Скачать или смотреть Mystery of the Nabatean Shrines (Archaeology of AlUla)

I was introduced to this interesting theory while I was working in AlUla, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, last month: that a repeated motif resembling a small ziggurat, that one clearly sees in the ritual art of the Nabateans in Hegra and still sees today in the architecture of traditional Arab houses, may actually be a reference to a primordial trio of gods, honoured—sometimes unwittingly—since the Neolithic. It is only one theory to explain the repetition of this image across cultures and millennia, but it does, apparently, tie in well with Neolithic discoveries, and the trinity of deities worshipped by the Dadani, who preceded the Nabateans as rulers of Hegra.

Whether accurate or not, I was struck by the potential significance of this theory as I gazed at the Nabatean shrines of Hegra, only to see the exact same design repeated on the walls of more-modern Arab houses several kilometers farther down the wadi. Combining this with what I have learned about Dadani theology, and the observations made by Doughty in the 1870s, and an intriguing story takes shape!