T C O l he eramiC il amp as an i C C ndiCaTOr Of ulTural hange n s wiThin abaTaean OCieTy in p e eTra and iTs nvirOns CirCa Ce 106 gOrgias disserTaTiOns 32 near easTern sTudies 8 The Ceramic Oil Lamp as an Indicator of Cultural Change within Nabataean Society in Petra and its Environs circa CE 106 d g b eirdre raCe arreTT gOrgias press 2008 First Gorgias Press Edition, 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Gorgias Press LLC All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey ISBN 978-1-59333-628-8 gOrgias press 46 Orris Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA www.gorgiaspress.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barrett, Deirdre Grace. The ceramic oil lamp as an indicator of cultural change within Nabataean society in Petra and its environs circa ce 106 / Deirdre Grace Barrett. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-59333-628-8 1. Nabataeans. 2. Petra (Extinct city) 3. Ceramic lamps--Jordan--Petra (Ex- tinct city) I. Title. DS154.22.B37 2008 939’.48--dc22 2007044251 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standards. Printed in the United States of America TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents...................................................................................v List of Illustrations................................................................................xi Preface..................................................................................................xv Abbreviations......................................................................................xxi 1 Introduction and Theoretical Concerns.........................................1 The theory of Romanization..........................................................2 Cultural identity.............................................................................4 A question of authenticity..............................................................6 Religious practice............................................................................6 Roman religious practice................................................................7 The rise of Augustus.......................................................................7 Religious revival..............................................................................8 Nabataean religious practice.........................................................10 Recovering identity.......................................................................12 2 The Geography and History of Nabataea....................................15 The city and environs of Petra.....................................................15 The physical geography................................................................15 The human geography..................................................................16 Historical sources..........................................................................18 Language.......................................................................................20 The history of the Nabataean monarchy.....................................21 The establishment of local élites...................................................21 A brief history of the Nabataean royal house..............................22 3 Sacred and Ceremonial Sites.........................................................29 The city of Petra...........................................................................29 Temples and ceremonial sites.......................................................30 The Great Temple—a ceremonial site..........................................30 The Great Temple site (Fig. 3.3)...................................................32 v vi THE CERAMIC OIL LAMP The building of the Great Temple (Fig. 3.5)................................33 Chronology for the site................................................................41 Lamp fragments (NISP—number of identified specimens)..........41 The sanctuary of Khirbet et-Tannur............................................41 The temple complex.....................................................................42 Lamp fragments............................................................................44 Cult paraphernalia........................................................................44 High Places...................................................................................44 Funerary practice..........................................................................45 The North Ridge Shaft Tombs—a funerary site..........................46 The Ridge Church—constructed at the end of the fourth century CE (Bikai 2002:1).....................................................47 The Blue Chapel Complex—constructed before the mid-sixth century CE (Figs. 3.15, 3.16).................................................48 The Tombs—in use during the first century CE (Fig. 3.17).........48 The construction of Tomb 1 (information taken from Bikai and Perry 2001:59–60)...........................................................49 The construction of Tomb 2 (information taken from Bikai and Perry 2001:60–62)...........................................................49 Report on the skeletal material (information taken from Bikai and Perry 2001:62–65)...........................................................50 Lamp fragments—number of identified specimens (NISP)..........51 Comparative evidence from the three sites..................................52 4 The Ceramic Oil Lamp, Function, Form and Type....................53 Manufacture..................................................................................54 Sourcing of ceramics.....................................................................56 Using INAA.................................................................................56 Function.......................................................................................57 Lamps used in religious practice...................................................58 Lamps used as funerary offerings.................................................59 Antiquarian Collections and Catalogues of Lamps......................60 Methodology................................................................................60 Lamp fragments as data................................................................60 Determining lamp presence from the number of identified specimens (NISP)..................................................................61 Weight versus number of fragments.............................................62 Great Temple site and North Ridge funerary site.......................62 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii Khirbet et-Tannur site..................................................................63 Typology for lamps found within sites........................................64 Chronological Periods..................................................................64 Chronology (Rast 1992)................................................................65 Use of Munsell Color Charts.......................................................65 Notes and Conventions................................................................66 Typology..............................................................................................68 Hellenistic imported lamps and local copies (Dated from mid- second century BCE–first century CE)................................68 1. Delphinform (Fig. 4.5)..........................................................68 2. Lamp fragments related to delphinform...............................68 3. Wheelmade round lamp (Fig. 4.6).........................................69 4. Syrian lamp type (Fig. 4.7)....................................................70 5. Lampfiller