Bibcode
Belmonte, J. A.; González-García, A. C.; Rodriguez-Antón, A.
Bibliographical reference
Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, Historical & Cultural Astronomy, ISBN 978-3-319-97006-6. Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature, 2019, p. 123
Advertised on:
2019
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
One of the most fascinating and enigmatic pieces of evidence of
Nabataean ingenuity is the so-called Zodiac of Khirbet et-Tannur
(Jordan), found in a temple built at the mountain summit close to Djebel
Tannur in the first half of the second century CE, possibly when the
ancient Nabataean Kingdom was already under Roman rule. However,
Nabataean traditions and cults persisted during the Roman period and
even survived well into Byzantine times. But one important change was
the imposition of a Julian-like calendar, of Egyptian inspiration,
instead of the original lunisolar calendar of the
Nabataeans—earlier inherited and adapted from the Babylonian
one—whose month names were however preserved under a solar
perspective and a new time framework entitled Era Provincia Arabia. An
analysis of the dates reported in the foundation inscriptions of the
first century CE rock-carved tombs at the southern Nabataean city of
Hegra, and other dated inscriptions of the Nabataean Kingdom period, has
given some clues for us to look at the Tannur Zodiac with a different
perspective. This new way of thinking has allowed a completely different
approach to this masterpiece of art which is substantially different to
most previous interpretations (see e.g. McKenzie et al., ARAM Periodical
24:379-420, 2012). According to our hypothesis, we consider that it
should be formally named the `almanac' or `parapegma' of Khirbet
et-Tannur hereafter.