Researchers have uncovered a secret tomb containing 12 human skeletons at the Treasury building in Jordan’s Petra.
The Treasury building, otherwise known as Al Khazneh, occupies the center of the ancient city that was carved into the walls of a desert canyon 2,000 years ago by the people of the Nabatean Kingdom. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Petra is an iconic tourist attraction that is well-known as the resting place of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But despite its fictitious role in the best Indiana Jones film (don’t fight me on this), the Treasury’s true purpose remains unknown.
That’s why discoveries like these latest 12 skeletons are so exciting. Just over two decades ago, similar hidden tombs were found on the left-hand side of the site. This early discovery led researchers to speculate that other tombs could be hidden elsewhere in the building.
Earlier this year, the team of researchers was given permission from Jordanian authorities to conduct a week-long investigation of the site to locate new tombs with remote sensing. To do this, they used non-invasive surveying techniques with electromagnetic conductivity and ground radar. They were joined by Josh Gates, the host of a two-part program called Expedition Unknown that aired on the Discovery Channel earlier in October 2024.
“The main purpose of the survey was to assess the condition of the areas around the Treasury, its courtyard, the plaza, the exit of the Siq and the wadi into which they all feed, in advance of potential future works to divert and better control flood waters,” Professor Bates from the University of St Andrews said in a statement.
Once the team located a suspected tomb, an excavation plan was drawn up and then carried out by a team with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities (DoA) and the American Center of Research (ACOR). They quickly unearthed a chamber with burials still in place.
“The discovery is of international significance as very few complete burials from the early Nabataeans have ever been recovered from Petra before. The burials, their goods, and the human remains can all be expected to help fill the gaps of our knowledge in how Petra came to be and who the [Nabataeans] were,” Bates added.
Samples taken from the surrounding sediment as well as material from the tomb enclosure dated the construction of the walls within the tomb to between the mid-1st century BCE and the early 2nd century CE.
“The tomb was most likely built as a mausoleum and crypt in the Nabatean Kingdom at the beginning of the 1st century AD for Aretas IV Philopatris. Like many tombs in the valley, few remains have ever been found in the tombs due to their subsequent use and reuse over the last two millennia,” Dr Tim Kinnaird, also from the University of St Andrews, explained.
“[It’s] fantastic that we now have the pottery, ecofacts and sediments to date when the treasury was constructed. Previously we’ve worked on assumptions and conjectures – to have a definitive date will be a monumental achievement for us all.”
Incredibly, one of the skeletons was found grasping a ceramic vessel that is strikingly similar to the grail portrayed in the Indiana Jones film.
“When we spotted what looked like a chalice, all of us just froze. It looked nearly identical to the Holy Grail featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, set in the ancient building directly above the tomb. It was the ultimate moment of life imitating art,” said Gates.
This vessel appears to be a fragment of a broken jug that was likely made in the 1st century BCE.
“There is so much that we have yet to learn about The Treasury. When was this remarkable structure built, and why? Little did we know that this dig might completely change what we know about The Treasury and help solve the mysteries of the Nabataean people,” Pearce Paul Creasman, archaeologist and executive director of ACOR, explained in another statement.
“With the support of the Jordanian government, this excavation is bringing us closer than ever to answers.”
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