This talk explores perceptions and misperceptions of the ancient city of Petra in southern Jordan, best known as capital of the Nabataean kingdom in the early centuries BCE/CE. Despite the semi-arid nature of its environment, Petra served as a major center for long-distance trade and as the site of numerous tombs, temples and palaces, and the city continued to flourish in Roman and Byzantine times.

The work of the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project, a regional landscape survey conducted just to the north of the city center, sought to recover the diachronic history of the Petra hinterland. In particular, we explored the systems that allowed for water capture and water deployment — water capture and water deployment both for symbolic and for practical purposes — emphasizing in particular new archaeological means of studying such phenomena. We can also briefly consider how such studies may be pertinent to the tsunami of water shortages fast heading our way in many parts of the modern world.

讲座将探索关于佩特拉——一座位于约旦南部，曾在公元之交作为纳巴泰王国首都的古城——的一些认知和以往存在的对这座伟大城市的误读。尽管处于半干旱气候区，但佩特拉在很长时间内一直是该地区长距离贸易链中的核心城市，并且大量的墓葬、神庙和宫殿都修筑于此。在此后的罗马和拜占庭时代，佩特拉也保持着繁荣。
布朗大学佩特拉考古研究项目在佩特拉古城中心以北的区域开展了调查，希望能够追溯这一内陆城市的历史变化。尤为重要的是，我们关注了当地水资源的获取和利用设施，以及这些设施兼具象征性和实用性目的，特别强调运用新的考古学方法来研究这些古代水资源相关的现象。而这些方法在研究现代社会由海啸带来的水资源短缺方面也存在一定的相关性。

Susan E. Alcock (Ph.D. 1989, University of Cambridge) is Special Counsel for Institutional Outreach and Engagement, Office of the President, and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Classical Archaeology and Classics at the University of Michigan. Previously, she was Director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University. She is a classical archaeologist, with interests in the material culture of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Hellenistic and Roman times. Much of her research to date has revolved around themes of landscape, imperialism, sacred space, and memory. Her most recent fieldwork was the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP), a regional survey north of the Petra city center. Alcock is a 2001 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Corresponding Member of the British Academy.

苏珊·阿尔科克于1989年获得剑桥大学博士学位，密歇根大学外延与发展研究所特别顾问、古典考古与古典学亚瑟·F·图尔瑙讲席教授。在此之前，她曾担任美国布朗大学儒科夫斯基考古与古代社会研究所主任。作为一个古典考古学家，阿尔科克教授的研究主要关注地中海东岸的物质文化，特别是古希腊和罗马时代。她最近的研究兴趣也包括景观考古、古代帝国、神圣空间和人群记忆等等。其最新近的田野工作是布朗大学佩特拉考古研究项目在佩特拉古城中心以北的区域调查。阿尔科克教授于2001年获得“麦克阿瑟奖”，同时也是英国科学院的通讯会员。