Petra, Nabatean Wonder

The Treasury from the Siq, Petra

Today was spent in the Nabatean caravan city of Petra, known as a Modern Wonder of the World. We hiked down the entry to the Siq, the long passage with towering sandstone cliffs above us. We viewed the Roman and nabatean carvings that once graced this entryway into the city beyond. Here carvings of camels, gods, goddesses, and sacred deities once met visitors. Inside, tomb after elaborate tomb carved from the living stone towered around us. We emerged from the siq at the treasury, the most well known of the tombs. Fifty meters in height, its graceful columns, cupids, Amazons, and demi-gods still welcome modern visitors as it has for 2,000 years.

The remains of a Roman theatre stood below the hills around where the rubble piles of former homes still lay in sight. A huge temple complex still remains, her walls a tribute to the engineering skills of builders two millenia ago.



Some brave souls hiked an additional two hours over the hill to the Monastery, a vast facade of a tomb seen recently in the movie "Transformers II' and whose interior was in "Indiana Jones 3". Some took a camel ride. Others climbed to the Royal Tombs to view the landscape below and the patterned sandstone interiors.

We had a  wonderful--but awesomely hot!--day we shall never forget.

Stone Interior, Royal Tomb

Three Wise Men pass through Petra

Tomorrow: Mount Nebo of Moses and the Madaba Map.....Destination: Amman.