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Places to visit in
Jordan
 Dean Burgon, the
Victorian poet and traveller, gave Petra a description which holds to this day, “Match
me such marvel save in eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time...”
The Decapolis city of Petra, known in the Bible and old Arab literature as Sela ( the Rock), is the jewel of southern Jordan and one of the jewels of the world. This wonderful Nabataean city carved into the rose_red, pink, salmon and cinnamon sandstone cliffs and caves, resembling swirled ice cream, was built more than 2,000 years ago and apparently ‘vanished’ sometime around the 7th century AD. In 106 AD 30,000 people lived in this city. Petra prospered because of its commercial prowess and the advanced technology it used to develop its water engineering. Harvesting water like precious grain, the Nabataeans collected it, piped it, stored it, conserved it, prayed over it, and managed it _ by devising elaborate systems of hydraulics that make up even now, the unseen musculature of Petra. Hundreds of cisterns kept Petra from dying of thirst in times of drought, while masonary dams in the surrounding hills protected the city from flash floods after bursts of rain. It was a strategic centre on the old silk, spice and frankincense route where camel caravans paid road tolls to the Nabataeans, who later plundered the same caravan treasures! Petra was also renowned for its refined culture and sophisticated system of justice. Aaron, the brother of Moses, is buried here on top of Mount Haroun. Petra was the secret of the local Bedouin for hundreds of years until the Swiss explorer Johannn Burkhardt ‘rediscovered’ it in 1812. The vast Petra region, covering some 650 square kilometres, 160 square kilometres of which is a national park, contains over 800 individual monuments and it is believed that only one quarter of it has yet been excavated. It remains an eternal tribute to a lost civilization. It has an enormous amount to offer everybody _ those interested in archaeology, geology, art, water engineering, agricultural techniques, nature and landscape or just the sheer beauty and majesty of the place. Gasp at the sun sinking behind the red mountains. The Bedouins say, “Every sunset is another life. Every sunrise is a new birth.”
The Roman Amphitheatre _ Petra’s semi_circular main theatre, also dated at 1C BC, is remarkable for being almost entirely carved from the solid rock. It has 45 rows and about 7,000 seats. We can only guess at what type of performances were presented. Al-Madbah _ The High Place of Sacrifice _ Can be reached by approximately 600 steps cut into the sandstone or a comparatively easy scramble up the mountain at the back. It is 1035 metres above sea level and stands 200 metres above the theatre. Two 7 metre high obelisks lie at the top beside two adjacent altars and associated cultic installations, This may be the most complete and best preserved cultic altar and sacrificial complex to be handed down from biblical times. Colonnaded Street _ This magnificent thoroughfare was built around 106 AD. It was lined with buildings and used until well into the 6th century. In places the marble paving is intact and it would seem that only people and animals travelled along it as there are no signs of wheel marks. A few of the columns have been re-erected. The street leads to the Arched Gate (Triumphal Arch) that was the formal entrance into ancient Petra’s most important temple, Ad-Dair. Qasr al-Bint _ The Castle of Pharaoh’s Daughter - This dates back to 30 BC and is also known as the Temple of Dushara after the god who was worshipped there. It was probably the main place of worship in the city. Ad-Dair _ The Monastery_The approach is via 800 recently improved roughly hewn steps, although there are donkeys available to carry anyone who doesn’t feel up to the climb. This mid 1st century Nabataean temple has Petra’s largest façade, 45m x 50m, with two stories crowned by a gigantic 10 metre high urn. Described so aptly by Edward Lear who visited Petra in 1858 as “...a fit crown to the marvels of the ascent.” Ad-Dair overlooks cliffs that plunge nearly 1,500 metres into Wadi Araba, the southern extension of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Rift Valley. Habees High Place _ One of the easiest places for the visitor to reach. It has benches, a water basin, an altar, an approach staircase, and dramatically overlooks Wadi Siyyagh. Mosque of Nabl Haroon _ Aaron’s Tomb _ 1,350 metres above sea level. The white dome of this 14th century mosque can be seen for miles around Petra. This is also the burial place of Aaron, the brother of Moses and Miriam. Al-Beidah _ Little Petra _ The ancient ruins of this Stone Age village, 8 km from the main entrance to Petra, date back about 10,000 years and are one of the oldest archaeological sites in the Middle East. Wadi Mussa, the boom-town at the entrance to the Petra site, is where Moses supposedly struck the rock and water gushed forth. The spring is covered with a small building that has three white domes. The people of Wadi Mussa depend on tourists to Petra for their living. They are very friendly and helpful and the town is full of hotels and restaurants, and craft shops.
