Beidha in Jordan

A Dionysian Hall in a Nabataean Landscape

Bibliographic Data

ID4542345
AuthorsPatricia Maynor Bikai, Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos (0009-0008-6714-0901), Shari Lee Saunder, Shari Lee Saunders
Year2008
Volume112
Issue3
Pages465-507
Publication date2008-07-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.3764/aja.112.3.465
OpenAlexW2324624952
LanguageEN
Citations received10

In 2005, at Beidha, a northern suburb of the Nabataean capital of Petra, the remains of an elaborately decorated freestanding building were uncovered. Although little of the structure remains, architectural elements found at the site make it possible to propose a tentative reconstruction of the building, the main part of which was a colonnaded hall or oecus approached through a courtyard. The oecus may have been a triclinium of the Nabataean ruler Malichos I (59/58-30 B.C.E.). The elements uncovered display a wealth of imported Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Eastern architectural and artistic ideas adapted to local use. The building is located in an area that was a wine-production center in the Nabataean era, and the decorative program of the oecus is Dionysian. This article argues that the complex, which was abandoned shortly after it went into use, was built to extol tryphé (living in luxury) and to link the Nabataean royal house to Dionysos and Alexander

Ancient history · Archaeology · Capital (architecture) · Capital city · Economic geography · Geography · Ruler · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Architecture · History

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