Recent research within the urban limits of Nabataean Petra, Jordan, has identified different social groups that were organised within spatially defined social 'districts' (cf. Nehmé 2013). The evidence from Petra clearly highlights a Nabataean social structure that was deeply rooted in family, clan, or tribal traditions, which can be traced back to the nomadic origins of the Nabataeans (cf. Schmid 2013 and 2021). While such sociopolitical aspects of Nabataean culture have already been extensively explored in urban Petra, investigations of similar aspects in Petra's hinterland are only beginning to gain scholarly attention. As part of a more comprehensive archaeological study (Kennedy 2021), important archaeological sites were identified in the Petraean hinterland as possible archaeological markers of distinct social landscapes in Petra's surroundings. These include specific cultic sites such as rural sanctuaries or isolated cultic installations, funerary monuments as well as possible rural Nabataean mansions (Kennedy 2021, 487-98; 516-20). Arguably, such sites highlight the complex social structure of Petra's hinterland, which can be characterised as an intricate patchwork of various social groups as is assumed for urban Petra. However, the identification and analysis of these sites has so far been based almost entirely on very preliminary survey results. Therefore, the Petra Hinterland Social Landscapes Project (PHSLP) seeks to correct the record by providing detailed archaeological data of selected hinterland sites through historical and archaeological work. Overall, the PHSLP aims at revising our understanding of the socio-political makeup of Petra's hinterland. In order to achieve these very general project aims, the first site of these presumed archaeological markers that was investigated during the first project season in 2022 is known locally as Sahir al-Begh'er, located immediately west of the Nabataean-Roman settlement of Ras Slaysil, situated c. 6 km northwest of Petra (Figure 1). Among other monumental structures, Ras Slaysil features a small, open-air sanctuary (known as ad-Dahune Slaysil) built on a rugged cliff of volcanic stone that overlooks an extremely steep, 450 m drop towards the Wadi Arabah in the west (Lindner 2003, 168-69; Alcock and Knodell 2012; Lindner and Gunsam 1995a, 268-69). After a difficult descent from the sanctuary along ancient pathways (Figure 2), the monumental Nabataean structure known locally as Sahir al-Begh'er lies at the very bottom (Figures 3 and 4).

Since 2010 the Petra Area and Wādī Silaysil Survey (PAWS) has undertaken a systematic regional survey of some of the immediate environs of Petra, as part of the wider Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP). This survey is designed to investigate the changing natural and cultural landscapes of the Petra area in diachronic fashion and from a multidisciplinary perspective, employing intensive pedestrian survey methods more familiar in the Mediterranean than the Middle East. The first season (2010) focused on three areas, all north of Petra proper: Wādī BaqΚah; the vicinity of Little Petra and the Neolithic and Islamic villages at BayΡā; and Wādī Silaysil, site of a Nabataean sanctuary and settlement (RaΜs al-Silaysil). The second season (2011) prioritized closing gaps between these three zones and expanded coverage eastwards towards the Sharā Mountains. The study region contained several known sites and features, some even cursorily published. Shifting from a site-oriented to a landscape perspective, however, we recovered evidence of human activity from the Palaeolithic to the present, as well as several unexpected patterns: a wide distribution of late prehistoric lithics, an Iron Age presence, and an early (Hellenistic) occupation at RaΜs al-Silaysil and several other locations throughout the landscape. We also initiated geological and ethnographic studies, as well as programmes of architectural study and route-based analysis of the built and natural environment. This paper summarizes the goals, methods, and results of PAWS.

2020

Recent research within the urban limits of Nabataean Petra has identified different social groups that were organized within spatially defined social 'districts.' Together with other archaeological evidence from within the city, this suggests a clear stratification of the cityscape into distinct social spaces. The evidence from Petra clearly highlights a Nabataean social structure that was deeply rooted in family, clan or tribal traditions, which can be traced back to the nomadic origins of the Nabataeans. While this correlates well with the evidence in urban Petra, the socio-political organization of Petra's hinterland remains largely unknown. This paper therefore aims at offering additional insights into rural Petra's socio-political make-up by presenting selected archaeological sites that were identified as possible markers of distinct social landscapes in Petra's surroundings. Specifically, this contribution focuses on presumed rural Nabataean mansions. This paper examines how these structures might reflect new perspectives on the social stratification outside Petra's city center in Nabataean-Roman times and argues that such sites contribute to our understanding of the complex social structure of Petra's hinterland, which can be characterized as an intricate patchwork of various social groups as is assumed for urban Petra.

