidden tomb was discovered when researchers conducted a remote sensing scan with electromagnetic conductivity and ground-penetrating radar to look for structures beneath the surface.
“The main purpose of the survey was to assess the condition of the areas around the Treasury, courtyard, the plaza, the exit of the Siq and the wadi into which they all feed, in advance of potential future works to divert and better control flood waters,” says team member Richard Bates, a geophysicist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
When structures resembling chambers were found beneath the Treasury, the team received permission to dig.
“The discovery is of international significance, as very few complete burials from the early Nabataeans have ever been recovered from Petra. The burials, their goods, and the human remains can all be expected to help fill the gaps in our knowledge of how Petra came to be and who the Nabataeans were,” Bates adds.
One skeleton in the chamber was found clutching a ceramic vessel.
Tim Kinnaird, a geologist also at the University of St Andrews, sampled and dated the sediment surrounding the burials and the tomb enclosure.
The walls within the tomb were dated to the mid-1st century BCE to early 2nd century CE.
“The tomb was most likely built as a mausoleum and crypt in the Nabatean Kingdom at the beginning of the first century AD for Aretas IV Philopatris,” Kinnaird says. “Few remains have ever been found in the tombs due to their subsequent use and reuse over the last two millennia.”
“It’s fantastic that we now have the pottery, ecofacts and sediments to date when the treasury was constructed. Previously we’ve worked on assumptions and conjectures – to have a definitive date will be a monumental achievement for us all.”
“There is so much that we have yet to learn about the Treasury,” says archaeologist Pearce Paul Creasman, Executive Director of the American Center of Research in Jordan.
“When was this remarkable structure built, and why? Little did we know that this dig might completely change what we know about the Treasury and help solve the mysteries of the Nabataean people. With the support of the Jordanian government, this excavation is bringing us closer than ever to answers.”
The hidden tomb’s discovery features in a new documentary, “Excavation Unknown”, hosted by adventurer Josh Gates.
