WELCOME TO PETRA
Petra is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who
settled in south Jordan more than 2,000 years ago. From a hidden staging
post, they dominated the trades routes of ancient Arabia, levying tolls
and sheltering caravans laden with Arabian Frankincense and myrrh, Indian
spices and silks, African ivory, and animal hides.
At the height of its power, the Nabataean Kingdom stretched to Damascus
and included parts of the Sinai and Negev deserts, effectively ruling the
greater part of Arabia. Petra became widely admired for its refined culture,
massive architecture, and ingenious complex of dams and water channels.
Ultimately however, its increasing influence and prosperity was seen as
a threat to Rome, and in 106 A.D., the Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean
Kingdom into the Roman province of Arabia with Petra as the capital. Once
Romans took control of the trade routes, however, diverting them towards
Bosra in present-day Syria, Petra's decline was swift and inevitable.
By the sixteenth century Petra was completely lost to the West, and
so it remained for almost 300 years. Then, in 1812, a Swiss adventurer
named Johann Burckhardt persuaded his Bedouin guide to take him to the
site of the rumored lost city. Secretly making notes and sketches, he wrote,
"it seems very probable that the ruins at Wadi Musa are those of the
ancient Petra."
Despite its rediscovery by Burckhardt, it was not until 1924 that the
first archaeological excavations were carried out in Petra, under the supervision
of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem. Modern archaeological
research by both Jordanian and foreign teams has since unearthed various
areas of the city, revealing much insight into the lives of its ancient
inhabitants.
(Better with a HiColor / TrueColor display)
THE SIQ
The Siq, a narrow 1.2km long gorge hemmed in by 100m cliffs is the
main entrance into Petra. The entrance used to be marked by a Roman archway
of which only the vertical ruins are visible.
The SIQ entry
Somewhere in the SIQ
Somewhere in the SIQ (sic)
Nearly at the end of the SIQ
AL KHAZNEH
The first glimpse of the Khazneh as you abruptly reach the end of
the Siq is truly breath-taking, so much so, that no amount of descriptive
prose does it justice, it is better experienced first-hand.
The urn perched at the top of the monument was believed to hold countless
treasures, gold and precious jewels, hence the monument's name. Inspired
by classical Hellenistic architecture, the Khazneh's facade is 30 meters
wide and 43 meters high. Carved in the first century B.C. as a tomb for
a Nabataean king, some scholars believe it was used as a temple. The elaborately
carved facade depicts Nabataean gods and goddesses and mythological figures.
The magnificent AL KHAZNEH
THE STREET OF FACADES AND THE THEATRE
Past the Khazneh is the Street of Facades. These rows of houses
(tombs) with intricate carvings are thought to be of Assyrian origin. The
street of facades leads into the theatre.
Some simple tombs
Built originally by the Nabataeans, the 7,000-seat theatre was
enlarged and used by the Romans.
The ancient theatre
THE ROYAL TOMBS
Of the 500 tombs in Petra, the Royal Tombs are perhaps the most
impressive.
The largest amongst them, the Urn Tomb, easily competes with Al Khazneh
and Al Deir (the Monastery) in size. Thought to have been carved around
70 A.D., the main chamber, 17m x 18.9m in size, was altered in the mid-fifth
century and used as a Byzantine church.
The Royal Tombs
The Urn Tomb's immense courtyard and main chamber give an air
of importance. Above the doorway are three chambers. The central chamber
is blocked by a large stone presumed to be a depiction of the man buried
inside.
The Urn Tomb
The Palace Tomb is so named as it appears to be an imitation
of a Roman palace thus leading to the belief that it is indeed the most
recent construction in the city.
The Palace Tomb
AL DEIR
The largest of Petra's monuments, the Deir is reached after a strenuous
but well rewarded trek. A flight of 800 steps cut into the rock takes you
up to the 45x50 meter structure. This temple, or tomb was clearly an important
pilgrimage site, with worshippers and priests using a processional route
to congregate in the open area in front of the monument. From the 4th Century
onwards it was used as a monastery during the Christian Byzantine era when
crosses were painted on its rear wall.
The astonishing AL DEIR
The long trek to the Deir...amazing !
From my personal photo gallery originally photographed in April-May
1997.
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DEUXIEME LIVRE DES ROIS CHAPITRE 14 VERSET 7 "Règne d'Amasias
en Juda (796-781)"
-
C'est lui qui battit les Edomites dans la vallée du Sel,
au nombre de dix mill hommes, et qui prit de haute lutte la Roche;
il lui donna le nom de Yoqtèel, qu'elle porte jusqu'à ce
jour.
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LIVRE DES JUGES CHAPITRE 1 VERSET 36 "Installation des tribus septentrionales
et des Edomites"
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Le territoire des Edomites s'étend à partir de la montée
d'Aqrabbim, à la Roche, et va ensuite en montant.
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ISAIE CHAPITRE 16 VERSET 1 "Les Moabites se réfugient en
Juda"
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Envoyez des agneaux au Souverain du pays, depuis la Roche vers
le désert, à la montagne de la ville de Sion !
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ISAIE CHAPITRE 42 VERSET 11 "Hymne de victoire"
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Que le désert et ses villes élèvent la voix, et
les camps où habite Qédar ! Que les habitants de la Roche
poussent des cris et, du sommet des monts, des clameurs !
Dans ces extraits, le terme la Roche est la traduction de
SELA et représente la ville de PETRA (en grecque,
PETRA signifie pierre).
Petra
Overview at Brown University
Petra
Great Temple Excavations at Brown University
Active Life Publications
- Photos from Petra, Jordan
Petra, Jordan
Petra, Jordan
PETRA
Petra the Drama
of History
FOCUS on PETRA
Last updated on March 18, 1998.