About Petra

Petra (Greek "πέτρα" (petra), meaning cleft in the rock; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ) is an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Nabateans constructed it as their capital city around 100 BCE.

The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage."] In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.

Undoubtedly the most famous attraction in Jordan is the Nabatean city of Petra, nestled away in the mountains south of the Dead Sea. Petra, which means "stone" in Greek, is perhaps the most spectacular ancient city remaining in the modern world, and certainly a must-see for visitors to Jordan and the Middle East.

The city was the capital of the Nabateans -Arabs who dominated the lands of Jordan during pre-Roman times- and they carved this wonderland of temples, tombs and elaborate buildings out of solid rock. The Victorian traveler and poet Dean Burgon gave Petra a description which holds to this day -"Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time." Yet words can hardly do justice to the magnificence that is Petra. In order to best savor the atmosphere of this ancient wonder, visit in the quiet of the early morning or late afternoon when the sandstone rock glows red with quiet grandeur.

Exploration of the Lost cityFor seven centuries, Petra fell into the mists of legend, its existence a guarded secret known only to the local Bedouins and Arab tradesmen. Finally, in 1812, a young Swiss explorer and convert to Islam named Johann Ludwig Burckhardt heard locals speaking of a "lost city" hidden in the mountains of Wadi Mousa. In order to find the site without arousing local suspicions, Burckhardt disguised himself as a pilgrim seeking to make a sacrifice at the tomb of Aaron, a mission which would provide him a glimpse of the legendary city. He managed to bluff his way through successfully, and the secret of Petra was revealed to the modern Western world.
Much of Petra’s fascination comes from its setting on the edge of Wadi Araba. The rugged sandstone hills form a deep canyon easily protected from all directions. The easiest access to Petra is through the Siq, a winding cleft in the rock that varies from between five to 200 meters wide. Petra’s excellent state of preservation can be attributed to the fact that almost all of its hundreds of "buildings" have been hewn out of solid rock: there are only a few free-standing buildings in the city. Until 1984, many of these caves were home to the local Bedouins. Out of concern for the monuments, however, the government outlawed this and relocated the Bedouins to housing near the adjacent town of Wadi Mousa.
Petra is located just outside the town of Wadi Mousa in southern Jordan. It is 260 kilometers from Amman via the Desert Highway and 280 kilometers via the King’s Highway. There are numerous and varied accommodations available in Wadi Mousa, as well as a few hotels on the panoramic drive between Wadi Mousa and the nearby (15 kilometers) village of Taybet. Camping is now illegal inside Petra.

About Nabatean


Before Alexander’s conquest, a thriving new civilization had emerged in southern Jordan. It appears that a nomadic tribe known as the Nabateans began migrating gradually from Arabia during the sixth century BCE. Over time, they abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in a number of places in southern Jordan, the Naqab desert in Palestine, and in northern Arabia. Their capital city was the legendary Petra, Jordan’s most famous tourist attraction. Although Petra was inhabited by the Edomites before the arrival of the Nabateans, the latter carved grandiose buildings, temples and tombs out of solid sandstone rock. They also constructed a wall to fortify the city, although Petra was almost naturally defended by the surrounding sandstone mountains. Building an empire in the arid desert also forced the Nabateans to excel in water conservation. They were highly skilled water engineers, and irrigated their land with an extensive system of dams, canals and reservoirs.

The Nabateans were exceptionally skilled traders, facilitating commerce between China, India, the Far East, Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. They dealt in such goods as spices, incense, gold, animals, iron, copper, sugar, medicines, ivory, perfumes and fabrics, just to name a few. From its origins as a fortress city, Petra became a wealthy commercial crossroads between the Arabian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures. Control of this crucial trade route between the upland areas of Jordan, the Red Sea, Damascus and southern Arabia was the lifeblood of the Nabatean Empire.

We still know comparatively little about Nabatean society. However, we do know that they spoke a dialect of Arabic and later on adopted Aramaic. Much of what is now known about Nabatean culture comes from the writings of the Roman scholar Strabo. He recorded that their community was governed by a royal family, although a strong spirit of democracy prevailed. According to him there were no slaves in Nabatean society, and all members shared in work duties. The Nabateans worshipped a pantheon of deities, chief among which were the sun god Dushara and the goddess Allat.

As the Nabateans grew in power and wealth, they attracted the attention of their neighbors to the north. The Seleucid King Antigonus, who had come to power when Alexander’s empire was divided, attacked Petra in 312 BCE. His army met with relatively little resistance, and was able to sack the city. The quantity of booty was so great, however, that it slowed their return journey north and the Nabateans were able to annihilate them in the desert. Records indicate that the Nabateans were eager to remain on good terms with the Seleucids in order to perpetuate their trading ambitions. Throughout much of the third century BCE, the Ptolemies and Seleucids warred over control of Jordan, with the Seleucids emerging victorious in 198 BCE. Nabatea remained essentially untouched and independent throughout this period.

