The Theater

About The Theater

Petra Theater is a first century AD Nabataean theatre situated 600 m from the centre of Petra. Substantial part of the theater was carved out of solid rock, while the scaena and exterior wall were constructed. The theater's auditorium consists of three horizontal sections of seats separated by passageways and seven stairways to ascend. The theater could accommodate a number of approximately 8500 people, more than the estimated number of Amman theater. Petra Theater follows similar architectural patterns of Ancient Greek and Roman theaters, which enhances superior acoustics.

The Theatre of Petra is a huge auditorium carved into the hillside on the left of the main trail, after the Street of Facades and before the Royal Tombs, and one of the largest rock-cut theatres of the ancient world. It was built by the Nabataean king Aretas IV (9 BC–40 AD) at the height of the kingdom's power, in the same years as the city's great temples; his son Malichus II made minor alterations, and after the annexation of 106 AD the Romans rebuilt the outer wall. It seated about 8,500 people, more than the Roman theatre in Amman, on three tiers divided by walkways and cut by seven staircases. The seats and aisles were hewn directly from the sandstone, while the stage building and outer wall were built of masonry; the design mixes Hellenistic and Roman forms with Nabataean touches such as floral capitals. The site was chosen so that the seating looked out over the greatest possible number of tombs, and the carving sliced through some older tombs whose openings are still visible above the upper rows. The earthquake of 363 damaged the Theatre, but its plan remains easy to read in full, and it is a natural pause roughly halfway between the Treasury and the city centre.

Where:

Petra, Jordan