ñ

UNEARTHING THE PAST SINCE 1900
  • BECOME A MEMBER
  • SEARCH
  • ññ
  • About
    • WELCOME FROM ñ OFFICERS
    • FACTS & FIGURES—ñ
    • MISSION, BYLAWS, & STRATEGIC PLAN
    • HISTORY OF ñ
    • COMMITTEES
    • POLICIES
    • FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS
    • ñ’s Honors and Awards
    • AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS
    • CONTACT US—ñ
  • INITIATIVES
    & PROJECTS
    • ñ CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVES
    • ñ-AFFILIATED ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS
    • ñ ARCHIVES
    • ONLINE RESOURCES
    • ñ PUBLICATIONS
    • WOMEN OF ñ MAP
  • ANNUAL
    MEETING
    • REGISTRATION
    • HOTEL RESERVATIONS
    • Annual Meeting Schedules
    • SPONSOR & EXHIBIT
    • ñ Online Library
    • HONORS & AWARDS
    • ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • PAST & FUTURE ANNUAL MEETINGS
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • ONLINE RESOURCES
    • MEMBER DIRECTORY
    • FY24 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • ñ LEGACY CIRCLE
    • FRIENDS OF ñ
    • Friends of ñ Webinars
  • FELLOWSHIPS
    & GRANTS
    • SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FIELDWORK PARTICIPATION
    • GRANTS FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS
    • RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR MEMBERS
    • MEMBERSHIP & ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • ñ-AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS FELLOWSHIPS
    • OTHER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
  • PUBLICATIONS
    & RESOURCES
    • BULLETIN OF ñ
    • JOURNAL OF CUNEIFORM STUDIES
    • NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY
    • MAARAV
    • NEWS@ñ
    • ñ Online Library
    • BOOK SERIES & MONOGRAPHS
    • EARLY CAREER MEMBER RESOURCES
  • NEWS &
    EVENTS
    • PAST ñ NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH
    • NEWS@ñ
    • LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • FY24 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
  • WAYS TO
    DONATE

ᴡ鷡

 

NEWS@ñ E-NEWSLETTER

ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY E-NEWSLETTER

PAST ñ NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH

LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

FY21 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

ñ ANNUAL MEETING

2022 Shepard Urgent Action Grant Report: Conservation of the Roman Bath House in Petra, Jordan

ñ Editorial Note: The ñ 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,  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.

An overhead view of the Roman Bath house in Petra (Photo credit: Mohammad Albdoul).

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.

The vestibule (M) before cleaning and repair of the mortar.
The vestibule (M) after cleaning and repair of the mortar.

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.

Plaster in the well (T) before repair and consolidation.
Plaster in the well (T) after repair and consolidation.

1. Emergency conservation of the standing structures

Standing walls are made of sandstone cut blocks, mostly affected by granular disintegration and erosion (caused by wind and rainfall). The standing walls were cleaned, salts efflorescence was removed and the surface was consolidated by spraying a protein based consolidant (calcium caseinate) in order to slow down and minimize the deterioration process. The choice of calcium caseinate as consolidant is crucial for the sustainability of the intervention since chemical and water based consolidants are not available in Jordan. Calcium caseinate can be locally produced and therefore sustainable for future interventions.

The original lime mortar has disintegrated and crumbled. Mortar consolidation and repair were implemented using calcium caseinate for consolidation and a lime-based mortar made of slaked lime, limestone powder and basalt powder (to increase water resistance) and crushed granite (to make the mortar recognizable as modern) for mortar repairs.

Mortar remains were mechanically cleaned using brushes and wooden sticks, and then using brushes and water. Mortar was consolidated either by spraying a filtered solution of water and calcium caseinate or by injecting a solution of water and acrylic emulsion.

Gaps and cracks in the mortar were filled using a mixture of 1 part of slaked lime, 0.5 parts of acrylic emulsion, 1 part of yellow sand and 1.5 parts of basalt powder.

The mortar mixture used for mortar repairs was made of 1 part of lime, 1 part of stone powder, 0.5 parts of crushed granite and 1.5 parts of basalt powder. All materials used in the mortar are locally available and easy to procure for future maintenance interventions.

Working hard to restore the mortar of the court (V).
The caldarium (C) before consolidation and repair of the mortar.
Repairing the mortar of the caldarium (C).

2. Consolidation of wall plaster and stone pavements

Several rooms presented remains of plaster and mortar pavement beddings.

The main process for conserving the plaster fragments and the mortar beddings involved:

  • Mechanical cleaning of accumulated soil and other materials on the plaster surface and edges using soft brushes, toothbrushes, toothpicks, wooden stick, and blower.
  • Chemical cleaning using water, distilled water, and ethanol (as needed) with sponges, brushes, toothpicks, or sprayers.
  • Filling the gaps and reinforcement of the edges using a mixture of 1 part of yellow sand, 1 part of slaked lime, 0.25 parts of acrylic emulsion (Primal), and 0.25 parts of water. Wet clothes or burlap were used to keep it wet during hot hours to assure a slow hardening process.
  • Consolidation was implemented either using a filtered solution of water and acrylic emulsion applied with syringes or spraying a solution of water and calcium caseinate.

Stone surfaces were cleaned and consolidated with calcium caseinate.

-Maria Elena Ronza, Vice President, Sela for Training and Protection of Heritage

The corner of the frigidarium (N) in the midst of repairs.
The same corner of the frigidarium (N) with its wall plaster now repaired.

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

BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE

  • 2025 Grant & Fellowship Awardees
  • New ñ-Affiliated Projects 2025
  • FOA Webinar: Amy Gansell
  • Fieldwork Report: Rubar Yavuz

ñ
The James F. Strange Center
209 Commerce Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

E-mail: info@asor.org

© 2023 ñ
All rights reserved.
Images licensed under a

Contact Us
Membership

Friends of ñ
ñ Cultural Heritage Initiatives
Terms of Use

COVID-19 Update: Please consider making payments or gifts on our secure . Please e-mail info@asor.org if you have questions or need help.

Follow us on: