Sun rise over Jordan.
We are here at the Israeli border crossing. After being held up over visas and passport inspections we are finally able to leave.
No man's land. We have to walk across.
Though Jordan was founded after the British Mandate as the first "Palestinian" country they make sure to let you know it is not. It is the Bedouin Kingdom with non-Bedouin Arabs living there.
That is the town of Aqaba, Jordan's only sea port. It is a border city with Eilat. Aqaba has been inhabited since 4000 bc. The earliest settlements were Edomite from the tribe of Edom. It was a center of the Edomites and Arab Nabataeans who were the majority. The bible references the area (1 Kings 9:29) "King Solomon also built ships in Ezion-Gerber which is near Ayla in Edom, on the shores of the Red Sea." During Roman times, the long distance road, Via Traiana Nova led south from Damascus through Amman, ending in Aqaba where it connected with a road going west to Philistia and Egypt. In 106 ad, Aqaba was one of the main ports for Romans. Some of the stories in Arabian Nights refer to Sinbad taking to the sea from the port city of Ayla. The ruins of Ayla were found in the 80's. The Crusaders built the fortress Helim which is well preserved. At the beginning of the 16th century the area came under the Ottoman Turk Empire and the town became a simple fishing village. During WWI Lawrence of Arabia and Arab forces fought the Turks in the Battle of Aqaba helping to supply British forces via the Red Sea.
Granite mountains.
Bedouin villages.
Finally got a picture of the camels along the road!
Turn off toward Petra.
Goat herders.
These boys were so eager to come over and talk to us to try out some English. They were very friendly.
Aaron's Tomb, Jabal Harun, sits on the highest peak. It's believed to the be the burial place of Moses' brother. A mosque sits on the site now.
Petra, Greek for rock, is Al-Batra in Arabic. It lies on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which forms the eastern end of Arabah (Wadi Araba). It is a large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra was completely unknown to the western world until 1812. Petra controlled the main commercial routes routes from Egypt in the west, to Damascus in the north, the Red Sea to the south, and the Persian Gulf to the east. It was the ability of the Nabataeans to control the water supply that led to the rise of the desert city, creating an artificial oasis. The Nabataeans controlled flash floods by the use of dams, cisterns and conduits, storing water for prolonged periods of drought. Biblically this area was assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites.
There are some earthen block houses in this Arab town.
PETRA!! Arab and Bedouin give horse rides on the way back. You can tell the Bedouin by the red and white checked keffiyeh. It is worn in other regions but is most strongly associated with Jordan where it is called shemagh mhadab. The Jordanian keffiyeh has decorated cotton or wool tassels on the sides. It has been used by Bedouins throughout the centuries and was used as a symbol of honor and tribal identification. The shemagh used by Jordanian Bedouin is much thicker then the ones used in the Gulf countries. The keffiyeh has come to symbolize terrorism in the US but in this environment it is really a necessity. I was wishing I had a scarf. There is so much dust in the air tourists wear them.
What's really interesting are the caves throughout Petra were inhabited by the Bedouin until recently. I think the caves may still be used.
These are Djinn Blocks. Djinns are spirits in Arab folklore. It's were jennies in bottles or lanterns comes from. There are 25 djinn blocks throughout Petra. The Bedouin believe the djinn spirits live here. Arabs today still believe in djinn as spirits that live everywhere and can cause all sorts of havoc.
This area out here is called Bab Al Siq, meaning gateway to the siq.
Obelisk Tomb, carved into the sandstone cliff are two separate rock-cut monuments, one above the other. The upper is called the "Obelisk Tomb," has four elongated pyramids that represent nefesh, Nabataean signs commemorating the deceased. A central niche in the rock wall behind contains the worn sculpture of a cloaked male figure. he represents the head of the family buried in the tomb chamber beneath with five burial niches. The facade below the tomb is Bab el-Siq Triclinium, a funerary dining hall with benches carved along three of its sides. Banquets were held in honor of a god or ancestor.
Votive niches. The siq has these niches throughout which held lights.
This is an impressive engineering feat of the Nabataeans to protect the people walking through the siq from flash floods. This is an 88 m tunnel cut through rock to divert water from the siq to Wadi Al-Mudlhin and Wadi Al-Mataha.
Channels for water.
This baetyl, was the work of Sabinos, the master of religious ceremonies to honor Dusares at Adraa (Dar'a in Syraia). He visited Petra to honor Dushara.
Walking through the siq.
I love this cross of light that came through in the rock.
The siq, a gorge more than a kilometer long leading to the Treasury.
There are lower and upper channels for water.
The Treasury, Al Khazneh.
There are tombs across from the Treasury also.
The dust in the air really shows up in this picture.
Steps going up the cliff.
