LOOK
WHEN YOU
THE PETRA HALF FIGURINE
When you look at this ancient Petra half figurine, you see the suppression of female rights. This terracotta figure, with the smooth curvature and entrancing eyes of an ancient goddess, makes one question the reason behind its incomplete nature. One wonders who this goddess was, what her function was in the society of ancient Petra, what significance she held in the lives of Nabatean women, and why she was tossed aside to time. Fertility votives were a common part of Nabatean religious practices, representing the active presence of women in Nabatean society and their ability to bring life and peace into the world. Nabatean women utilized votives as a means of connection with the pagan goddesses they worshiped, both through ceremonies and sacrifice in return for favors.
On the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, in January of 630 AD, the freedoms of Nabatean women were lost to the growing power of Islamic conquests. The violent destruction of female goddesses, both in the defacement of their idols and temples, and in the brutality conveyed through the Book of Idols, marks the beginning of female subjugation to male control. Under Islam, women became overshadowed by their male counterparts, often subject to their will, worship practices, and eventual control. As they lost their goddesses, they also lost their representation within their religion.
While her origins and name and owner may forever remain a mystery, the symbol of the Petra half figurine will not. Her message of hope for women and the fertility and prosperity of land and family is as relevant to women now as it was to the Nabatean woman who commissioned or crafted her. She serves as a window to the past, but also as a reminder of just how fragile our rights are as women in a volatile world. When you look at this ancient fertility votive from Petra, you see a reminder of the potential for a society to function and succeed while valuing equality, and the ease at which such freedoms can be taken away.
By: Zoe Young