Off on a detour to Jordan
to visit the "rose-red city half as old as
time" as John Wıllıam Burgon called ıt – otherwıse known as Petra.
You can
find out about it on Wıkıpedıa. Here are some of the things that I saw along the way.
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The Dead Sea, with Jordanian hills in the background
(yes, it was taken from a moving bus, hence reflections) |
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Spa resort on the Dead Sea |
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Dead Sea salt and magnesium works |
The road follows the Dead Sea and then runs alongside the
Jordanıan border. In some places there ıs still a feeling of recent conflict,
even though the two countries signed peace treaties in 1994.
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waiting to cross over into Jordan. Lots of passport checks and stamps required |
We had several hours' drıve through very barren, rocky country - it is the Negev Desert, after all. This ıs a rest stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It's called Mountain Ires. There were lots of pretty souvenirs to buy as well as coffee, soft drinks and snacks.
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somewhere in the Negev |
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Some of the things I could have bought, but didn't |
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Bedouın tents just across the road. I'm not sure what the tractor is for |
The town of Wadi Musa probably owes its existence to the ancient Nabateans who built Petra and to the Swiss explorer Johanne Burckhardt the local Bedouin took there in 1802. After that, people became fascinated by the place and wanted to visit; the Bedouin discovered tourism.
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Probably Wadi Musa. It's hard to tell sometimes whether a name
applies to an area or a settlement |
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Yes, one of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed partly at Petra |
It's about a mile from the entrance (and the really tacky souvenir stalls) to the beginning of the Siq. You can hire a horse, with somebody to lead it, if you don't want to walk.
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Stables area for horses and donkeys |
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The entrance to the Siq is off in the distance |
Once you reach the Siq you can transfer to a small two-passenger carriage, and your horse will take somebody else back up the hill.
The carriages have pneumatic tyres and leaf-spring suspension - obviously recycled from ancient cars. There is a colourful
canopy overhead and enough steel section and galvanised iron to make everything
rattle nicely. We all walked down, but rode back as uphill horse hire was included in our tour fees.
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A couple of "Nabatean Soldiers" waited to be photographed in the Siq |
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Jordanian mounties keeping an eye on things |
The Nabateans settled in an almost impregnable defensive position, with access to the city through this narrow canyon over a mile in length. They worked out how to collect and store water from flash floods, and channelled it from springs and reservoirs into the city, creating an oasis in a very barren desert. This made them wealthy as they became an important stop on trade routes. A water channel carved in the rock about a metre above ground level on each side of the Siq brought the water into town. Originally these channels were covered for the full length; they still are ın one or two places.
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I really like this relief - it's larger than life-size |
The Roman Empire ignored Petra at first - it was too remote to bother them. However, as the southern city became more powerful the Romans started to fear competition and attacked the Nabateans. It didn't take long for some canny Roman to spot their one vulnerability - they cut the water supply. Petra became a Roman Christian city. The Romans paved the Siq, enlarged the amphitheatre and added a few arches, but that was all. Our guide told us the Nabateans objected to Roman rule. They voted with their feet and left, never to be seen again. Elsewhere I read they left after an earthquake. What is certain is they left. Some of their buildings became Byzantine Christian churches. By the thirteenth century only the locals remembered the place even existed. It was not "redıscovered" until 1802 when Johanne Burckhardt was taken there by local Bedouin.
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At last - the Khazneh |
All these monuments were tombs for important people. They began carving into the rock at the top and worked down; when they reached the floor they knew they had finished. There were three rooms: the burial chamber, and two side chambers where friends and family came to banquet and party each year in remembrance of the departed. Gardens separated the tombs from the town, which has not been excavated but is below the floor of the valley. It felt odd to think I was walking about above the roofs of the Nabateans!
Tombs ranged from simple cave-like hollows to magnificent tiers
of columns; influence from all round the area can be seen, with Grecian columns
modified to Nabatean taste beside Egyptian obelisks. Besides the physical feat
of carving these things into the cliffs, what makes them remarkable is the
beauty of the stone itself, streaked and marbled with different colours and
patterns.
The most stunning tombs are the Khazneh and Ed Dier. The
Khazneh is the tomb of an extremely important monarch and extends far below
current ground level. Another whole floor with an arched entrance has been excavated; you can peer down into it, but are not allowed in.
Khazneh means treasure. The Bedouin believed a great treasure was hidden
in the urn at the top, and you can see bullet marks where they shot at it, trying
to bring it down. Ed Dier is much further into the site, and beyond reach in the
time we had.
There are so many photos of the Khazneh about I'll only post this one. Somebody (I think they'd just asked me to take their photograph) insisted on taking it and generously left some of their finger in the picture. Still, there I am. It is difficult to photograph as it's absolutely huge, and the light reflecting off the rocks all around upset my camera's exposure meter (yes, yes, I know - I should have had one with manual over-rides etc. Well, I have, but I don't take it travelling)
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Once you reach the Khazneh you have to leave your carriage and
transfer to a camel if you want to ride any further. Donkeys were
also available. |
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I made jolly sure this photo was NOT crooked |
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It's hard to tell how much is natural and how much man-made |
There are cafes and souvenir shops in Petra, but they blend in with the surroundings. They add life to the site - and, after all, it was a trading centre.
We ended our official guided tour at a food stall with rows
of benches and tables where one could sit in the shade and admire the tombs on
the opposite slope while sipping freshly-pressed mint and lemon or orange juice
– delicious and welcome.
Here are some more pictures around the valley. It's a huge site and I had only time for a brief glimpse.
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The natural patterns and colours in the stone here have to be
seen to be believed. This is a close-up of the rock wall below. |
When I reached the entrance to the Siq on the way back I decided
that as horse hire was included in the price I had paid for the trip I may as
well ride. My mount was a lean chestnut gelding who had been walking and trotting up
and down the hill all day. The chap leading it decided I knew what I was doing
and gave me the reins; I had to tell him repeatedly what a good horse it was
and I was unkind enough to make both of them trot quite a lot of the way. No
wonder we had to have a little discussion about the size of the tip I gave him
at the top!
Next post: Mıss Barsham camps out with the Bedouin and photographs lots of sılly rocks
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