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Descriptive Attribute Value(s)
Definition Floor pavers in the West Cryptoporticus East
Phase V
Stage Description Floors laid and vaults blocked.
Preserved Height ca. 0.10 m.
Stage Stage 3
Size see Survey Data.
Combined with Loci 16 (ashlars), 27, 29, and 30.
Location Bottom of Trench 97.
Underlies Locus 13.
Overlies None.
Abuts Loci 11, 12, 14, and 28.
Description The floor of the West Cryptoporticus East consists of finely dressed pavers, most of which are a type of limestone. Two slabs of red sandstone were also found, but it was not possible to determine if these were original or represent secondary repairs. The slabs vary in size, but generally range between 0.70-to-1.10 m in length by 0.50-to-0.75 m. in width; the thickness, as measured along the edges of several robbed out sections, appears to have been fairly uniform around 0.10 m. The pavers were carefully shaped to join evenly with only very small seams visible. No traces of a mortar bed were evident, even along the edges visible due to robbed out sections. The floor pavers were also cut to fit within the bounds defined by the Middle Pier Wall and the East Boundary Wall, and do not pass beneath either of these walls. This finding contrasts with the original description of the floor given by Martha Sharp Joukowsky (see Trench 79 Final Report, Locus 23). The section uncovered during the 2001 excavation of Trench 79 does in fact pass beneath the constructed “bench” (Trench 79, Loci 22 and 26) at the southernmost edges of the West Cryptoporticus East; however, this installation is a later construction built on top of the floor (see Locus 28 description above). The 2004 excavation shows that for the remainder of the West Cryptoporticus East, the floor pavers were laid to abut the east and west walls—and this is likely to be the case beneath the “bench” installation(s) as well. The only unusual feature in Locus 25 is the east west depression in the floor pavers between the Vault Loci 12 and 14; this is discussed separately below as Locus 26. The floor pavers (Locus 25) have been assigned to Stage 3 (Secondary construction period) because the evidence indicates that they were laid to abut the previously constructed bounding walls (Loci 11, 28). This would seem to be supported as well by the fact that the pavers transect the entrances into the Vault Loci 12 and 14, and that the blockages inserted into these vault openings clearly extend downward below the current level of the West Cryptoporticus East floor.
Bottom (m) Closing elevation: See above.
Top (m) Opening elevation: ca. 893.760 m (average).
Phase Description Phase V: Late Nabataean CE 1st c. redesign and repairs.
Bonds to None.
Architectural or Soil Locus? Architectural
Suggested Citation

Martha Sharp Joukowsky. (2007) "Locus 25 from Asia/Jordan/Petra Great Temple/Lower Temenos/Trench 97". In Petra Great Temple Excavations. Martha Sharp Joukowsky (Ed). Released: 2007-11-11. Open Context. <https://opencontext.org/subjects/b29caefd-5266-46f8-45ef-003245fc18fb> ARK (Archive): https://n2t.net/ark:/28722/k2w37v65t

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