Nahal Lavan 108: A Pre-Pottery Neolithic a Site in the Western Negev,Israel

Abstract

Although the recent publication of the results of excavation and restoration in the Siq at Petra by the Petra National Trust has thrown welcome light on the hydraulic engineering skills of the Nabataeans, it is suggested here that the conclusions reached by the authors regarding the chronology of those works are not necessarily correct and should not be accepted as definitive. It is shown that the interpretation of the ceramic evidence is faulty and that other, epigraphic, evidence is ignored. In particular, it is argued that the major works — the dam and the tunnel — as well as the paved road through the Siq, may be as late as, or even later than, the middle of the 1st century AD, rather than the late 1st century BC, as the authors assume. It is further suggested that this could also be the date of the Khazneh, and that this may be indicated also by the recent discovery of earlier tomb façades beneath the Khazneh.