Petra

Petra

Lawrence Technological University

November 30, 2016

Al-Khazneh

Allen, Will (photograph)

Single built works

architectural elements

2015

Jordan (nation)

Petra (deserted settlement)

Nabatean

Hellenistic

rock-cut tombs

putlog holes

façades

Detail view of the slots or putlog holes along the side of the facade of the Treasury or Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan. Scholars for years have debated what the holes were used for, some thought that they were footholds for ancient workers, others for holding scaffolding, but a recent paper ("Notes on Nabataean Construction Techniques: A Critical Review and Investigation of El-Khazneh Slots Function," by Naif A. Haddad) asserts that the slots ... "contrary to some recent suggestions, the genius architect created a unique lightweight and moveable wooden socketed diagonal cantilever scaffolding system, relying on a few thin beams and strategically cut slots. Although this scaffolding technique concept was initially conceived and thus borrowed from the Greco-Roman world ... because of the particular landscape formation in Petra and the level of detailed sculpture, the painted decorated stucco and materials available therein, the result is purely Nabataean,"--"Notes on Nabataean Construction Techniques: A Critical Review and Investigation of El-Khazneh Slots Function," by Naif A. Haddad in Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry, Vol. 15, No 3, (2015), pp. 17-30, 2015.

sandstone

Treasury’s façade (24.9 meters wide x 38.77 meters high)

jpeg

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