The vast majority of scholarship on the water management systems of ancient Petra has focused exclusively on its built elements. While this work has contributed greatly to our understanding of the technological dimensions of infrastructure and its ability to harness a limited water supply in a semi-arid region, little is known about the social dimensions of infrastructural use and the institutions that operated in conjunction with the physical water infrastructure. Such a lacuna ultimately limits analysis to where physical infrastructure is extant and ignores the myriad other ways in which communities access and manage water. To address these issues, this paper reviews available sources and contextualizes them within broader archaeological, anthropological and ethnographic research focused on water management systems and infrastructure.

绝大多数关于古代佩特拉水管理系统的学术研究都集中在其建筑元素上。虽然这项工作极大地有助于我们了解基础设施的技术层面及其在半干旱地区利用有限供水的能力，但对基础设施使用的社会层面以及与基础设施合作运营的机构知之甚少。有形的水基础设施。这种空白最终将分析限制在现有物理基础设施的范围内，而忽略了社区获取和管理水资源的无数其他方式。为了解决这些问题，本文回顾了可用的资源，并将它们置于更广泛的考古学、人类学和人种学研究中，重点是水管理系统和基础设施。