The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan, Volume 1

Architecture and Religion. Final Report on Nelson Glueck's 1937 Excavation

by Judith S. McKenzie, Joseph A. Greene, Andres T. Reyes, Catherine S. Alexander, Deirdre G. Barrett, Brian Gilmour, John F. Healey, Margaret O'Hea, Nadine Schibille, Stephan G. Schmid, Wilma Wetterstrom, and Sara Whitcher Kansa, with contributions by Kate da Costa, Patrick Degryse, Kathy Eremin, Sheila Gibson, Owen Gingerich, and Elias Khamis

Book cover: The Nabataean Temple at Khirbet et-Tannur, Jordan, Volume 1

Extent: 340 pages

Publisher: American Society of Overseas Research

Subjects: Ancient Near East

Series: Annual of ASOR

Series volume number: 67

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(October 2013)

ISBN: 9780897570350

8.46 x 10.98 inches

Price: $20.00

In stock

Khirbet et-Tannur is a Nabataean site dating from the second century B.C. to the fourth to sixth centuries A.D. In 1937, Nelson Glueck excavated the site on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research but died before completing a report. Now, in two extensively illustrated volumes, the results of Glueck’s excavations are finally published.


Khirbet et-Tannur is a Nabataean site dating from the second century B.C. to the fourth to sixth centuries A.D. located on a hilltop above the Wadi el-Hasa near Khirbet edh-Dharih, 70 km north of Petra along the King’s Highway. In 1937, Nelson Glueck excavated Khirbet et-Tannur on behalf of the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Department of Antiquities of Transjordan, but died before completing a final report. Now in two extensively illustrated volumes, the results of Glueck’s excavations are finally published, based on previously unstudied excavation records and archaeological materials in the ASOR Nelson Glueck Archive at the Semitic Museum, Harvard University. Volume 1: Architecture and Religion Volume 2: Cultic Offerings, Vessels, and Other Specialist Reports Volume 1 is devoted to the architecture of the temple, the dating of its successive phases, its sculptural decoration and iconography, and to a discussion of Nabataean religion, including the evidence for its connections with the religion of Iron Age Edom and its continuation at the temple of Khirbet et-Tannur well into the Christian era, before the A.D. 363 earthquake brought an end to the site. The volume closes with observations about iconoclasm at Khirbet et-Tannur, Khirbet edh-Dharih and Petra.

  • By (author) Catherine S. Alexander
  • By (author) Deirdre G. Barrett
  • By (author) Brian Gilmour
  • By (author) Joseph A. Greene
  • By (author) John F. Healey
  • By (author) Judith S. McKenzie
  • By (author) Margaret O’Hea
  • By (author) Andres T. Reyes
  • By (author) Nadine Schibille
  • By (author) Stephan G. Schmid
  • By (author) Wilma Wetterstrom
  • By (author) Sara Whitcher Kansa
  • Contributions by Kate da Costa
  • Contributions by Patrick Degryse
  • Contributions by Kathy Eremin
  • Contributions by Sheila Gibson
  • Contributions by Owen Gingerich
  • Contributions by Elias Khamis

"All these studies are extremely useful because they make an enormous amount of old and often unknown material available to scholars, not only those interested in the Nabataeans but also those interested in the ancient Middle East in general, in religion and rituals, in technology and in various sorts of archaeological material." --Laila Nehme, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Rarely has this reviewer seen so useful and attractive an excavation report. [...] The narrative is clear, concise, and informative, and the catalogues are useful but not intrusive. This is a model publication about a little-known yet essential part of the ancient world, revealing a site whose interpretation has languished for half a century." --Duane W. Roller, The Ohio State University, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 120, No.3 (July 2016)
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