Great Temple Theatron of Petra by Sarah Sharpe

Sarah Sharpe (July 08, 2008, 08:29AM )

This image was taken of the semicircular theatron at the Great Temple of Petra. The camera was located directly above the point that was used as the center mark for the radiating lines of the theater. The goal of this was to produce a flattened image that could be matched to the section drawing that will be prepared of this structure. This theater, whose function is still being debated, was a later and quite anamolous addition to the temple's upper temenos in the period afte rthe Roman anexation fo the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE.This image is intended as an experiment in the geometry of the theater and its representation. The distortion of is flattening is far more palpable here than in a section plan. The decision not to use the zoom lense was taken at the behest of our expert studying the theater so as to produce and image that small enough for use in image processing software. Note that many of the upper seating courses have been restored.