Product Description

This is an enormous and impressive book not only full of facts, but also solving mysteries. It provides a detailed and lavishly illustrated catalogue of the main monuments of Petra. Then, in seeking the origins of Petra's particular architecture and its close relations with the architectural scenes on the walls of Pompeii, Judith McKenzie examines the rock cut tombs of Medain Saleh (Saudi Arabia) and then the little known architectural remains of Ptolemaic Alexandria. Here lies her solution, for the earliest of the Petra-style baroque architecture is in Alexandria Ä from where it spread east to Petra and west to Pompeii and thus elsewhere in the Roman World. It is an impressive study with a significant and satisfying conclusion. This Oxbow reprint makes it available once more at an affordable price.

Discovery, recording and dating of the facades at Petra; The Nabatean tombs at Medain Saleh: A re-examination; The chronology of the principal monuments at Petra; The architectural remains from Alexandria and their chronology; The architecture of Alexandria and its reflection in the architecture at Petra and in second style Pompeian wall-painting; The city of Petra; The tombs of Petra; Summary and Conclusions; Catalogue of the principal monuments at Petra.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1505008 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 210 pages

Review

"An important and wonderfully produced book....A paragon of exposition for detailing and illustrating the architecture of a single community and relating it to comparative evidence from other communities. In revealing the splendors of Petra, this book serves as a model for scholars approaching the study of all ancient cities."--Choice
"Judith McKenzie's new book reconsiders all of the Classical structures at Petra, and is the new standard reference for its architecture....This book is very thorough, provides a convincing analysis of the development of architecture of Petra, and is extensively illustrated with plates of good quality....McKenzie is to be praised for providing a new standard source on Petra's architecture, as well as chapters of great interest on Hellenistic architecture in Alexandria and on the Second Style."--American Journal of Archaeology
"An important addition to the long scholarly debate concerning the chronology of the spectacular rock-carved tomb facades of Petra....The Architecture of Petra is a vigorously informative survey of the vast but not easily available scholarly material on this enigmatic city at the fringes of the classical world."--Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians

About the Author
by Judith McKenzie