The Lost City of Petra

The 'Rose-Red City - half as old as Time', to quote Dean Burgon (who stole half the quote from Samuel Rogers), is one of the most fabulous places in the Middle East and the site of the rise of one of the most important Arab Kingdoms, that of the Nabataeans. Petra was once 'lost' for 1000 years as it was so securely concealed by the craggy encircling mountains. It is one of the modern seven wonders of the world. From this natural fortress the Nabataeans commanded the trade routes from Arabia and the East, until the Romans conquered them in 106 AD.


Hello Everyone,

As I write this blog we are enjoying a perfect transit on our Suez Canal cruise. Some Arcadians have gone off at Suez ( by boat transfer ) to see the Pyramids. I said that I would get back to you with some views of Petra so I hope you enjoy these. The first time I visited Petra was in 1983! The change is that the Visitors Centre would not have been there then.

This is the Visitors Centre with photographs of the past and present King. The past King being King Hussein and the present King Abdullah whose is half English as I believe his Mother was Queen Moona. (?)
Entry to Petra is by a narrow, mile-long chasm, in some places only 10 feet wide, called the Siq, twisting between sand stone cliffs of pink, purple and cream, 100 feet high. This made the entrance impregnable even to the all-conquering Roman Army, who eventually overcame resistance by cutting off the water supply to the City.

Even today visitors proceed by horse or on foot along the Siq.

This narrow passage is an adventure in itself, for the towering walls create an artificial gloom until you suddenly emerge into the blinding light. Above is a rock formation that has eroded over time and is known as ' the fish' for obvious reasons!............

In this photograph you can see the original paving which means you have to watch where you are walking!

As you turn the last corner shaded by the towering cliffs you have your first breath taking glimpse of The Treasury and you see straight away why Petra is 'the Rose - Red City'.

Awesome..........................

The Treasury is the famous and outstanding of all the monuments; with its superbly carved facade of a tomb in the unique Nabataean - Corinthian style, cut out of the living rock. It is judged by its size, 90 feet wide x 130 feet high, to be a Royal Tomb.

The modern Arabic name of the tomb is 'Kasneh Faroun' (Treasure of the Pharaoh).

According to the legend, one of the Pharaohs created the building by magic and filled the urn at the top with his gold. The Bedouin still believe this story and occasionally shoot at the urn, hoping showers of gold will cascade down.

The entrance to the Siq looking from the Treasury. You can see how easy it was to defend the City from attack.

This picture shows the inside of the Treasury and the varicoloured sandstone that it has been carved from. Incidentally it is believed that all of these tombs were carved from the top down.

As you leave the Treasury and continue into the City you pass the Street of the Facades. There are tombs everywhere as they were cut into the rock whereas the temples, public buildings and free standing houses were destroyed by two major earth quakes. The largest earth quake was in AD 363. This disrupted the water supply to the City and despite the Crusaders using it as an outpost the City fell into obscurity until 1812 when a young Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, re-discovered the City.

Two little boys had two little toys!..........in this case donkeys........

This imposing Amphitheatre was recently revealed as possibly of Greek origin being cut back into, and destroying, many earlier tombs. Rows of seats carved out of the solid rock can still be seen and below the stage floor are a series of storerooms and a curtain slot, which allowed a curtain to be lowered at the beginning of each performance.

These were tombs but were subsequently used as houses.............

A good view of rubble - they believe that the original level of the city lies some 40 feet beneath this rubble, and this is where market places, public buildings and private villas would have been situated. There is still plenty to find for an Archaeologist!................

This is the Tomb of the Urn which has a deep courtyard and an exquisite colonnade; during its life it has been a tomb, a temple and a Church.

Neighbouring the Urn Tomb is the Silk Tomb which has layers of coloured sandstone with the appearance of smooth silk.

Another good example of the wonderful natural colours that can be found in the sandstone throughout the City.

During the day the City is alive and can expect up to 8,000 visitors daily. Strangely enough once through the narrow Siq the City is more than large enough to accommodate these numbers without feeling crowded.

There are many local Arabs with their animals such as camels, horses, and donkeys looking to entice foot weary travellers to pay for a welcome ride back to the entrance of the City!.........

All the animals that I saw were very well looked after and this horse was having a well earned rest in the shade.

Two camels wearing very attractive crocheted blankets! ( I am not sure if the Bedouin are into crochet!)....................

On my return journey you will notice that there were not so many people around. It would be easy to spend a whole day if not more visiting Petra as there is so much to see.

Where did you walk today?..................................sensible head gear as it was mighty hot......

Alas a backward glance at the Treasury and it shows a subtle change of colour as it is now mid afternoon, and a welcome lunch awaits in a lovely Hotel.

Here you can see on the right hand side one of the original irrigation channels cut into the rock which bought fresh water to the City.

Look carefully - what can you see?

Again an eroded carving of a camel trader leading his camel. You can see the camels hump and his four feet but unfortunately his is legless!.......

As you walk along the Siq you can see many examples of Nabataean carving.

On returning to Aqaba you can still see the local Bedouin living as they have done for thousands of years in their tents. Despite the Government building them modern houses with electricity and running water they cling to their traditional nomadic lifestyle.

Lunch was wonderful at the nearby Nabataean Palace Hotel.

I heard on the news today the the Election date have been set for 6th May. This gives us a month to make our minds up!

All good wishes,

James.

He is crazed with the spell of far Arabia,

They have stolen his wits away.

From the poem 'Arabia' (1912)

Walter de la Mare - 1873 to 1956.