The Rose City

A visit to Petra, Jordan

While I was working in Jordan, I had the opportunity to make it up to Petra for the day. Also known as the Rose City for the redish colored sandstone, it lies in southern Jordan between the Dead Sea and Aqaba. One of the most interesting aspects of Petra is that you can see the distinct influence in the architecture from the cultures that inhabited and interacted with the ancient refuge — From Nabataean to Egyptian and Greek and Roman.

Djinn Blocks

The first evidence of ancient civilization you see upon entering the site is the djinn blocks. Djinn is the name for a spirit in Arab folklore. The bedouins of the area believed that these carved blocks were the home of these djinn. Surrounding the blocks you can see cave entrances to various tombs. As with many of the structures in Peta, the djinn blocks are markers for tombs.

The main path into the city leads west down into the basin via the Siq (“the shaft”). Instead of taking the narrow passageway through the sandstone that ends at the iconic Al Khazneh (“The Treasury”) we decided to head south and take the alternate route into the ancient city. After some negotiating and haggling, we hired one of the local guides to lead us into the Jordanian backcountry.

Wadi Musa Valley

The Wadi Musa Valley (named after Moses) is the geographic area that Petra lies in. After pulling away from the main path into the city, we climbed up and over a series of ridges and then down into a wide valley. As we climbed down I spotted a young boy coming down from the opposite ridge riding a donkey. He was alone and singing at the top of his lungs without a care in the world. We met up with the boy while crossing the valley and our guide informed us that his family are goat herders in the area. The boy was kind enough to let me take his picture and he pulled off that “National Geographic Portrait” face like a champ. We hiked for about two hours through the valleys, canyons and ravines without seeing anyone except the the young bedouin boy.

Al Khazneh

The intense middle eastern sun beating down, clothes soaked, we made our way up and out of the last canyon and as we moved towards the next drop off, it appeared: Al Khazneh, The Treasury. By far the most iconic building in Petra, made famous by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The extra time it took to make the backcountry approach was well worth it for the view from above.

The structure was built during the first century as a mausoleum. Multiple legends surround the origin of the name of the building. One of them involves the the pharaoh who chased Moses across the Red Sea. In the myth the pharoah survives the closing of the Red Sea and continues his pursuit. He then creates the massive structure with magic and uses it to store part of his treasury that he is traveling with. Another tale that was told to me by one of the locals was that the bedouins used to shoot the statues that adorn the building because they thought they were demons. You can see significant bullet damage on what remains of the statues — statues that are thought to represent mythological creatures of the afterlife.

While the structure is still well preserved, many of the architectural details have have long since eroded away not only because of the passage of time but also because Petra was built and thrived because of its intricate aqueduct system. The last mention of Petra in any historical text was in 1276, after that the city was all but forgotten by civilization. Without the infrastructure and maintenance to maintain the aqueduct system the uncontrolled winter rainstorms slowly ate away at the city.

The Place of High Sacrifice

After taking everything in. We headed around the back side of The Treasury to look out over the amphitheater. Then we headed up further to The Place of High Sacrifice. This ceremonial alter sits atop one of the highest points in Peta and overlooks the city. The Nabataeans often used open-air places of worship and would offer sacrifices of grains and livestock.

On some of the buildings along the cliff wall you can see the typical Roman arches that were clearly later additions after Petra came under Roman control in 106 AD.

Tomb 825

Tomb 825 contained 17 tomb shafts. Each shaft in the floor was deep enough that two family members would be buried. Once the first person was laid to rest a slab of stone was placed over them to provide space for a second body. Inside an inscription on the wall attributes the tomb to the family of Zaid Qawmw bin Yaqum. The facade of the tomb is a prime example of the different cultures that influenced Petra’s architecture. The columns are Nabataean, the stepped design at the very top is Assyrian and the cavetto is Egyptian. You will notice that the column on the right is still intact as it was carved out of the rock whereas on the left the rock was hollowed out and the column (now missing) was carved from a separate piece of stone and inset.

Colonnaded Street & The Great Temple

Built by the Romans the colonnaded street was most likely a very busy thoroughfare of the city — filled with houses, and markets. The Great Temple was just off the main street. Stone carved Petra roses adorned the tops of some of the columns that lined the street. Evidence has been found that the earthquake of 363 AD did significant damage to this main center of the city. That earthquake was one of the major blows leading to Petra’s abandonment.

The Great Temple complex is the largest building in Petra. The temple lay hidden beneath the ground until it was unearthed in 1992 by archeologists from Brown University. They began excavating and restoring the complex in 1993 and the project continues today.

Back to Al Khazneh

As we made our way out of the city we came back to The Treasury. The building is just as impressive and inspiring from the ground level as from above. The sheer size of it invokes a feeling of power from the ancient civilization that built the city hidden in the desert.

Al-Siq

To leave, we made our way through the the narrow canyon peering back as The Treasury slowly disappeared into the rock.

I only had about a half day in Petra but I could have easily spent a week exploring the area. I was able to make it to all of the major sites except The Monastery as it was too far of a hike past the colonnaded street for the amount of time I had.

*Historical details and background information came from the plaques throughout the archeological site and Petra: History, Myth, and Earthquakes.