Aqaba has been an inhabited settlement since 4000 BC and a major trading route between Asia, Africa and Europe. Around 106 AD, Aqaba was one of the main ports for the conquering Romans.
It was an interesting 2 hour drive to Petra. Jordan is extremely clean, spotless in fact. There is no poverty here. The homes are decent and there is no trash on the roads. The citizenry seem quite proud o their country, and of the domestic peace they have with Israel. Many Israeli's come to Jordan to vacation.
Many Jordanians choose to live as desert Bedouins and their camps are visible along many stretches of the well kept highway we travelled. Most had herds of goats.
Our tour for the day was to Petra, a most important historical site. We've all seen pictures of Petra if you have seen the movie Indiana Jones and the last crusade.
Little was known about Petra proper until about 312 BC by which time the Nabataeans, one of many Arab tribes, occupied it and made it the capital of their kingdom.
Among the most remarkable of all Nabataean achievements is the hydraulic engineering systems they developed including water conservation systems and the dams that were constructed to divert the rush of swollen winter waters that created flash floods.
In 64-63 BCE, the Nabataeans were conquered by the Roman general, Pompey, whose policy was to restore the cities taken by the Jews. However, he retained an independent Nabataea, although the area was taxed by the Romans and served as a buffer territory against the desert tribes. Completely subsumed by the Romans under the Emperor Trajan in 106 CE, Petra and Nabataea then became part of the Roman province known as Arabia Petraea with its capital at Petra.
Hadrian, the Roman emperor, visited the site and named it after himself, Hadriane Petra. The city continued to flourish during the Roman period, with a Triumphal Arch spanning the Siq, and tomb structures either carved out of the living rock or built free-standing. Under Roman rule, Roman Classical monuments abounded — many with Nabataean overtones.
We rode a horse drawn buggy ride down through the narrow passageways to what they now call, The Treasury. The flagstones on the canyon road were constructed by the Roman's and it was a hair-raising trip in the buggy for the mile long ride over the stones. I thought Len was going to get a black eye from the camera hitting his face as we galloped down the road as he was taking pictures.
One of the ruins we passed along the siq
Once you step out of the siq (that's the correct name of the road), you are faced with the tremendous scale of this monument. Is is several stories high, and especially spectacular in the morning sunlight.
Our jaws dropped!
It is impossible to describe the feeling of standing at the foot of the treasury, looking up at some of the amazing carvings and sharp lines that have survived for all these years.
It was never a treasury - the Nabataen's built Petra as tombs for their rulers and the influence of Roman architecture is amazing. The walls of the canyons are multi colored but the treasury is truly rose colored.
All we could do was to gawk at the architecture.
There are more than 800 individual monuments, buildings, tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways and colonnaded streets carved from the brilliantly colored standstone.
These men stood in front of the building.
I just sat on a bench in the shade and stared. Mesmerized.
Len walked further down the siq to see the amphitheatre built into the sides of the canyon. I waited for him for about 45 minutes and was starting to worry when all of a sudden he appeared, riding on a camel no less!
Len brought the camel back for me to ride to the bottom to see the rest of the buildings. He didn't want me to miss the beautiful sights.
Well we took the kidney wrenching ride back up to the top of the canyon. Had a lovely lunch with the rest of the group and headed back to the ship. What a fabulous day!
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