[possibly by both George Horsfield and Agnes Conway] The Tombs south of El Habis have all petered out without giving any evidence different to that already obtained, nor producing anything in the way of pottery that was not previously known and explored – nor was there the faintest evidence of cremations. The one thing not previously found was a collection of alabaster pots – all in fragments – there seem to be four in all – large and small. The North Tomb was finished clearing at the end of the working day – there are three graves and all unopened. Pottery has been found in the Chamber of the same character as previously known – but with one or two fresh shapes. The works are now closed down and will allow of time to consider them in their different evidences. The main feeling is disappointment at the lack of variety and their comparative modernity. Every effort has been made to find the oldest and deepest sites – the same with the tombs and graves. The evidence has been the same in all cases and seems conclusive that the civilization was of Mediterranean origin – except for the “Assyrian” Pylon Tombs. Taking Medain Salih as the fixed chronological starting point then Petra is not older – but must have existed and flourished under the same trade and cultural impulse – which dies towards the end of the first century at M.S. but was diverted in the case of Petra to being intermediary between N. & S. This then was the flourishing period – the 2nd century, which filled Provincia Arabia with cities and completed the Graeco-Romanization of Petra in the monuments of Hadrian.
Reference: [unsigned, possibly Horsfield, G. and Conway, A.] 1929 (transcribed by A. Thornton). Petra Exploration Fund Diary. "Business Papers to be Kept", Horsfield Collection Box 8, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 7 May: 69-71.
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