Unbelievable Petra

I don’t think I can do justice to Petra.   It’s amazing.  There’s more science and history here than I could possibly share with you.  What I can share from our tour guide Mamoun Nawafleh, the Head of the Archaeoastronomy Committee and Society in Jordan (PhD) has written a book coming out very soon.  It will clear up many of the old myths and legends that so many guides and scientists have spread as truth.  All I can really share with you are some of the amazing photos.  I’m saddened that many of the areas have been overused, eroded and destroyed .   

Dogs run rampant there hungry and starving.  Gypsies or homeless people try to set up shops everywhere and sell anything to get money.  The camels and donkeys have destroyed much of the steps and walking areas.  Water was provided by a very sophisticated system.  Some of the means of how they slowed the flow have never been explained.  The science of the early engineers here helped establish seasons, calendars, calculations, sails to use for faster travel and many more things.  Many traders from everywhere came to this very hidden treasury as they called it.  They were shops, perfumeries, hospitals, hotels, and many other interesting cultural aspects including a performing arts arena.  You could spend a long time here.  It’s a significant walk down into the treasury.  It was a hot day and you can ride a donkey or rent a golf cart but neither is inexpensive.  And if you go this route you miss much of what your guide has to show you.  It’s all downhill but then coming back is all uphill.   We spent four hours there, then had a lunch and then a long bus ride back to the ship.  I’m so glad I did it.  We got lots of steps in that day.  Our guide as I said was amazing and I will be purchasing his book and staying in touch. Inhabitants have been in this region since 7000 BCE.  The Nabataeans may have settled in the area as early as 4000 BCE.  They were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra’s proximity to establish regular incense trading routes. 

Petra became a focus of wealth and around 1st century AD 20,000 people lived in this area .  Stone carving and agriculture were part of their skills.  Petra fell to the Romans and an earthquake in 363 AD did damage to many structures.   It continued to decline and residents left.  It basically remained unknown until 1812 when Johann Burckhardt rediscovered it.  Access to the area is 3/4 of a mile and this gorge is called the Siq.  Petra is also called the Rose City for the beautiful colors of the rocks. In 1985 it became a Unesco world site. It is the most visited site in Jordan. Although flash floods continued to threaten the area the engineers built dams, reservoirs and waterways to keep the area safe.  

Start of the trail or Siq. 

All carved from the stone. 

On the sides you can still see the channels where the water would run into the city.  How the firmed the channels to slow the flow has never been determined. 

Everything has meaning along the trail.  Many things were taken or ruined.  Nothing is by chance 

The front of the Treasury stands for so many things.  Two rings on the columns stand for 12 hours of day and 12 of night or 24 hour day.   The months, the seasons , how the light shines on to certain areas… everything was carefully created from skilled engineers.  No slave labor was used.  All people were paid for their work.  

Presumed to be the hotel for the wealthier buyers and merchants.  Had toilets in each room.  

People climb all over everything here.  Everyone must be out by 5 pm and the police try to enforce this strictly.  There was a riot not long ago where the gypsies stoned the police cars and police.  The next day the government went back in and this time when it started again they shot the perpetrators. 







This was our lunch area.  


Lots of steps today!!!