Tomb 67 (is just to the left of the smooth faced tomb-I will post a picture separate) has an upper doorway-way up high, which is decorated with a Hellenistic pediment. Bedouin call it the "thief tomb" because a thief took refuge in this cave. A water channel of the Roman-Byzantine period closed the lower entrance to the tomb. Excavations in 1998 discovered this section of channel across the door was partially removed. The excavations also revealed 20 pyramidal funerary stelae outside the tomb. This is called the street of facades. The design style is Assyrian based on similar tombs found in Mesopotamia. In Petra different styles overlap and merge from tomb to tomb showing how Nabataeans took architecture design from Assyrian, Heleistic and Romans.
The way the facades would have looked.
Steps up the cliff. The horizontal ridge is part of the water system.
I did this backwards. This is a lion.
You can see a vertical channel running to the lion's head. It is a channel running from the high place of sacrifice. Blood was offered at the high place and didn't stop until it reached the lion's head. That's one story I heard. The official explanation is the channel carved above the lion's head received water from a spring and the water collected in a basin and flowed to a large cistern at the foot of the mountain.
The high place of scarifice.
There are a couple of places that look like they could be the high place of sacrifice. The Natabaeans worshipped the Arab gods and goddesses of the pre-Islamic times as well as their deified kings.
View of the theater.
View of the Treasury.
View of the damn built to hold water.
Obelisks are 7 meters high carved from the rock, they represent the Nabataean goddess Dushara.
They flattened the rock to carve the obelisks.
Steps leading up to the high place of sacrifice.
The main theater has an auditorium with a semicircular orchestra and an ascending horseshoe shaped seating area. There is a stage wall that shielded the orchestra. It is hewn directly from the rock in one piece. Earlier tombs were carved away to create the auditorium's rear wall. The theater seated 6,000 people.
These two donkeys are so smart, they walked the whole way on their own then knew where to turn off.
I didn't find out until after my camera battery died but Marguerite was here. I read her book, Married to a Bedouin months ago and thought she had moved back to Australia after her husband died but she was here and I got to meet her. She traveled here with a friend many years ago, met and married a Bedouin. If you want to know about life as a Bedouin in the Petra caves this is the book to read. I loved it. She lived as a Bedouin woman. Her ministry now is for the Bedouin women have income so she helps them learn a craft they can market to the tourists. The jewerly they make is really beautiful.
Petra is extensive. I wish we had so much more time here and I wish the kids were here. There are all sorts of hiking trails outside the main area plus you can climb through everything.
This is the Great Temple, actually just the colonnade area going to the temple. It is a huge area. It has a formal entry, a sacred enclosure, stairways leading to an upper sacred area. The rocks here were leveled and the temple was built above the street.
Urginea maritima bulbs, the shoots are all over. These are not eaten or usefull for anything.
The temple and Colonnade street.
A temple, Qasr al Bint.
The Great Temple.
Temple layout.
Exploring the temple.
Colonnaded Street, this one was built by the Romans. It replaced the earlier Nabataean street. The Romans straightened, narrowed and paved the road giving it a double row of columns and building commercial shops on the south side. Coins and a tavern were found.
The Temenos Gate, an arched entryway to the Qasr al-Bint temple area. At the end of this road is a trail that leads to the Monastery Ad Deir, Petra's largest monument which was dedicated to Obodas I. It's a pretty good hike away and then you can even hike to the top of it. Transformers II was filmed here at the Monastery.
Qasr Al Bint, another temple of Petra to the goddess al-Uzza and Baal shaman.
The whole temple was once covered in frescoes.
Bedouins offer donkey rides.
When I got back from my trip the first thing Erica asked me was if I made any friends. While I was here I saw Bedouin girls all over. This sweet child was sitting alone and wasn't trying to sell anything. She said hi to me and I tried to talk to her. She was the sweetest thing. Her blond hair really stuck me though. I wonder if another western married a Bedouin. I found Amnon, our Arabic speaking bus driver who came along as a tourist, to see if he would come talk to her with me but he didn't want to walk back down the hill so we found another little girl to talk to. They are so cute. Oh my gosh, I just wanted to camp out here and experience the culture. I was wishing Erica was here, she would have had fun making friends.
Off to the right is the Urn Tomb.
Inside one of the tombs.
My camera battery died so no more pictures of Petra.
I charged my camera when we got to the Bedouin camp where we stayed for the night. I wanted to make sure to get some night pictures. I love this place! I am totally ready to stay!
The one bad thing-all the dust in the air-it's like snow. You can smell it when you breathe it in. This is the camp. No locks on the flaps, just ties. It is also really chilly now.
The gathering area.
This is what it looked like when we drove up-lights in the rock. It was beautiful! So after Petra we headed down the highway toward Wadi Rum where we would head off into the desert to our camp for the night. We stop at a town called sweet in Arabic where we meet up with the Bedouin who would be driving us out into the desert following negotiations, cigarette smoking, waiting and finally we get going. It was pretty exciting. Then we head out in the desert, through Rum village, into more desert to this camp, dirt flying everywhere, it took a good hour. We could see rocks towering all around us. I was so excited to see what it looked like in the light but didn't want the day to end.
Steps going up the cliff.
