One of the most famous facades in the world hides a deep secret. Beneath the iconic, ornately carved treasury building at the heart of the famous St. Peter archaeological site, excavators have stumbled upon a long-lost tomb containing 12 skeletons. One of the bodies was found clutching the top of a broken ceramic jug.
“We all froze when we saw what looked like a bowl,” recalls American TV presenter Josh Gates, who joined the dig for a documentary on the Discovery Channel.
“It looked almost identical to the Holy Grail depicted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which was found in an old building just above the tomb. “Imitating art was the best moment of life.”
Unfortunately, this ancient vessel cannot provide eternal youth or eternal wealth, but researchers are still very interested in the contents of the catacombs.
“We had no idea that this dig would completely change what we know about the treasure,” says archaeologist Pierce Paul Chrisman of the American Research Center in Jordan.
“We were absolutely stunned when we discovered this secret room,” Gates adds. “This is perhaps the most important tomb ever found at Petra and is a discovery of historic proportions, as almost all of the tombs at Petra were found empty.”
The ancient city of Petra was half-built, half-carved into the sandstone cliffs of a desert canyon in southern Jordan 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, a traditionally nomadic Bedouin Arab tribe.
This city became their capital, which they called Rakma. Although it is now one of the new seven wonders of the world, there are still many mysteries surrounding this place, which was once the center of trade between the Mediterranean, Arabia and Asia. By 700 AD, Petra was inexplicably abandoned and the Treasury Building was eventually cleared of artifacts.
As a result, no one knows how old the Treasury building is or what it was used for. It is called the treasury because it is believed that the sculptural vase at the top of the facade contains riches. But this ship could also be a monument to the royal family.
“It’s amazing that we now have pottery, eco-facts and deposits from the day the hoard was built,” says ecologist Tim Kinnaird from the University of St Andrews. “We have been working on assumptions and guesses before; setting an exact date will be a tremendous achievement for all of us.”
The discovery of the underground chamber was made by chance after researchers used ground-penetrating radar to assess flood risks. Archaeologists say the tomb was most likely built as a mausoleum and burial ground for King Areta IV Philopatris in the early 1st century AD.
King Philopatris was the ruler of the Nabataeans from 9 BC. By 40 AD Under his rule, what was once a community of goat and sheep herders had grown into a kingdom of wealthy merchants, allowing many buildings to be built in Petra.
This inevitably attracted the attention of the Romans. Around 100 AD, a powerful neighboring empire annexed Petra and renamed it Arab Petra. The Romans ruled the city for the next 300 years, after which the area was gradually abandoned. It is unknown what happened to the Nabataeans after this event. It is likely that humans gradually spread into Roman society. Most of what we know about them comes from Roman writings.
St Andrews geophysicist Richard Bates explains: “This discovery is of international importance as very few complete early Nabatean burials have previously been found at Petra.” “The tombs, their belongings and human remains are expected to help fill in the gaps in our knowledge of how Petra came to be and who the Nabataeans were.”
Grave excavation is presented in a two-part program. Excavation Unknownpart of a series Expedition UnknownIt was also broadcast on Discovery Channel this month.
Source: Port Altele
