[Completed project]
Judith McKenzie
Khirbet et-Tannur is a hilltop sanctuary on the King’s Highway, near Khirbet edh-Dharih which was the third caravan stop 70 km north of the Nabataean capital Petra. In use from the 2nd century B.C. to the 4/6th century A.D., this temple complex is exceptional because of the information it provides about religious practice due to the astonishing preservation of carbonized cult offerings and vessels. Specialist examination of these revealed continuity of Iron Age religious customs after the Roman conquest of Arabia (in A.D. 106) in a sanctuary of local design, but with architectural decoration and gods in classical form in a fascinating iconographic programme. The site reveals the process of the cessation of religious practice, without conversion, and also provides new information about iconoclasm at Nabataean sites.
Further details of Khirbet et-Tannur Nabataean Temple Project (PDF)
https://www.classics.ox.ac.uk/khirbet-et-tannur-nabataean-temple-project-jordan
