Behind the Façade: A Step inside the Rock-Cut Tombs of Petra
Behind the Façade: A Step inside the Rock-Cut Tombs of Petra by Dr Lucy Wadeson
The ancient city of Petra is characterised by the hundreds of monumental tombs that are carved in its rocky landscape. While the decorative façades of these tombs have received much attention in scholarship, the interiors are often overlooked because they were looted and lived in over the centuries. This lecture will examine the little-known burial chambers and funerary space behind these façades based on Dr Wadeson’s surveys and excavations. The elusive burial customs of the Nabataeans will be elucidated, and we will explore their fascinating practice of dining with the dead.
Lucy is a classical archaeologist specialised in the material culture of the Greco-Roman Near East. In particular, she is an expert on the Nabataean kingdom and its principal city of Petra where she directs her own excavation of tombs in the royal necropolis. Following the completion of a BA (Hons) in Classics at the University of Canterbury she earned an MPhil (specialised in Roman Archaeology) and DPhil (PhD) in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Based on months of fieldwork in Petra, her dissertation made the first ever study of the insides of Petra’s renowned rock-cut façade tombs, elucidating their chronology and Nabataean funerary practices for the first time.
Lucy has held numerous research and teaching positions in Jordan, Belgium and the United Kingdom (University of Oxford, University of Nottingham, University of Edinburgh). While living in Jordan for four years, she was able to establish two excavation projects in and around Petra. The “International al-Khubthah Tombs Project” involves the study and excavation of two monumental façade tombs in Petra’s elusive “royal” necropolis, while the “Petra Hinterland Tombs Project” surveys and excavates subterranean Nabataean family tombs in the hinterland. Lucy has also excavated in the Forum in Rome and undertaken fieldwork on rock-cut tombs in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.
Lucy leads the following ASA tours:
- Jordan in Depth: Petra, Desert Fortresses, Wadi Rum and the Red Sea, 19 March – 3 April 2026
- Oman: Arabia’s Ancient Emporium, 19 October – 3 November 2026
Image Credit: Looking towards the ‘royal tombs’ at the base of the all-Khubthah mountain from the Colonnaded Street, Petra. Photo: Dr Lucy Wadeson