Summary

The so-called Aslah-Triclinium in the Bab es-Siq area bears one of the earliest Nabataean inscriptions from the Petra area. If the identification of «king Obodas» from this inscription with Obodas I. – as generally accepted – is correct, the dining hall and surrounding structures would belong to the earliest dated structures from the Nabataean period, dating to 96 BC. All the more it is surprisingly that no modern plan of the structures exists and no cleaning of the structures under scientific observation has been undertaken so far.

Bab as-Siq. The Aslah-triclinium-complex from the west (photo: L. Gorgerat)

This is precisely the goal of our small scale project, planned and carried out in the frame of a wider German-French project dealing with the early Nabataean period of Petra.

Cleaning the Aslah-Triclinium and surrounding structures from sand and litter.
Establishing a concise plan of these structures.
Finding out more about the structures and the architectural organisation of the Aslah- Triclinium-Complex.