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In the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or Treasury.
And beneath that building, archaeologists recently discovered a tomb containing at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts estimated to be at least 2,000 years old.
Archaeologists led by Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research, unearthed the ancient tomb. The expedition was studying the treasure after years of speculation that the two tombs discovered under the left side of the monument in 2003 were not the only secret underground chambers. But this theory had not been confirmed – until now.
Creasman and his team used ground-penetrating radar – a remote sensing technique that uses radar pulses to detect underground objects – earlier this year to see if the physical features at left, where the original graves were found, matched to those on the right. The detections revealed strong similarities between the two parties, and this was evidence that they needed to obtain permission from the Jordanian government to dig under the Treasury.
At this point, Creasman contacted Josh Gates, host of “Expedition Unknown” on the Discovery Channel. “I think we have something,” Creasman told the Explorer over the phone.
Along with a film crew, the team excavated the newly discovered tomb in August. But the real surprise was what was inside the tomb. While many tombs discovered in Petra are found empty or disturbed, the chamber was filled with complete skeletal remains and funerary objects made of bronze, iron and ceramics. The intact burial found beneath the Treasury offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the Nabataeans, ancient Arab nomads whose desert kingdom flourished from the 4th century BC until 106 AD, Creasman said.
“This is an extremely rare find: in the two centuries that Petra has been studied by archaeologists, nothing like this has been discovered before,” Gates said. “Even in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world… there are still huge discoveries to be made.”
The significant discovery may be the largest collection of human remains found in a single location in Petra, according to researchers, and it was featured Wednesday on the season premiere of “Expedition Unknown.” (Discovery Channel is owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Petra was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in the 2000s for its unique architecture and the many mysteries that still surround the city. While experts have debated the purpose of the Treasury for centuries, the most popular theory is that the monument serves as a mausoleum, although no skeletal remains have been found inside the building itself, a Gates said.
The Treasury receives hundreds of thousands of tourists each year and has also been featured in several films, including as the site of the Holy Grail in the 1989 film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”
Among the artifacts were several vessels, including a skeleton holding a ceramic chalice that resembled the shape of the Holy Grail. “It really was this great moment of history imitating art,” Gates said.
The artifacts are extremely well preserved, Creasman said. However, the human remains, although intact, are in a more delicate condition than expected. Their condition could be due to humidity and seasonal flooding in Petra, as well as porous sandstone surrounding the tomb that trapped moisture, he said. Some skeletons were found moldy.
Only a handful of tombs discovered in Petra in recent decades have been found with intact burials, Creasman said. The severe disruptions are likely due to travelers seeking shade and protection in the desert, he added.
The two tombs discovered under the left side of the Treasury twenty years ago by archaeologists from the Jordanian Department of Antiquities contained partial skeletal remains, but the data has not been published, so it is unclear exactly how many individuals were been found, Creasman said.
“We were hoping to find something that could tell us more about ancient people and places – human remains can be a very valuable tool in this regard,” Creasman said. “The burials in this tomb are hinged, so the bones have not been excavated or moved, so it is extremely rare.”
A mystery surrounding the Nabataeans concerns their burial practices. In literature, Nabataean society is often described as more egalitarian, with a king more integrated with the lower classes than the rulers of other civilizations, Creasman said. So far, among the Nabataean tombs discovered, there does not appear to be a huge difference between royal and regular burials. It is therefore difficult to say whether the recently discovered tombs beneath the Treasury were designed for royalty.
Researchers also suspect that many of the textiles and jewelry usually found in Nabataean burials, such as cloth wrappings, necklaces and other beads adorning the bodies, were lost to humidity and floodwaters seeping into the grave, Gates said.
As researchers continue to study the skeletons, Creasman said they hope more details will be revealed about who these people were in their lives. Researchers would like to date the skeletons and artifacts and use the extracted DNA to determine whether the dozens of skeletons are related. Further testing could help evaluate their diet and determine whether they were engaged in physical labor, Creasman said.
“They must be extremely important people, because where they are buried is prime real estate; it’s really the main entrance to the city,” Gates said. “I think learning who they are will really help unlock some of the Treasury’s history.”