Tomb 67 (is just to the left of the smooth faced tomb-I will post a picture separate) has an upper doorway-way up high, which is decorated with a Hellenistic pediment. Bedouin call it the "thief tomb" because a thief took refuge in this cave. A water channel of the Roman-Byzantine period closed the lower entrance to the tomb. Excavations in 1998 discovered this section of channel across the door was partially removed. The excavations also revealed 20 pyramidal funerary stelae outside the tomb. This is called the street of facades. The design style is Assyrian based on similar tombs found in Mesopotamia. In Petra different styles overlap and merge from tomb to tomb showing how Nabataeans took architecture design from Assyrian, Heleistic and Romans.
The way the facades would have looked.
Steps up the cliff. The horizontal ridge is part of the water system.
I did this backwards. This is a lion.
You can see a vertical channel running to the lion's head. It is a channel running from the high place of sacrifice. Blood was offered at the high place and didn't stop until it reached the lion's head. That's one story I heard. The official explanation is the channel carved above the lion's head received water from a spring and the water collected in a basin and flowed to a large cistern at the foot of the mountain.
The high place of scarifice.
There are a couple of places that look like they could be the high place of sacrifice. The Natabaeans worshipped the Arab gods and goddesses of the pre-Islamic times as well as their deified kings.
View of the theater.
View of the Treasury.
View of the damn built to hold water.
Obelisks are 7 meters high carved from the rock, they represent the Nabataean goddess Dushara.
They flattened the rock to carve the obelisks.
Steps leading up to the high place of sacrifice.
The main theater has an auditorium with a semicircular orchestra and an ascending horseshoe shaped seating area. There is a stage wall that shielded the orchestra. It is hewn directly from the rock in one piece. Earlier tombs were carved away to create the auditorium's rear wall. The theater seated 6,000 people.
These two donkeys are so smart, they walked the whole way on their own then knew where to turn off.
I didn't find out until after my camera battery died but Marguerite was here. I read her book, Married to a Bedouin months ago and thought she had moved back to Australia after her husband died but she was here and I got to meet her. She traveled here with a friend many years ago, met and married a Bedouin. If you want to know about life as a Bedouin in the Petra caves this is the book to read. I loved it. She lived as a Bedouin woman. Her ministry now is for the Bedouin women have income so she helps them learn a craft they can market to the tourists. The jewerly they make is really beautiful.
Petra is extensive. I wish we had so much more time here and I wish the kids were here. There are all sorts of hiking trails outside the main area plus you can climb through everything.
This is the Great Temple, actually just the colonnade area going to the temple. It is a huge area. It has a formal entry, a sacred enclosure, stairways leading to an upper sacred area. The rocks here were leveled and the temple was built above the street.
Urginea maritima bulbs, the shoots are all over. These are not eaten or usefull for anything.
The temple and Colonnade street.
A temple, Qasr al Bint.
The Great Temple.
Temple layout.
Exploring the temple.
Colonnaded Street, this one was built by the Romans. It replaced the earlier Nabataean street. The Romans straightened, narrowed and paved the road giving it a double row of columns and building commercial shops on the south side. Coins and a tavern were found.
The Temenos Gate, an arched entryway to the Qasr al-Bint temple area. At the end of this road is a trail that leads to the Monastery Ad Deir, Petra's largest monument which was dedicated to Obodas I. It's a pretty good hike away and then you can even hike to the top of it. Transformers II was filmed here at the Monastery.
Qasr Al Bint, another temple of Petra to the goddess al-Uzza and Baal shaman.
The whole temple was once covered in frescoes.
Bedouins offer donkey rides.
When I got back from my trip the first thing Erica asked me was if I made any friends. While I was here I saw Bedouin girls all over. This sweet child was sitting alone and wasn't trying to sell anything. She said hi to me and I tried to talk to her. She was the sweetest thing. Her blond hair really stuck me though. I wonder if another western married a Bedouin. I found Amnon, our Arabic speaking bus driver who came along as a tourist, to see if he would come talk to her with me but he didn't want to walk back down the hill so we found another little girl to talk to. They are so cute. Oh my gosh, I just wanted to camp out here and experience the culture. I was wishing Erica was here, she would have had fun making friends.
Off to the right is the Urn Tomb.
Inside one of the tombs.
My camera battery died so no more pictures of Petra.
I charged my camera when we got to the Bedouin camp where we stayed for the night. I wanted to make sure to get some night pictures. I love this place! I am totally ready to stay!
The one bad thing-all the dust in the air-it's like snow. You can smell it when you breathe it in. This is the camp. No locks on the flaps, just ties. It is also really chilly now.
The gathering area.
This is what it looked like when we drove up-lights in the rock. It was beautiful! So after Petra we headed down the highway toward Wadi Rum where we would head off into the desert to our camp for the night. We stop at a town called sweet in Arabic where we meet up with the Bedouin who would be driving us out into the desert following negotiations, cigarette smoking, waiting and finally we get going. It was pretty exciting. Then we head out in the desert, through Rum village, into more desert to this camp, dirt flying everywhere, it took a good hour. We could see rocks towering all around us. I was so excited to see what it looked like in the light but didn't want the day to end.
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