Bulletin Board	"Petra's Great Temple" Summer 2000

Re: mystery object #2

Posted by Elizabeth Himelfarb, Archaeology on September 26, 2000 at 06:16:34:

In Reply to: mystery object #2 posted by Jason Siperly on September 25, 2000 at 14:50:40:

A persimmon is an interesting suggestion. My encyclopedia tells me that varieties grow in Asia, as do varieties of poppies. As far as ruling out the fuschia goes, we should remember that Nabataean trade provided far-flung connections. Martha Joukowsky, director of the Great Temple excavations, believes that the elephant-headed capitals she has discovered depict the Indian elephant, "the preferred military elephant of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East" (Petra: Great Temple, page 198). So it is possible that a Southeast Asian flower could have worked its way into the artistic repertoire of the Nabataeans.

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