Petra Exhibition at Calvin Nears Halfway

June 7, 2005 == MEDIA ADVISORY

If the Petra: Lost City of Stone exhibition at Calvin College was a golf
tournament it would be nearing, as they say at the British Open, the inward
nine.

Half the round done, half to go.

Indeed Petra, scheduled for a 115-day run at the Prince Conference Center at
Calvin, will mark its 58th day on Thursday, June 9.

Based on attendance figures thus far, Petra should see its 28,000th visitor
that day. As of the close of business on Saturday, June 4 the exhibition had
drawn 26,797 visitors and had sold 37,775 tickets.

Petra organizers at Calvin College note that the exhibition is averaging about
500 visitors per day thus far. During its 135-day-run in Cincinnati, Petra
drew about 63,000 visitors or an average of 465 per day.

On-site curator Joel Zwart says that word of mouth on the exhibition has been
fantastic.

"Those who have seen Petra," he says, "rave about it."

One recent visitor said: "Our world is getting smaller and this helps our
perspective." Another said simply: "This was the best presentation I have
ever seen. First class. A+."

Upcoming Petra events include:

*A free lecture at 7 pm on June 7 in the Prince Center Board Room by Douglas
Comer on Petra's amazing water systems called "Hydrology: Relationship to
Preservation."

*A free lecture at 7 pm on June 14 in the Prince Center Board Room by Bethany
Walker on "Petra and the Time of the Crusades."

*Mezze and Music on June 17 from 8 to 10 pm, featuring mezze (Arabic for hors
d'oeuvres) and two hours of traditional and contemporary Middle Eastern singing
and dancing. The cost is just $30 for adults and $20 for children between the
ages of 5 and 17 and includes an exhibition ticket voucher.

*A Dig Petra Family Field Trip from 9 am to noon on June 18 at the Al Beidha
excavation site behind the Prince Conference Center.

The most comprehensive exhibition ever presented on the ancient Middle Eastern
city of Petra, and its creators, the Nabataeans, Petra: Lost City of Stone is
at Calvin for the third and final leg of its U.S. journey, featuring over 200
exceptional objects - many on display for the first time in North America.

Organized by the American Museum of Natural History and the Cincinnati Art
Museum, and presented under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania
Al-Abdullah of Jordan, Petra is the first major cultural collaboration between
Jordan and the United States. Air transportation generously provided by Royal
Jordanian.

A lead, local sponsor for Petra is Huntington Bank, West Michigan.

For more visitor comments see http://www.calvin.edu/petra/quotes.php
For lots of downloadable photos, graphics, etc see
http://www.calvin.edu/petra/media

-end-
Received on Tue Jun 7 14:23:24 2005