The majority of the Rum Bedouin are members of the Huweitat tribe. Tribal pride is very strong as a legend told by one of the ancestral Huweitat Sheikhs, Suleiman ibn Jad, illustrates. “The human race was divided at the beginning into three classes - the tent makers, the agriculturists and the Huweitat!” This is where the legend of Lawrence of Arabia was born and where the film of the same name was shot. A Beau Geste-style desert police fort is located at the entrance to Wadi Rum, where the police are mounted not on horse or jeep, but on camels – the ‘ships of the desert’. Unforgettable memories are to be found here. The Bedouin believe that this place makes them, “Strong like the mountains, soft like the sand, and fleet like the wind - forever free”. This is the place where deep silence and inspiration is born. It is a paradise for mountain climbers, hikers, trekkers, camel caravans and 4WD safaris where, travelling from one desert valley to the next, you can see beautiful canyons, Thamudic inscriptions, ancient rock drawings, rock bridges, water systems, geology, archaeology and caravan stations on the trade routes. In 1998 the centre of the valley, covering 500 square kilometres was created a National Park.
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The Siq - The city of Petra is approached on foot or by horse-drawn carriage
through the narrow, winding one kilometre long Siq. One hundred metre high cliffs which
seem to meet overhead tower over this awesome natural crack in the sandstone. In 1998
alone, nearly half a million cubic feet of rubble was excavated from the Siq revealing
some of the original pavement and ancient features on the chasm walls, including ceramic
water pipes and a giant camel caravan carved in bas_relief from the sandstone. This was
always the principal entry into Petra and still is. As you come to the end of the Siq you
experience a thrill that is as dramatic today as it was two millennia ago. Suddenly,
turning the corner and passing beneath two overhanging cliffs you are totally engulfed by
the magic and splendour of Petra’s most famous and impressive monument _ The Treasury _
and you literally step into the ancient past.
Al-Khazneh _ The
Treasury _ Carved out of solid rock from the side of the mountain it stands nearly 45
metres high and 30 metres wide. Also known as Pharaoh’s Treasury, it derives its name
from the huge urn at its summit. According to local tradition Pharaoh, the great black
magician, created the monuments of Petra and then deposited his treasure in the urn far
from human reach. For many years the Bedouin fired their rifles in vain at the much
battered vessel hoping one day it would break open and shower the lucky marksman with gold
and jewels. Usually dated 1C BC, it was probably a tomb or a shrine of some sort although
its true function still remains a mystery.
Wadi Rum - the Valley of the Moon -
is the most awe inspiring mountain desert in the world. It brings to mind a dramatic
moonscape of ancient valleys and towering weathered sandstone mountains rising out of the
pink and white sand. Stunning in its natural, haunting beauty, with scenery unsurpassed
anywhere on earth, Wadi Rum epitomizes the romance of the desert. Now it is the home of
several Bedouin tribes, the semi-nomadic tent dwellers who live with their herds of sheep,
goats and camels. These hospitable and friendly desert people will always make a welcome
for you. Visitors who are invited to share mint tea or cardomen coffee in their
traditional hand woven black tents, perhaps sitting by the fire under a starry desert sky,
will have an experience not to be forgotten. Don’t forget to make a wish on a falling
star!