Talk:Petra

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[edit] Kabah

Removed "kabah" statement, as the Kabah is absolutely NOT worshiped by Muslims.

I am not sure that the Category:Roman towns and cities is suitable for this city, as it simple was not :) Romans passed by the city, it was under the Roman Empire at some point, but it was build long before the Roman Empire entered the region, and it have a totally different architectural style than Roman cities. I am no expert, but this is how I see it. -- Isam 01:46, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The Romans used it as an administrative center and built temples, a street grid, and a Roman-style theater. From the second century until its abandonment the city was almost completely Romanized (and later, Byzantinized). Fishal 20:44, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Museum Exhibit

The Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio has an exhibit of artifacts on display as of 10/25/04. There is a traveling museum show of two aspects of Petra. Petra, Lost City of Stone (archeology) and The Bedouin Tribes of Petra, Photographs 1986-2003 by Vivian Ronay. This show is currently at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa and will be there until January 2007. Prior to this it was at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

[edit] Petra in Biblical Prophecy

I question the necessity of the following statement: "There is even some speculation that some Christians have been slipping Bibles and many essential survival items into Petra in preparation for that moment." It seems extremely speculative and unnecessary. I have been to Petra recently and saw nothing to corroborate this statement. - Cybjorg 15:07, 24 September 2005 (UTC)

I changed the title to better reflect the subject of the section: The Speculative Future of Petra. The Bible never mentions Petra in the end times, and to use such a title simply reflects scholarly conjecture. I also removed the following controversial line:

There is even some speculation that some Christians have been slipping Bibles and many essential survival items into Petra in preparation for that moment.

– Cybjorg 13:42, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Location

Does anyone know the coordinates of Petra?

30° 19' 22.55" N, 35° 26' 49.99" E. This is a location between the Roman Theater and the High Place of Sacrifice. The main gate (visitor's entrance) is located at 30° 19' 23.90" N, 35° 28' 3.00" E. - Cybjorg 21:55, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Link to Burgon's "Rose-Red" Poem

http://parisparfait.typepad.com/paris_parfait/2006/05/petra_and_deser.html

[edit] Removed the Dispensationalist Commentary

"Left Behind" is a work of fiction and references to it in this should be noted, but not over-explained. Fans of that work of fiction should look elsewhere for such explanations.

[edit] Petra in movies and popular culture

The "movies and popular culture" section currently includes these items:

These items do not have anything to do with the archaeological site Petra; they just happen to have the same name. That makes them fair game for the Petra (disambiguation) page, and in fact two of them were already listed there. I have just added the third one (the musical play) after editing out some non-NPOV language.

But these three items don't belong in this article, and I am deleting them. [[User:Pat Berry|Pat Berry]] 06:02, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

The first reference is VERY interesting, because the play takes PLACE in ancient Petra...(Fairuz plays Queen Shaqilat, mother of King Rabbel, the last king of Petra before Roman acquisition.) i agree however with the remainder of u'r assessment concerning the last two references. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.18.249.133 (talk • contribs) 7 September 2006 (UTC)
  • It was definitely used in one of the laste scenes of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade. --Rubik's Cube 20:35, 3 February 2007 (UTC)


Re: The Trivia template in the article I suggest removing the section and adding to "Petra today" a sentence like: "The picturesque site is a popular sight and featured in various works of art such as the movies Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Passion in the Desert and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the Sisters of Mercy-Video "Dominion", the game Spy Hunter, or the novels Left Behind and Appointment with Death." Comments please, if none come, I'll change the article as proposed in a week. Eliot Stearns 09:25, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Done. Eliot Stearns 21:57, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] francois de laval

hello i like your site bi Laurennxx

i hate this ite bi÷

[edit] In regards to the template I added

I added this template because it asks critical questions, constantly cites evidence, and otherwise sounds like a high school history textbook. It might even be straight from one. While the information here is good, the language used in this article is almost pretentious. Or plagiarized. For example:

It is thought that a position of such natural strength must have been occupied early, but we have no means of telling exactly when the history of Petra began. The evidence seems to show that the city was of relatively late foundation, though a sanctuary (see below) may have existed there from very ancient times. This part of the country was assigned by tradition to the Horites, i.e. probably cave-dwellers, the predecessors of the Edomites;[1]the habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. But that Petra itself is mentioned in the Old Testament cannot be affirmed with certainty; for though Petra is usually identified with Sela, which also means a rock, the Biblical references[2] are far from clear. 2 Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more explicit; in the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock" (2 Chr. xxv. 12, see LXX). Hence many authorities doubt whether any town named Sela is mentioned in the Old Testament.