The beauty pf Petra

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The beauty pf Petra

The Number of Tombs
There are over one thousand burial monuments in Petra and several hundred others in the other burial cities. Most of these were for family and tribal units. Thus the tombs could have contained tens of thousands of people. Added to this, there are extensive Nabataean graveyards located near Petra and the other cities where the more common people were buried. This adds up to a lot of graves.The Nabataeans wealthy were mostly buried in five Nabataean burial cities. There were three cities in the Sinai/Negev, one in the inner kingdom (Petra) and one in Saudi Arabia. These cities are also important cities, in that they were located at the junctions of major trade routes.

Therefore, it appears that the Nabataean dead were transported to these cities for proper burial. Most likely there was something in Nabataean culture or religion that encouraged people to think of them spending eternity along side of their family and relatives.

The Builders of the Tombs
From the inscriptions we see that the tombs were made by Nabataean sculptors and not by imported slaves or laborers.

A City of Tombs
Was Petra originally a religious city, or was it an urban center for the Nabataeans. That probably depends on when you are talking about. It appears that originally it was more like a religious city. It functioned as the center for the twice-yearly pilgrimages and festivals, and it also functioned as a burial city. It was complete with several temples, a festival theater, a nymphaeum, a bathhouse, a sacred way, a monumental gate, many pools, and several other public buildings. The temples and other public buildings occupied the central valley, where the Royal Tombs were situated.

Along with this, the people who maintained Petra had to live there. This included priests, sculptors, grave diggers, temple attendants, administrative staff for the many public buildings, merchants who sold temple and burial paraphernalia, and other support people who ran services that provided things like food and water. If there was a royal court in Petra, then this would have entailed another whole group of people. These people alone may have numbered several thousand, along with their spouses and families.

Some writers have estimated that Petra might have had a population of 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants. Interestingly enough, few academic sources substantiate these figures. (originally derived by a journalist). There was a limited amount of room within Petra's city walls. If we calculated, say, 10 people to a household, this would come to at least 2000 large houses. The problem with this is that there was very little room within the city proper for private housing. The great majority all of the buildings uncovered to date have been public buildings. As an example, consider the market places. For years, part of Petra was deemed as having upper, middle, and lower marketplaces. When archaeologists decided to excavate the lower market in 1998, they discovered a series of public pools, gardens, and waterworks.

Most archeologists, however, now believe that Petra was a large, urban center. The Petra Scrolls clearly tell us of the crowded living conditions within the city during the Byzantine era, but little is known of Petra during its purely Nabataean days from around 60 BC to 200 AD.

As the Nabataeans were nomadic people who traditionally lived in tents, it is assumed that for the first several hundred years of their occupation of the Inner Kingdom that they lived in tents, and did not erect stone houses. This is true in most of the Nabataean cities. It is only during the latter part of the Nabataean kingdom that suddenly the Nabataeans began constructing houses, and then they were often of incredible size, varying from 600 to 2000 square meters.

So, did people live in cities surrounded by the dead? The answer is not clear, but it may have been that most of the Nabataeans lived in tents scattered across the countryside, or in small centers such as Selah. Many also lived in smaller villages raising camels and horses. This would have required large tracts of grazing space. Others would be away with the caravans or trading ships.

So it only makes sense that they would cluster their public buildings around one spot, where the temples and Royal courts and tombs were located. As for housing, perhaps for many years, and particularly during public festivals, the majority of people lived in tents.

The major spots and things to enjoy and admire the beauty of Petra are

Walk In





Just past the main gate you will be offered horses to ride, or even small buggies for two people. The rides are very inexpensive, and help the local Bedouin make a living.Along with the horses there are also buggies to ride. These drivers can take you all the way through the suq to the treasury.The horses at Petra are well groomed and cared for at this site. If you are interested in Arabian horses, this is a great place to stop.Many people prefer to walk, especially if it is a nice day. (Not too hot). Since the horses only take you 1/3 of the way to the heart of Petra, you may wish to walk, and enjoy the siq at a slower pace. Or, if you are afraid of tiring out, take the horse to the entrance of the siq and walk from there.

The Siq




The entrance to the siq is quite unimpressive. However before you go rushing through, read the sign, and look around. On the left of the siq is a water channel that brought water from a spring several miles away into the heart of Petra.On the left hand side of the siq is the water channel. It used to be covered, but long ago ancient floods washed away the cover stones. On the right side of the siq an ancient clay pipeline can be seen. These clay pipes also brought water down to the center of Petra. It is possible to see two well preserved sections of pipe in the museum in the center of Petra

The Nabateans carved small niches of their deities in the walls of Siqs they must be observed closely. so its best visited by walk.




The Small Siq



The entrance to the small siq starts at the Nabataean Water Tunnel, located to the right of the dam, at the entrance to the main siq.


