ASOR Editorial Note: The ASOR Team is pleased to share a report from a Shepard Urgent Action Grant awarded to Sela for Training and Protection of Heritage for repairs and conservation work to the Roman bath house at Petra, Jordan. These grants are intended to provide emergency funds to carry out critical stabilization, excavation, or documentation projects. Because time is of the essence with these proposals, funds for the grants can be disbursed 4-6 weeks after an application is received. The mortar, wall plaster, and structures themselves within many of the rooms of the bath house were in need of emergency consolidation and restoration after many years of continued exposure to the elements as well as vandalization of standing structures.

Thanks to the Shepard Urgent Action Grant, Sela for Training and Protection of Heritage was able to conduct important emergency conservation works at the Roman Bath house in Petra.

The Bath house was built between 106 AD and 113/114 AD and represents one of the first Roman interventions aiming at the “Romanization” of Petra after the annexation in 106 AD. It stayed in use for over four centuries before being abandoned after the 551 AD earthquake. It is unique for its small size and elegant structure and its architectural features combining the mastery of Nabatean water engineering with the Roman Pompeian bathhouse style. With its 22 rectangular and square rooms with a row of windowed parallel rectangular rooms overlooking the palaestra to the west, this balneum covers an area of almost 1000 sqm.

The grant supported the work of a senior conservator, Dr. Fatma Marii, and a conservation technician, Ms. Nesreen Albdoul and involved interventions aiming at: (a) the emergency conservation of the standing structures (Cleaning – Salt removal – Mortar repair); (b) the consolidation of the wall plaster and the stone pavements (repair of detached plaster from the walls and stone slabs from the pavements); (c) anastylosis of the vandalized structures of the calidarium.

Map of the Roman Bath house (Source: Joukousky, M. (2009) – Surprises at the Great Temple: A retrospective in Studies on the History and Archaeology of Jordan X, 2009 – pp. 291-311)

The monument was documented in 2021 and a preliminary assessment was conducted in November 2021 and again in February 2022. In May 2022 after the awarding of the Shepard Grant a new assessment was conducted to determine the emergency interventions to prioritize for the preservation of the monument. The following interventions were identified:

Vestibule (B): This room presents bricks in a fragile state of conservation in need of consolidation. The mortar presented several horizontal and vertical cracks and required consolidation and repair.

Caldarium (C): This room presents several extremely deteriorated bricks. Walls needed salt removal and mortar consolidation and repair. After the assessment, it was concluded that anastylosis of vandalized structures was not appropriate since most of the collapsed structures were the result of previous interventions of reconstruction occurred in the 90s. All fragments from the original structure were numbered, removed, cleaned, consolidated and arranged in Room F for future interventions.

Loutron (D): The floor mortar of this room is made of lime-based mortar and required cleaning.

Vestibule (E): The mortar of the Eastern wall was extremely fragile and needed cleaning and consolidation.

Praefurnium (F): Mortar on the doorway between Room F and Room C required consolidation.

Service Passage (G): This small corridor on the eastern side of the bath presents plaster remains on the Eastern wall that needed consolidation and reinforcement.

Vestibule (H): The room presented several plaster remains in need of cleaning, consolidation and reinforcement.

Caldarium (I): The caldarium presented mortar in extremely fragile conditions that needed consolidation and repair.

Tepidarium (J): The Southern wall presents some plaster fragments and mortar relatively stable condition. The plaster needed cleaning and surface consolidation.

Ornamental Pool (L): The room presented plaster fragments on the Southern wall in need of reinforcement and consolidation. There are traces of copper alloy hangers on the Northern and Southern walls.

Vestibule (M): Plaster and mortar remains in the niches needed cleaning, reinforcement, consolidation, and repair.

Frigidarium (N): The walls presented plaster remains in fragile, but stable conditions that needed cleaning, reinforcement, and consolidation. Mortar both on the walls and on the pavement bedding needed cleaning and consolidation.

Small Cistern (P): The thick plaster lining the walls of the cistern needed reinforcement and consolidation.

Bathroom (Q): Plaster fragments in the niche of the Eastern wall required cleaning, reinforcement, and consolidation. The niche wall behind the plaster required mortar repair.

Anteroom (R): Plaster fragments on the Western and Southern walls required reinforcement and consolidation. Before proceeding with the interventions on the plaster, the Western wall required cleaning and consolidation.

Apodyterium (S): Plaster fragments at the corners of the southern wall needed reinforcement and consolidation. The walls needed mortar repair.

Well (T): A plaster fragment at the east corner of the southern east corner and one on the north niche needed reinforcement and consolidation. There are remains of lead alloy at the bottom of the water channel.

Colonnaded Corridor (U): There is a broken stone at the floor (a step), as well there is a fallen mortar require cleaning and consolidation. At the northern wall corner there are missing stones and broken, that the wall requires to be reconstructed.

Palaestra (W): On the eastern wall of this room the plaster is red painted. The plaster and the painting appeared stable. It required cleaning and reinforcement.

Click here to read more about applying for a Shepard Urgent Action Grant.