What, then, did the Semitic inhabitants call their city? Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94), apparently on the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7), assert that Rekem was the native name, and Rekem certainly appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra.

The first paragraph here has a first person statement "... but we have...". And it also constantly cites its evidence, even though Wikipedia articles all should have their evidence and sources at the bottom. The second paragraph starts with that useless question. Lord GS-41 15:41, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Aramaic-Speaking?

They wrote in Aramaic in the earlier phases of their history, but does that make them Aramaic-speaking? They had Arabic names, for one thing, and the Wikipedia article on Nabataeans says: "This Aramaic dialect was increasingly affected by the Arabic dialect of the local population. From the 4th century AD, the Arabic influence becomes overwhelming, in a way that it may be said the Nabataean language shifted seamlessly from Aramaic to Arabic. The Arabic alphabet itself developed out of cursive variants of the Nabataean script in the 5th century.". Slacker 17:13, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

That part of the article is quoting sources from biblical times, when they were Aramaic-speaking. --HughCharlesParker (talk - contribs) 21:08, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Petra is one of the new Seven.

http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php?id=633

I can see there's disagreement about whether this is important enough to go in the article, or if it's just another of the many corporate promotions involving Petra. It would be really helpful if, here on the talk page, you could offer some of the big media coverage associated with the "new Seven" and show that the list is truly of international importance. -FisherQueen (Talk) 12:37, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
Have a look at the conversation on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Taj_Mahal#Seven_New_Wonders_of_the_World It is dealing with the same topic. The new7wonders wikipedia entry classed this event as a scam. So how does it make sense to pollute other, worthwhile, entries with this and replace things like "UNESCO world heritage site" with "being named as one of the world's seven wonders" (with no mention of it being the classical, real, ones or this commercial event) - DanniellaWB 13:38, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

To say there is no global importance is to keep our eyes closed to international events. For example lets see the articles on it on BBC alone. BBC Pictures, BB Video and the news itself. I do see the point raised by people saying that the ratings are based on financial gains, but isnt that the same with Forbes and others of those kind and dont we have those mentioned on top of the articles on wikipedia? Lets be fair. Cheers ώiki Ѕαи Яоzε †αLҝ 12:44, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

It does not belong in the lead section, but is an event related to the modern history of the site and I have no problem mentioning it in an appropriate location. Putting it in the lead gives it undue weight. It is not equivalent to being a UNESCO site in any meaningful way. IPSOS (talk) 13:53, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
Oops, I didnt read this before inserting it on the lead. You probably right but seems neither the UNESCO is mentioned on the lead Jor70 14:49, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
UNESCO and this new thing are completely different. It is entirely appropriate to mention UNESCO in the lead. It is well established, has been recognized for decades, and is not a sensationalist publicity stunt! IPSOS (talk) 14:51, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
I agree , then, why the UNESCO is not mentioned in the lead ? --Jor70 14:54, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
Don't know. Thought it was but clearly I was confusing this article with another. Feel free to add it or I will later. IPSOS (talk) 14:57, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
I've included it, I could've sworn it was there some months ago. Thanks for the assistance btw. Cheers, DanniellaWB 15:14, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
Y're welcome --Jor70 18:14, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] news story

[edit] New pic of end of siq? Is it good?

The end of the siq, Petra, Jordan
The end of the siq, Petra, Jordan

I shot this picture 6-2007 at the end of the siq. It's a lot higher res - and has better color than the one up on the page now. Here for everyone's consideration.



--KasemO 04:32, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] wooowoooowooowooowooowooowooowoo

I HATE HISTORY!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.208.8.10 (talk) 12:39, 31 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hate history huh?

Well that's too bad, isn't it. I absolutely love history!

Kyanwan 19:01, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Added Link to Database

Hi, I added a link to the database of excavations at the Great Temple. The content was developed by researchers and has a Creative Commons license. Due disclosure: I helped create that database. If anyone thinks the link shouldn't be there, please remove it, but it seems relevant to me, even though I'm an interested party. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.32.226.236 (talk) 17:45, 21 November 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Religion in Petra

I just finished watching a documentary on the discovery channel on Petra, and they said they found little figurines of Aphrodite in the tombs and that it was a hellenistic culture. This seems to contrast with the article that claims they worshipped Arabic Gods, which is strange as from the rest of the article the culture is clearly hellenistic.

--216.110.236.243 (talk) 07:54, 16 January 2008 (UTC)