A day in Petra

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Today we visited Petra, an ancient city carved out of stone in about 3 BC by the Nabataeans, a civilization eventually taken over by the Romans.

Undiscovered until the mid 19th century, Petra really gained fame with scenes filmed here in the 3rd Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) movie. I know, I should know the name of the movie, but it escapes me at the moment.

Physically, Petra is a large space to explore, and can take several days, so they sell a 1, 2, and 3 day ticket. It is fairly expensive, costing about $28.00 for the one day ticket.

With our xeroxed copy of a tour book map in hand we hiked into the Petra compound, past the endless souvenir stands, past the boys trying to rent us a donkey or a horse or a camel.

It is an overwhelming collection of caves, monuments, tombs….etc. carved out of the sandstone which is the predominant rock in this region. Big square rocks 30 feet on a side stand off to one side, and we notice a square hole entry way into the solid stone. Numerous caves with ornate entrances designed to look like plaster or wood entry ways are along the path.

A large dam fills the wadi, which is what we would call a “wash” in the west, and fills with water during one of the infrequent rain storms. They dammed up this wadi, then build terra cotta pipe channels to carry the water a mile or so down the channel of the wadi to the town below.

Of course the really spectacular carved temples are the main attraction, and dominate the section of the valley where they appear. One of the most famous and most spectacular is the “Monastery” which is at the top of the mountains and is reached by climbing 850 steps (or 950 depending on whether you are talking to a boy who wants to rent you his donkey to make the climb).

We spent about 5 hours walking in, hiking the 950 steps to the “Monastery”, and hiking back out.

Had a great lunch and headed for the pool for the rest of the afternoon.

Tomorrow we drive to the Dead Sea and Mt. Nebo.

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Photos

The Monastery at Petra
47 meters wide by 48.3 meters high, this is a very large carving

850 steps to the Monastery
nearly 850 souvenir vendors, too

Walking along the wadi
you wouldn't want to be here in a flash flood

The first temple you see
as the wadi opens up this is a spectacular sight

Temple as the Wadi opens up
Interestingly enough, the camel on the left just bit the woman in the picture

450 yr old tree
this is a historic fountain where two wadis come together. The goats apparently don't recognize the historical significance of a 450 yr old tree

Another fine temple
temple has 5 cones, each to represent one person buried inside

Comments

[Cuz Beth]

Petra's my fav so far!
Dear Bill, Oh- Petra is definitely my fav so far! I admit I loved the pyramids, the Nile sail, the pretty Blue Hole but this simply doesn't look as hot and exhausting and soley concrete edifices as I saw in Cairo! Ilove the architecture, the natural beauty and the allure and mystery of it all, (and there appears to have been some shade vs those pyramids that just sit in the sandy dust in the sun!) By the time you get this, you will have visited the Dead Sea I bet, but I liked it. Floating was fun and the Ahava Foot cream is the BEST! Hope you go to Masada near the Dead Sea which is terribly fascinating and educational. God Bless! Love, Beth