Talk:Al-Khazneh

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Wasn't this in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade? Huh, wasn't it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.239.219.187 (talk) 07:51, 16 October 2006
 * Yes, it was used as the entrance to the Grail Temple. Aside, can we please have some mention here of how old it is thought to be, and who is thought to have built it? --Bumper12. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.9.109.124 (talk) 02:12, 25 June 2007

More, more more
I am fascinated by this ancient site. I wanted to know more about it, of course, so I came to Wikipedia. It isn't often that I'm disappointed here, but this is one of those times. This article needs some detail. Who built it? When? Why? Is there an interior? What was it used for? When was it discovered (or was it ever lost)? Has it been excavated? Have artifacts been found inside? How long did it take to carve? If there is an interior, was it carved, as well, or did builders take advantage of some kind of natural feature?
 * Looking forward to some kind, knowledgeable soul stepping up. Kjdamrau 19:39, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Nine years later, the article still lacks information about what, if anything, is in the interior of the building. That's a major shortcoming. 174.24.13.245 (talk) 20:49, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

I too was hoping for more information - what are the dimensions of the facade? How deep are the rooms and how many rooms are there? Jtyroler (talk) 23:17, 20 October 2014 (UTC)
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Al-Khazneh&diff=1065106679&oldid=1065105325 adds a 1830 lithograph with plans showing dimensions of rooms. cm&#610;&#671;ee&#9094;&#964;a&#671;&#954; 21:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

More
Watched a great documentary on this today actually..was constructed by the Nabateans as their capital city around 0-100 b.c. Yes there is an interior and it was carved out of the cliff face also. However the Nabateans used an entirely different form of architecture. Instead of building it from the ground up, they first created steps to the top of the cliff face, and workers then began carving a ledge at the top. Once this ledge was created, they started carving the building from the top downwards, carving rectangular blocks out of the cliff face which were then used in other buildings in the city of Petra (which was the Nabatean's capital city). Its true use of this building is still unknown. Compared to the outside of the building, the inside is quite bland with big, seemingly empty rooms. However in 2003 it was excavated just under the the steps of where the steps are in the picture. Layers of sand over centuries has built up to have concealed a whole section of the Khazneh. There are burials there where the remains of family of the King who presided over the construction of the building lie. However the body of the king himself is thought to reside elsewhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stef-nol90 (talk • contribs) 19:26, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Reference thing
Looks like a criminal got the wrong URL in the refs section... Check it out... It should be fixed. It's an outrage. - Wikia user Agent Connecticut —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.80.127.202 (talk) 22:58, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Anastylosis
What kind of Anastylosis was performed on this building? Was it reconstructed in 20th century? -- WhiteWriter speaks 19:24, 26 December 2010 (UTC)

One of the most?
The first sentence of the article says, "Al Khazneh ("The Treasury"; Arabic: الخزنة‎‎) is one of the most elaborate temples in the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra." Not the most elaborate temple in Petra, but merely one of the most. What other structures might possibly have a claim on "most elaborate temple in Petra"? If there are none, this sentence should be rewritten. 174.24.13.245 (talk) 20:54, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

Response to above question: To answer this rather plainly, and it's obviously a matter of some subjectivity, but the Monastery (Ad Deir) is probably the most favorable temple that competes with Al Khazneh. You can easily search pictures of it online and find it's, in many ways, considerably more impressive than the Treasury. Additionally, given the effort required to get there probably gives it additional value with other people. Additionally though is the well known Urn Tomb. The exterior itself is quite grand, though I would subjectively say not nearly as impressive as either the Treasury or the Monastery, but the internal parts of the tomb itself are phenomenally huge and beautiful. The fact that the tomb appears to have been carved specifically so that each corner of it catches the sunset at the varying equinoxes makes it a technical marvel too.

With that, I think the original line of "...one of the most elaborate temples..." is quite accurately put. Also worth noting is that so much of Petra still has to be excavated that it's hard to say at this point what treasures still sit below the ground where tourists commonly walk (most without having any idea there is still a city buried beneath their feet).

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Al-Khazneh. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20041228114926/http://srb.stanford.edu/nur/GP50/erica.pdf to http://srb.stanford.edu/nur/GP50/erica.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090816192721/http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/petra.asp to http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/petra.asp

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 07:02, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

"Many of the building's architectural details have eroded away […]"
No way that erosion is the reason for the destroyed figural depictions. Just look at the many photos of Nabatean architecture (there are plenty of them here on Wikipedia) and compare them. You will notice, that this (Al-Khazneh) and other buildings are in a more or less fantastic state. Only the figural elements are destroyed, as well as the inscriptions above the entrances. I saw a very nice documentary lately on TV, which solved the mystery: It was muslims destroying the figural depictions, because they are not allowed in Islam. It's that simple. When the Romans were defeated by the Arabs, they took over the country and all figural depictions were destroyed. Erosion would be a too simple explanation, it would have to be a very selective kind of erosion, to only destroy carvings and statues. Erosion only took place at the lower parts of the buildings – by water after heavy rainfalls. And of course there were earthquakes (which do not selectively wipe out only figural depictions) --2003:F1:170B:1769:8C27:193A:EEDF:3150 (talk) 00:05, 20 May 2021 (UTC)