A Precis of Petra

Enshrouded in mystery, awe, and steeped in history, the ancient city of Petra and its ruins leave tourists and scholars alike gravid with curiosity. The erection of a civilization in the desert seems mind-boggling enough, but when we factor in its engineering prowess and ingenuity and knack for business, we arrive at an inevitable conclusion: the city is not only an artistic and architectural marvel, but an ancient information highway. 

Commerce in Petra, desert style 

Picture, if you can, a bustling desert trading hub rife with precious commodities and diverse clientele. From nomadic Arabian tribes to East Asian explorers, people convened to barter and negotiate over precious goods that drove commerce in Petra. From about 200 BCE to 106 CE, the resident-Petran Nabataeans profited from these exchanges both financially and intellectually, inventing impressive technologies like rock-cut irrigation systems that extracted water from local permanent water sources. Estimates indicate that the Nabataeans managed to build and sustain a society of up to 30,000 inhabitants. A formidable feat, given the particulars of their surroundings and multiple invasion attempts. In addition to this impressive infrastructural achievement, Petra used a distinct business tactic that would help them thrive as a society for centuries. 

Archaeological evidence hints at a society that functioned as a commercial epicentre. Acting as a service centre and shelter, this antique hospice for passers-by served as succour for weary travellers. This incentivized them to give back and exchange goods with the city’s inhabitants. Well, that may be a rather charitable interpretation. A more fitting description would be that of a fixed toll, helping to pay for development, support maintenance, and drive commerce in Petra. While explorers from all around the world imported exotic items like silk and spices, the most lucrative products weren’t material. The confluence and accumulation of ideas resulted in remnants of Chinese, Greek, Middle Eastern, Roman, and Indian philosophies. 

However, the Nabataeans were eventually overwhelmed by the Romans in the beginning of the 2nd century CE, leading to the Christianization of Petra and a drastic change in civilizational complexion. Consequently, the trade success petered out and led to the city’s eventual commercial decline. 

Contemplating motivations

The more we investigate the history of our species, the more we discover surprising connections, collaborations, and comity between tribes and peoples of different kinds. Not to paint too rosy a historical picture, but there has always been potential for us humans to not only peacefully exchange material goods, but the most valuable products of all time: ideas. To reaffirm, commerce in Petra distinguishes itself not only in terms of approach, but commodity.

While Petra did indeed become a province of the Roman empire and convert to Christianity, only to be conquered by Islamic rule in the seventh century, what we see is a breathtaking pastiche of civilizational influences whose architectural integrity survives to this day. Insightfully, the Nabataeans seemed to have adopted a vast array of external architectural traditions worth emulating, ranging from Greek and Egyptian to Mesopotamian and Indian. Residual structures are still visible, including Hellenistic facades with Nabataean rock-cut temples and tombs, boasting both Corinthian and Assyrian features. More than mere speculation, the presence of Asian elephant heads on temple columns suggests admiration and appreciation of Indian fauna.

Acknowledging culture without reservation 

These facts beg the question: for a previously nomadic and tent-dwelling tribe, why the sudden fascination with architectural splendour and diversity? Commerce in Petra and business intelligence certainly helped to facilitate civilizational flourishing, but it was not a sufficient impetus to explain such sophistication.

Optimistic views, such as my own, query if the Nabataeans largely possessed open minds and wished to codify and edify that which they perceived as beautiful, exotic, and worth preserving. While it did make for good optics, the idealist in me refuses to accept the cynical marketing theory. Carvings and erections are not only durable but costly to replace or adjust. This means shrewd business people like the Nabataeans must have put considerable forethought into their expensive constructions. I’ll add that the Nabataeans strike me as a rather perceptive and intelligent society, with their ability to capitalize on the trade economy and learn the intricacies of stone carving and architecture so rapidly. 

Whether you believe them to have been hucksters swollen with greed or curious sophisticates, their engineering prowess and cultural aptitude is undeniable. As modern archaeology strives to learn more of their achievements and contributions to antiquity, we only stand to benefit from knowledge of Petra and its rare status as a multicultural paragon of the classical world.