The palaces of the Nabataean kings at Petra

Abstract

According to ancient literary sources, the Nabataean kings had royal quarters in the city of Petra in southern Jordan. No further details are available. Can the sources be trusted? And, if so, what exactly did these royal quarters look like? Recent fieldwork at Petra revealed two distinctive sites as being the most probable candidates for royal residences. The first is on Umm al-Biyārah, best known for its Iron Age village. A survey in recent years has shown that during the first century the Nabataeans constructed spectacular buildings on that prominent spot, overlooking the entire area. While these buildings can be considered as a royal residence, due to various factors, they most probably should not be identified with the main palace of the Nabataean kings, since that structure is likely to be located within the city of Petra. There is however another location, at the foot of al-Khubthah, where all the prerequisites for such a structure are fulfilled. A new survey corroborates the hypothesis of the main palace of the Nabataean kings being located there and, consequently, not in any of the other locations proposed to date.