Study/Survey of the Impact of Flash Floods on the Khazne Courtyard and Areas Flanking it

Project start and end date: 2004-2005

Project Consultant: Middle East Engineering Management (MeeM)

Funding provide by: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and World Monuments Fund (WMF), Robert W. Wilson Challenge Grant

Project cost: JD 151,300 ($ 213,700)

The Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) is characterised by steep, mainly impervious, slopes that provoke a very heavy run-off leading to flash floods in the principal wadis in the area. An integrated network of hydrological systems, designed by the Nabataeans, spread ingeniously throughout the area had provided the inhabitants with their daily supply of water. Very importantly, it protected the main spine of the city from the recurrent threat of flash floods endangering the inhabitants and their monuments. 

Over the years natural processes have caused the hydraulic systems to decline and its degradation and the lack of maintenance of the ancient dams, agricultural terraces, water channels and cisterns have rendered the Nabataean flash flood protection system ineffective, affecting the historical monuments and placing visitors at risk. The once thriving vegetation has disappeared impacting the biodiversity and ecological balance of the region.  The areas that have an impact on the Khazne and that were included in this study are the Khubtha Mountain, the Siq, Dangour al-Khazne and Qantara.

The project involved studying and surveying the Nabataean hydrological systems, proposing mitigation measures for flash flood control, recommending precautionary and safety measures under adverse conditions, and training Department of Antiquities (DOA) staff in all the steps of the study/survey, remedial measures, intervention measures and monitoring.

A report on the survey was published in the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (ADAJ), volume 49 (2005).

Erosion during flash floods in Khazne courtyard

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