Nabatean Carvings Returned to Jordan

OXFORD, ENGLAND—According to a report in The Art Newspaper, three carvings removed from a Nabatean temple at the site of Khirbet et-Tannur have been returned to Jordan. The carvings had been in the collection of a Spanish diplomat who served in Jerusalem and Amman, and were acquired by an art dealer sometime after the diplomat’s death in 2016. Judith McKenzie of the University of Oxford, who has led an international study of the archaeologist Nelson Glueck’s records of the excavation of Khirbet et-Tannur in the early twentieth century, confirmed the identification of the artifacts and arranged for their repatriation. “Securing their return was a collaborative effort involving myself, the art dealer, and various authorities in Spain and Jordan,” she explained. In addition, McKenzie’s study of pottery and inscriptions at Khirbet et-Tannur could assist archaeologists with the dating of the temples and tombs at the Nabatean site of Petra, located about 40 miles to the south. For more, go to “Mystery Buildings at Petra.”