Near Eastern Archaeology, December 1st, 2002
In the early seventh century CE, a fire took place in St. Mary's church situated on the slopes of downtown Petra. Whereas the damage to the church must have been distressing to the congregation at the time, it was in fact a blessing in disguise because, in a room adjacent to the church, some 140 papyrus rolls were stored. Organic material, such as papyrus, decomposes in rapid climatic changes and had the fire not carbonized these papyri, they would not have been preserved for posterity buried under the collapsed superstructures of the building complex. Thanks to the fire, one of the most impor...
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