for oil lamps (Fig. 4.8).........................................71 6. Apprentice lamp (Fig. 4.9)....................................................72 7. Ptolemaic Egyptian lamp with palmette (Fig. 4.10)..............73 8. Herodian lamp (Fig. 4.11).....................................................73 9. Polycandela (Fig. 4.12)..........................................................74 Roman and imported lamps, local copies and Nabataean lamps (Dated from first century BCE–first century CE)................75 10. Roman rosette lamp (Fig. 4.13).............................................75 11. Locally made rosette lamp (Fig. 4.14)...................................76 12. Locally made lamp with scallop shell motif (Fig. 4.15)........78 13. Roman banded decorated discus lamp (Fig. 4.16).................79 14. Locally made banded decorated discus lamp (Fig. 4.17).......80 15. Roman decorated discus lamp (Fig. 4.18)..............................80 16. Locally made decorated discus lamp (Fig. 4.19)....................81 17. Locally made discus lamp with Eros motif (Fig. 4.20)..........82 18. Roman symplegma lamp (Fig. 4.21)......................................83 19. Unidentified locally made base with potter’s mark—no example shown......................................................................84 Nabataean indigenous lamps dated to first century CE...............84 20–24. Nabataean volute type A and B lamps (Figs. 4.22, 4.23)...84 20. Nabataean volute type A lamp (Fig. 4.22)............................85 21. Nabataean volute type B (Fig. 4.23)......................................85 22. Nabataean volute type B inscribed (Fig. 4.24)......................86 23. Nabataean volute types A and B fragments..........................87 viii THE CERAMIC OIL LAMP 24. Fragments of Nabataean lamps from bases, nozzles and handles (examples not shown)..............................................88 Imported lamps and Nabataean local copies (Dated from first century–fourth century CE).................................................88 25. Double axes shoulder decoration (Fig. 4.25).........................88 26. Wheelmade socket and saucer lamp and stand (Fig. 4.26)....89 27. Roman round lamp (Fig. 4.27)..............................................92 28. Roman round lamp with ovolos (Fig. 4.28)..........................93 29. Locally made round lamp (Fig. 4.29)....................................94 30. Locally made round lamp with ovolos (Fig. 4.30)................94 31. Fragments of Roman lamps from bases, nozzles and handles (not shown)..............................................................95 32. Gerasan type lamp (Fig. 4.31)...............................................95 33. Samaritan type lamp (Fig. 4.32)............................................96 Early Byzantine–Late Byzantine period lamps (Dated from fourth–seventh century CE).................................................97 34. Zoological motif (Figs. 4.33a and b).....................................97 35. Pear-shaped lamp with tongue on nozzle (Fig. 4.34)............99 36. Slipper lamp with knob or tongue handle (Fig. 4.35).........100 37. Slipper lamp with crosses and/or spoked wheels (Fig. 4.36).....................................................................................101 38. Slipper lamp with raised dots (Fig. 4.37)............................102 39. Slipper lamps with potters’ marks (Fig. 4.38).....................103 Late Byzantine–Islamic Umayyad Dynasty lamps (Dated from the late fifth–eighth century CE)........................................104 40. Miniature slipper lamp (Fig. 4.39)......................................104 41. Wheelmade boot-shaped lamp (Fig. 4.40)...........................105 42. Slipper lamp with high handle (Fig. 4.41)...........................105 43. Umayyad ovoid shaped lamp with horror vacui decoration (Fig. 4.42)............................................................................106 44. Umayyad lamp with spoked-wheel on base (Fig. 4.43)107_Toc185231031 45. Unidentified fragments (not shown)...................................108 5 Distribution of Lamps within the Sites......................................109 Percentage charts........................................................................110 Locus charts................................................................................110 A Question of Space and Function....................................................112 Distribution patterns for lamps..................................................112 TABLE OF CONTENTS ix The Great Temple—a ceremonial site........................................112 The Lapidary West.....................................................................112 The Propylaeum.........................................................................114 The Lower Temenos...................................................................114 The Upper Temenos...................................................................118 The temple..................................................................................120 The North Ridge—a funerary site..............................................122 Ridge Church..............................................................................123 The tombs...................................................................................125 Tomb 1—functioning as a tomb ca. 20 BCE–CE 20 (dating taken from painted wares found in the fill—Schmid 1996:173–4)..........................................................................125 Tomb 2—functioning as a tomb ca. CE 20–100 (dating taken from painted wares found in the fill—Schmid 1996:173–4) 127 Blue Chapel, Building 2..............................................................129 Khirbet et-Tannur—a sacred site.................................................130 Lamp presence (Fig. 5.1).............................................................130 Summary for Khirbet et-Tannur................................................130 Dating by lamps for site..............................................................131 6 Cultural change and Religious Identity: A Worldview Reconsidered...............................................................................133 The North Ridge funerary site...................................................136 Lamp selections made with regard to funerary ritual in Tomb 1 and Tomb 2.........................................................................136 Cultural change in the first century CE.....................................137 The Great Temple site................................................................138 Cultural change during the first century CE..............................138 A religious identity in the Great Temple...................................139 A religious use in the Lower Temenos?.....................................144 Khirbet et-Tannur—a sanctuary.................................................147 The deities worshipped at Khirbet et-Tannur............................147 Lamps specifically made for the sanctuary.................................149 The myth of the Kore (source: The Homeric Hymn to Demeter)..............................................................................152 Mystery cult of Kore at Khirbet et-Tannur................................154 Religious choices at Khirbet et-Tannur......................................156 Recovering identity.....................................................................158 x THE CERAMIC OIL LAMP Bibliography.......................................................................................161 Sources Cited..............................................................................161 Greek and Latin Literary Sources..............................................175