The 2,000-Year-Old Lost City

Interest in the ancient world is common, but in the West is heavily focussed on the cultures of ancient Egypt, Rome, and Greece. Of course, these are far from being the only important civilizations of their time. What the are, are the ones of whom we have a wealth of records, as they were able to preserve them. They are also the ones Western society is supposed to have descended from. There are many others that were as notable, but we have not yet become familiar with. But we should. There's a lot we can learn about the development of ideas and technologies by looking at the bigger picture, rather than focussing on a narrow time and place. So, I was fascinated when I saw this, and wanted to summarize it for you, as I had never heard of them before. 2,000-year-old hydraulics??

The Nabataen Kingdom

Earlier this month, The Smithsonian Magazine featured an article about an almost undisturbed 2,000 year old site in Saudi Arabia. It was built by the Nabataean civilization, of which many have never heard. Run by rich merchants, this kingdom controlled important trade routes through the area, from around the 4th century B.C. until the 1st century A.D.

The big news is that, as Saudi Arabia tries to lessen its dependence on oil by promoting tourism, sites like these are opening to rest of the world for the first time. The area surrounding Hegra has been home to a series of civilizations for over 7,000 years, of which the Nabataeans were just one.

Hegra was the second largest city of the kingdom. The largest, Petra, has long been a popular tourist site. Petra is recognizable to many as a major setting of the Harrison Ford film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Despite this notoriety for Petra, little is known about the Nabataeans. There are few first-hand documents. In fact, almost everything we have are the accounts of external groups. The inscriptions above the tombs at Hegra are some of the few instances of the Nabataean's language.

"With the immense popularity of Petra today, it's hard to imagine that we don't know much about its creators."

Petra, the movie star:

2,000-Year-Old Hydraulics?

Hegra also demonstrates that the Nabataeans were early users of hydraulics and collected rain water in cisterns. Tombs were protected from rain erosion through the use of water pipes, so they are more preserved than those at Petra. Tombs were constructed with clear influences from other major civilizations of the time. They feature Classical Greek and Roman architecture such as columns and pediments. The carvings and symbols throughout the site echo Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Persian symbols, such as eagles, griffins, masks with snakes for hair, and even sphinxes.

The information from also Hegra provides further evidence that "Nabaean" is a political term, not an ethnic one. In fact, the kingdom was home to many groups, including Hegrites, Jews, and Syrians, among others.

The Future

Fortunately, unlike Petra, great care is being taken to ensure the preservation of the site at Hegra. It is Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many of those picked to work there are locals who have personal connections to the site and have been trained by archeologists and international museums. It will hopefully be a popular destination for those interested in such ancient societies.

This article skims the surface of what is being learned about this part of the ancient world. Just as the influence of other cultures is apparent in Hegra, we can be certain that contact with the Nabaeans had a similar impact on others as well. We may never know what nature that took, but ideas are hard to confine to one place, and technologies spread as soon as different groups become familiar with one another. It is only by learning about as many of these as possible, that we can hope to trace how our present world came to be.

Check out the full article for more, as well as for some stunning photographs: Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia, Makes Its Public Debut.

With information from Experience AlUla.

Disclaimer: This story was originally published at ericaball.medium.com

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