LONDON: According to The Times, archaeologists have discovered hundreds of artifacts and human remains in a secret tomb in Petra, Jordan.
Researchers may be able to answer long-standing doubts about the ancient city's origins and its builders thanks to the discovery of the 2,000-year-old underground location.
The tomb, which was beneath Petra's Treasury, had hundreds of bronze, iron, and ceramic objects in addition to twelve well-preserved skeletons.
The renowned structure, which has been portrayed in movies like "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," was excavated beneath it by the combined US-Jordanian archaeological team that discovered the discovery.
The tomb is thought to have been commissioned by residents of high social status based on its central location inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lead archaeologist Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research, anticipates hundreds more items to be found as excavation proceeds.
The majority of scholars now believe that Petra's Treasury was a tomb constructed by the Nabataean King Aretas IV, who ruled from approximately 9 B.C. to 40 A.D., although the name was given to it because of an early notion that it contained a pharaoh's treasure.
The most recent discovery has confirmed this, as researchers think the unearthed tomb predates the Treasury.
According to Creasman, his team used luminescence dating, which measures the last time mineral grains were exposed to sunlight, to date the concealed tomb to the first century B.C. The tomb was initially found by the researchers using ground-penetrating radar.
It is uncommon for its contents to be recovered. Over the years, numerous more tombs have been found all over Petra, although the most of them were empty after being utilized several times over the centuries.
"Human remains in a tomb are uncommon in Petra," Creasman stated. "Therefore, it becomes extremely valuable when you do find one."
The Nabataean culture was first documented around 312 B.C. Antigonus, a former general and Alexander the Great's heir who inherited a sizable portion of the Macedonian Empire, had attempted an attack, but they had repulsed it.
"It takes more than a century before we read about them in a text again, and by then they have this fully developed society and Petra is being built in the sense that we know it today," Creasman explained. "They just appear in the historical record."
Although little is known about early Nabataean society, the fact that royal and common Nabataean graves are nearly identical in historical records suggests that the civilization was very egalitarian.
According to Creasman, the finding of the Petra tomb might provide fresh insights into the diet and nutrition of ancient Arab society.
He went on to say, "This will help us learn more about a shared, regional past." A multicultural trade community, the Nabateans were only successful because they came together as a people. I'm hoping they can impart some knowledge to us today.
Source arabnews.com
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