Petra Royal Tombs — Urn Tomb

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The Urn Tomb at Petra, Jordan is one of four so-called Royal Tombs, believed to have been the burial place of kings and dignitaries. It had two layers of vaults and is thought to be the tomb of the Nabatean king, Malchus II, who died in 70 AD, or his predecessor, Aretas IV, about thirty years earlier. 

It was later converted into a Byzantine church. The floor was flattened, and an altar was built in it. An inscription in Greek records the dedication of the tomb as a place of Christian worship in 446/7 AD. It reads: 'In the time of the most holy Bishop Jason this place was dedicated...to Christ the Savior.'


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