American Journal of Archaeology, 2017

In three field seasons, between 2010 and 2012, the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP) conducted a diachronic archaeological survey of the northern hinterland of Petra, Jordan. While regional reconnaissance has a long history in Jordan, it has rarely been conducted with the “intensive” methodologies today characteristic of projects elsewhere, most proximately in the Mediterranean. Such an approach is ideally suited for the territory north of Petra, the setting for a wide-ranging variety of human activity from the Lower Paleolithic to the present. The survey component of BUPAP, the Petra Area and Wadi Silaysil Survey (or PAWS), covered some 1,000 ha (10 km2), most of which was traversed by closely spaced (10 m) fieldwalking in 1,321 individual survey units. In the course of this work, PAWS recorded patterns in the distribution of tens of thousands of artifacts. In addition, more than 1,000 individual archaeological features were identified and documented; geophysical survey was conducted in several areas; and test excavations were carried out in 10 locations of particular interest. This article provides an overview of the PAWS survey and related activity—discussing motivations, methods, and results—and touches on key issues concerning the long-term human history of the study area.

American Journal of Archaeology, 2017

In three field seasons, between 2010 and 2012, the Brown University Petra Archaeo- logical Project (BUPAP) conducted a diachronic archaeological survey of the northern hinterland of Petra, Jordan. While regional reconnaissance has a long history in Jordan, it has rarely been conducted with the “intensive” methodologies today characteristic of projects elsewhere, most proximately in the Mediterranean. Such an approach is ideally suited for the territory north of Petra, the setting for a wide-ranging variety of human activity from the Lower Paleolithic to the present. The survey component of BUPAP, the Petra Area and Wadi Silaysil Survey (or PAWS), covered some 1,000 ha (10 km2), most of which was traversed by closely spaced (10 m) fieldwalking in 1,321 individual survey units. In the course of this work, PAWS recorded patterns in the distribution of tens of thousands of artifacts. In addition, more than 1,000 individual archaeological features were identified and documented; geophysical survey was conducted in several areas; and test excavations were carried out in 10 locations of particular interest. This article provides an overview of the PAWS survey and related activity—discussing motivations, methods, and results—and touches on key issues concerning the long-term human history of the study area.

This paper focuses on agriculture and its importance in Petra and the surrounding area in the sixth century AD, according to the information derived from the scrolls. It appears that agriculture played a major role in the economy of Petra and its hinterland at the time these documents were written. The papyri repeatedly mention agricultural lands throughout the region and in many cases specify their locations and toponyms. Some of the latter are significantly still in use. There is also information about springs, some of which are still active and contribute to local agriculture. Some papyri even contain information about the type of plants grown in the area. Finally, the authors present the current state of agriculture at selected places and compare it with the state of agriculture in the sixth century AD in the study area.

The Petra Area and Wadi Silaysil Survey (or PAWS) undertook its initial season of fieldwork in the summer of 2010 as a major component of the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP). The PAWS research area is located some three to ten kilometers north of the Petra city-center, between the modern village communities of Umm Sayhun and Bayda, within which three zones were intensively surveyed: Areas a, b, and c (Fig. 1). Given its close proximity to Petra, it is no surprise that previous travelers, explorers, and archaeologists have investigated this region, with the earliest accounts going back to the 19th century (Robinson and Smith 1841). However, the diachronic, systematic, and intensive design of the PAWS survey represents a novel approach to the documentation of this landscape that has yielded substantial and provocative results after only a single season of fieldwork. In approximately a month long period between 28 June and 31 July 2010, the PAWS team systematically surveyed 133 hectares, in which material culture from all periods (from Paleolithic to the present) was counted and collected for some 334 Survey Units, and over 240 features, ranging from tombs to water management structures to agricultural installations, were recorded. The intention of this article is briefly to review previous research concerning the survey area, to discuss our methodological and theoretical concerns, and to summarize the preliminary results of the 2010 season.

World Archaeology, 2015

Since 2010 the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP) has been conducting a diachronic regional survey of the landscape north of Petra. In 2013 the authors conducted ethnographic interviews with members of the local communities surrounding Petra, the Bdul and Ammarin Bedouin tribes of Umm Sayhun and Bayda. These interviews aimed to understand contemporary engagements with, and attitudes towards, a landscape that has overwhelmingly been valued for its archaeological and heritage resources. This article combines regional survey and ethnographic methodologies in order to construct complex, multivocal narratives about archaeological remains. We also suggest locally appropriate modes of advocacy that archaeologists might productively pursue at Petra. In particular the results of our project highlight the importance of integrating the historically underrepresented voices of local groups into dialogues concerning conservation, water management and tourism, as well as diachronic interpretations of landscapes.