ACOR Newsletter mm I A. Vol. 15.2 Winter 2003 Beidha al-Amti Attracted by the presence of water, salt, and high quality flint to make tools, early nomads were using the Beidha Patricia Maynor Bikai area as early as the 11th millennium B.C., but it is for the village of the 7th millennium B.C. (Neolithic era) that Beidha is famous. Among the buildings uncovered by Diana Kirkbride s excavations between 1958 and 1983, it is possible to actually see one of humankind s great leaps. The nomads who were settling down to become fanners rather than wandering hunters and gatherers of wild foods initially built round houses. These were easy to construct but had a serious drawback it is difficult to add a room to a round structure. At Beidha, the struggle for a solution is visible and, ultimately, rectangular structures emerge. Beidha is just a few minutes drive north of Petra, and it is often called Little Petra because in Siq al-Barid (Cold l)Road from Wadi Musa and Petra; 2)Road from Canyon) there are Nabataean carved fa ades that make it Shobak, Hisheh and the Amareen village; 3)Road reminiscent of Petra. However, most of the structures were from Wadi Araba; 4)Entry to the Little Siq (Siq al- probably not tombs but homes and shops. The location Barid); 5)Siq al-Amti (named for a tree that grows in the canyon); 6)Nabataean village, Umm Qussa; could be easily defended; one can see remains of a door in 7)Neolithic village the narrow entry. In a nearby area called Umm Qussa, there are many caves that were used for storage and as housing. These are a good illustra- tion of the way the Nabataeans used the soft sandstone as a building material in an area where wood was very scarce. The multiple cisterns and water channels also demonstrate the ability of the Nabataeans, and the other inhabitants of the region before them and since, to exist in an arid environment by saving every drop of wa- ter that they could. One large Nabataean cistern is in use by the Amareen Bedouin of Beidha. The Amareen were tradition- ally camel and goat herders who provided services to passing caravans. As late as 1929, caravans of 300 camels could be seen at Beidha. View to the east in Siq al-Amti with a north/south walkway near the cl i ff and an east/ west walkway leading to the square building in the foreground; part of the South It is also possible that large caravans Field is to the right; photo by Fraser Parsons stopped in Beidha in the Nabataean era. the interior were inconclusive as to whether there were once any intermediate supports, either walls or piers, that would have allowed the building to be roofed. Recent mechanized plowing within the build- ing (to the sub-foundation level in at least some areas) may have permanently destroyed the evidence for such supports. Some insubstantial fragments were found and one large stone, somewhat displaced by plowing, may constitute all of any possible evidence of piers for roof supports. Displaced stones in or near the building included a simple capital and fragments of a double-faced arch, the original location of which is unknown. The building itself yielded no evidence as to its use, but the surrounding area may be more helpful. Access to the building was not direct; it was ap- proached by a walkway up the eastern side of the canyon that measured ca. 3 m wide. W. 111 on the outer side of the walkway is 126 m long. It is poorly dressed on the side facing out to the canyon but finished to the sidewalk side. W. 120 across part of the south perimeter of what is here called the South Field is of similar construction, and it joins with W. 111. Toward the west, W. 120 meets W. 128 and W. 118, which are larger and were perhaps older terrace Ground plan of part of the complex by C. Kanellopoulos and F. Ishakat walls. East of W. Ill are W. 133 and W. 103; these and bed- rock in some .••fafSi^ places formed the eastern boundary of the walkway. Op- posite the build- ing, a break in W. Ill has a substanti al doorway (ca. 3 View to the south of the walkway along the east m wide). Access side of the canyon; W. 111 is to the right to the square building could View to the southwest across the South Field; photo by Fraser Parsons be limited by that door. From There is no place inside the city of Petra for large groups of the door another camels and so there had to be one or more stations outside of walkway con- the city. The existence of large cisterns and open fields for sisting of W. grazing, plus the security offered by Siq al-Barid for actual 108 and W. 102, trading, make it likely that the Beidha area was used by the also ca. 3 m caravans. It is against that background that visitors have wide, led across speculated as to the nature of the large square building in Right: The south half of the doorway at the the canyon to eastern end of W. 103/108; note the cut for the Beidha s al-Amti Canyon. Some called the building a large the square lower hinge of the door khan; others saw it as a fort. With this as background, ACOR building. Thus began excavations in al-Amti in the fall of 2003. the South Field was completely enclosed by a wall system; it The large square building (ca. 24.5 m on a side) at the covers ca. 13,000 m2. Farther north, W. 116 creates the North center of the canyon has been reduced to its foundation and in Field of ca. 10,000m2. some places to the sub-foundation. In the center of the east side One clue that our structure is neither a khan nor a fort is in (W. 100) are two steps that lead to the interior. Soundings on the walkway of W. 102/108; it has well cut channels for water walls themselves may have had no height to them as the huge stones of the only preserved course seem to be a sort of enormous stylobate. Further, unless the two fields and the building were a unit, it is difficult to explain the door in W. 111. If the whole area was a winery, it still does not tell us the actual use of the building, particularly if it was unroofed. The acreage in the enclosures of the two fields would have, very conserva- tively, produced the equivalent of 8000 modern bottles of W. 102 with a slot for a channel in it; note the large size of the stones wine. This amount is a commercial quantity, so perhaps the in the upper course building was for storage of production equipment. Press no One of the large stones of W. 102 being reset Press no. 2 Dating the complex will not be simple; there was an exceptional paucity of finds; they range from the 1 st c. A.D. on. Restoration of W. Ill The early material, however, may be debris created by the robbery of Nabataean tombs (see plan). A coin, in very poor or water pipes; the channels are aligned across from each other condition, of a type belonging to the late 4th to early 5th c. A.D. along those walls. These suggest that the two enclosed fields was found in a sounding east of the foundation of W. 100. were being irrigated, something that would be unlikely if Staff members were architect Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos, camels or horses were being housed in the fields. The presence archaeologists Shari Saunders and Pierre M. Bikai, and Eng. of two wine presses adjacent to the enclosures makes it Tahani es-Salihi of the Department of Antiquities. Na if possible that grapes were being grown in the fields. Z. al- Zaban carried out the conservation work. Work was funded by Muheisen (SHAJ 4) has already noted the presence of wine a grant from the AMIR program (a project of USAID, the presses at Beidha. Local informants state that the name Beidha United States Agency for International Development) and by itself refers to white wine. income from ACOR s Petra Endowment, a grant from U SAID. Unfortunately, that does not lead us to a solution to the In-kind donations were given by the Department of Antiqui- question of the purpose of the square enclosure or building. It ties, by the Petra Region Authority (thank you to Director must, however, have been associated with the fields. The door Shahadeh Abu-Hdeib and Eng. Sa ad al-Rawajfa), and by in W. 111 could isolate the building as well as the North and Hashemite University (thank you to Dr. Talal Akasheh). South Fields from traffic on the W. 103/133/111 walkway, but ACOR also thanks the Department of Antiquities, in the walkway of W. 102/108 was probably just an elevated path particular the director, Dr. Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, and Mr. above an irrigation system and the consequent muddy fields. Suleiman Farajat, director of the Petra National Park, for their Project architect Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos suggests that the assistance. Emergency Excavations in the Wadi Fidan: Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, Director General of the DOA, Development, Education, and Preservation convened an urgent meeting of experts where archaeologists and JVA representatives could meet and discuss what could be Out of all things bad, something good can come.