This page groups sacred sites by whether their sacred status is still actively maintained. Wikipedia notes that Mircea Eliade "argues that while the concept of a sacred space is often associated with religious traditions, it is not exclusive to them," since secular societies can keep treating a place as significant too. Browsing this way lets a visitor tell a site with living religious observance apart from one preserved mainly for its history.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingHigh places and rock-cut sanctuaries of the Nabataeans, an Arabian people whose religion is known almost entirely from inscriptions in Nabataean Aramaic, from carved niches and from what Greek writers reported. Their gods, Dushara and al-Uzza among them, were often represented by unworked or lightly worked blocks rather than by figures. 2 Attestation
Era of AttestationNabataean religious inscriptions run from roughly the second century BCE to the fourth century CE. The kingdom itself was annexed by Rome in 106 CE; the cult and its inscriptions continued after the kingdom ended. 2 Learn More
Nabataean Sacred Sites
This small group holds a sacred site of the Nabataeans, the ancient Arab people of the desert whose capital, Petra, is famed for its monuments carved into rose-red rock. Nabataean religion centred on gods such as Dushara and Al-Uzza, worshipped at high places and rock-cut sanctuaries.
The browser will find the site the atlas classes here. The entry describes its deities and religious function within the Nabataean world.
Practice Status
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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