Database: The Triclinium

The iconic diwan, at the entrance of a narrow passage (siq) in Hegra.

The triclinium, now called the diwan, is among the most fascinating features of Nabataean architecture at Hegra. Inspired by Greco-Roman practices, the triclinium was a rectangular banquet hall carved directly from the rock, which included a stone couch along each of the three walls (hence the name), the fourth side being open. It was a place to host guests and share meals while reclining "in the Roman style," expressing high social status and strengthening community bonds. The triclinium also hosted funerary meals in honor of ancestors, ceremonies linked to deities and local cults, and probably collective celebrations associated with rites of passage or community festivals, sometimes within the framework of confraternities. Situated in close proximity to the majestic necropolises of Hegra, this interaction between the world of the living and that of the dead seems to have facilitated engagement of the community with its ancestors.