Includes bibliographical references (p. 274-282) and index.

The Nabataeans in historical context / Glen W. Bowersock -- The origins and emergence of the Nabataeans / Peter J. Parr -- Languages, scripts, and the uses of writing among the Nabataeans / M.C.A. Macdonald -- The Nabataean gods and their sanctuaries / Fawzi Zayadine -- Nabataean trade / David F. Graf and Steven E. Sidebotham -- Nabataean pottery / Stephan G. Schmid -- Dharih and Tannur : sanctuaries of central Nabataea / Francois Villeneuve and Zeidun al-Muheisen -- The Negev and the Nabataeans / Avraham Negev -- Nabataeans on the Dead Sea littoral / Konstantinos D. Politis and Hero Granger-Taylor -- The Nabataeans at Bosra and in southern Syria / Jean-Marie Dentzer -- Petra : the first-comers / Norman N. Lewis -- The real and the ideal : Petra in the minds and eyes of nineteenth-century British and American artist travelers / Briony Llewellyn -- The rock-cut architecture of Petra / Robert Wenning -- The Petra survey project / Laïla Nehmé -- Carvings in the desert : the sculpture of Petra and Khirbet et-Tannur / Judith S. McKenzie -- The khazneh / Andrew Stewart -- The Qasr al-Bint of Petra / Franc̜ois Larché and Fawzi Zayadine -- The great temple / Martha Sharp Joukowsky -- The Temple of the Winged Lions / Philip C. Hammond -- Petra-- from tent to mansion : living on the terraces of Ez-Zantur / Bernhard Kolb -- The Byzantine church at Petra / Zbigniew T. Fiema -- Petra in the sixth century : the evidence of the carbonized papyri / Ludwig Koenen, Robert W. Daniel, and Traianos Gagos.