The path to this siq travels through the water tunnel, (right) and then follows the wadi along, turning left at various locations until it comes through the siq and out into the Petra Valley near the Christian Tombs.


Because the small siq is an active watercourse, it is unadvisable to travel through it during the period from October to April.This siq is not designed for the casual tourists. It has places where visitors will have to climb rocks and clamber over obstacles that the water has deposited.



The picture shown above is not a cave in fact its a crack in the mountain.

Treasury
Once you step out of the siq you are faced with the tremendous scale of this monument. Is is several stories high, and especially spectacular in the morning sunlight. Once you have adjusted to it's awe and beauty, have a look inside.











The construction of this monument was a difficult task as it was very risky to maintain in this remote desert of Petra. It required various things of concern such as scaffolding, skilled labors, building materials, liggting equipments and many more.

Street of Facades












After the viewing the Treasury, we come next to the Street of Facades, which is lined with tall, impressive tombs, with large facades or false faces on their fronts. This street eventually leads us down into the heart of the city proper.In order to investigate this tomb, high on the cliff side, archeologists used a famous mountain climber to climb up the mountain and leap down to the small ledge in front of the tomb. Unfortunately the tomb had been robbed long ago and he found only a new bones.

Water Works


Along the left hand side of the siq, a covered water channel used to bring water from the spring in Wadi Musa into the center of Petra.Along the right hand side of the siq, clay water pipes brought water into the city.The museum in Petra has these two pieces of pipe on display so tourists can see the incredible advancement that the Nabataeans made in their water works. These clay pipes have tapered ends, something we modern people only figured out in the last two hundred years. Farther along the Street of Facades, the water pipe that was running at road height is now far above our heads. Over the last kilometer the road has dropped dramatically, but the clever Nabataeans kept the water pipes dropping slowly so as to provide water pressure within the city cente




Throughout the city of Petra are hundreds of underground water cisterns. Every possible drop of rainwater, as well as the water piped into the city was stored and used later.

The Theater






The next main monument as we pass along the road into the heart of the city of Petra is the theater up ahead on our left.Petra's theater is cut out of solid rock, and badly deteriorated. The front of the theater, including most of the stage was badly damaged by floods.While more impressive Roman theaters are located in Amman and Jerash, this theater is important when one considers the cultural importance it would have played in the Nabataean city.

The Royal Tombs


The first of the so called Royal Tombs is the Urn Tomb. This tomb is built high on the mountain side, and requires climbing up a number of flights of stairs. Abbe' Starcky has suggested that this is the tomb of Nabataean King Malchus II who died in 70 AD. Dr. Schmidt-Colinet on the other hand has proposed that this is the tomb of Aretas IV.


The main chamber is very large and impressive. Along the back wall are three asps, constructed when the tomb was converted into a church.


Silk Tomb Beside the Urn Tomb is a small tomb known as the Silk Tomb. This name comes from the rich color of the sandstone. IT is one of the most dramatically colored tombs in Petra.


The Corinthian Tomb comes next. It is very worn, but if one stops to examine it, it is very ornate and similar to the Treasury.


The Palace Tomb is very wide, and has three distinct stories in it's facade. Supposedly, it is similar to the Roman palace design of the Golden House of Nero.

High Place



The High Place is located at the very top of a mountain. If you want to see it, you will have to climb up there.The main steps to the high place start just before the amphitheater. The picture on the right is looking down onto the tent beside the stairs. People are starting up the stairs for the assent to the High Place. Everyone seems to have a different count but the general consensus is that it is over eight hundred.

As you climb the steps take some time to look around. Near the bottom of the stairs there appears to be some exposure platforms. Farther up the stairs, one can trace where the ancient stairs and processional path must have gone. As you walk imagine what it must have been like to have been in an ancient procession with colorful priests, musical instruments, and animals bearing the wood to burn the offering. One thing is for sure, incense was probably part of the ancient form of worship.




As you reach the top of the mountain you will come to what is known as Attuf Ridge. On this ridge are two obelisks, such as are found in India.They are carved out of solid rock and are over 6 meters high. They have been noted as Nabataean as one of them still has the typical Nabataean style of haching (etching) on the side that is protected from the prevailing winds.


The Crusader Fort



The Soldier Tomb


On the north side of the Attuf Ridge is a huge pile of stones and the remains of an ancient wall. This is all that remains of an crusader castle.fort wall Most certainly they came from the Attuf Ridge where the Nabataeans carved away the mountain side to make the Obelisks. But one does wonder what the Nabataeans used the stones for.

Colonnade Street








Great Temple


In 1921 an archeologist named Bachman published a survey of the city of Petra, which soon became a standard that was used by archeologists for several decades. On the south side hill of the Colonnade Street Bachman mapped out the ruins of a large building, complete with columns. He named it the Great Temple. And so, the building has always been known as the Great Temple, although more and more historians are wondering if this was actually a temple, or if it was the Nabataean seat of government.