Tom Paradise above Khazneh in Petra
The PBS NOVA special, Petra: The Lost City of Stone, is the topic of our upcoming class, From Science to the Screen: Petra. This class will be taught by none other than Dr. Tom Paradise, the geoscientist and cartographer, who did much of the planning and mapping for this special that aired in 2015.
Petra, located in present day Jordan, was an extraordinary city. It was an oasis in the middle of the desert, a Kingdom carved into the sides of towering cliffs, a grand temple at its center, and systems of aqueducts and channels that led water to their bathhouses, pools, vineyards…etc. It was clear that this city was a place of wealth and power. After a devastating earthquake, and extreme decline in traffic of its desert trade routes, the city of Petra eventually disappeared from the view of most of the globe, for nearly a thousand years.
Tom Paradise, a man of many trades, was one of the scientists to shed some light on the history of this ancient city, and more specifically how it was built in one of the harshest climates. During his 30 years of research in Petra as a geoscientist and cartographer, Tom specialized in stone architectural deterioration. While dealing with the decay of stone structures, Tom states that he had to “address climate, rock, land-use, architecture, history, tourism, economics, mapping, and policy/law” in his research of this city. Tom initially found himself in Petra in 1989 working for UNESCO as a custodian during the filming of ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’. He was behind the scenes during the filming process to make sure nothing happened to important historic elements such as the ‘Khazneh’.
Finished façade in Petra
PBS NOVA reached out to Tom Paradise, in hopes to collaborate and make a 55min special over the amazing city of Petra and how the people of the ancient city built the structures that make it up. Tom was very excited and eager for this project though it was a daunting one. He had years’ worth of research to consolidate to less than an hour as well as the planning and acquiring of materials to build a structure like the ones found in Petra. With his experience as a professor at the UofA and here at OLLI, as well as his previous experience producing specials with other networks, he was well prepared and more than able to clearly and concisely deliver the information needed for this special. In total his team spent nearly two years planning, special organization, mapping, script writing, filming and executing this project. Petra is a breath-taking city and the PBS NOVA special, Petra: The Lost City of Stone, is awe-inspiring. There is no one better to enlighten us about this incredible topic, a huge thank you to, Tom Paradise.
This fascinating course will be held on Monday, February 10th at 11:00am at Grand Village at Clear Creek. If you are interested in this course and would like to register for it, you can do so via our website: https://reg138.imperisoft.com/UARK/Search/Registration.aspx
