It is about a two-hour bus ride from Aqaba to Petra.
Before I continue, let me relate a short discussion I had the other day with the on-board Egyptologist who is giving the Enrichment Lectures on Egypt. I asked him for his opinion on why, with the richness of the culture and the ample evidence of a once-magnificent infrastructure, Egypt is just plain dirty. Why are there garbage trash, rubble piles, etc. lying everywhere? His response was enlightening: her said that they, the Egyptians, do not have a sense of public space. If it is not “theirs,” then they feel no responsibility for keeping it up or improving it. Once inside their private spaces, the homes and apartments are as clean and neat as in any modern society.
Personally, I think that view may be somewhat simplistic. I think that decades of quasi-governments, totalitarian leadership, and lack of desire to compete in the modern world, have led to a general decline in the national psyche that is reflected in how they let their country present itself to the rest of the world. I will not be using this post as a polemic for or against Egypt, but I do want to express our deep sorrow that such a culturally rich environment is so poorly presented and kept.
We are now in Jordan, so back to the wonders of Petra and its more inviting atmosphere.
The bus ride out to the site was more interesting if only that Jordan is a striking contrast to Egypt. It is clean, well-built as to infrastructure, and the people seem friendlier. Bonnie said they have “smiling eyes” and I agree.
The map above shows the major points of interest that we experienced. There were a number of other, minor stops along the way, but these are the most significant.
The panorama above was shot from our rest stop about 3/4 of the way out. The large "notch" in the mid-range just below the horizon is the Siq (seek) where we walked down to the ancient city.
This zoom shot shows the notch a little better.
Upon reaching the archeological site, we were shown the rest rooms – always a good thing to know… We then began the long hot walk down to the real beginning of our “Indiana Jones Adventure.” You may remember that this site figured heavily in the second Indiana Jones movie as the repository of the Holy Grail. Well, not really, but it made for a great movie. Petra was actually a large city and the area we would be visiting is where the remaining tombs are located.
Beginning the long walk to the Siq.
Stopping to hear about the Djin Blocks along the way. These were believed to be monuments to ancient heroes.
The beginning of the Siq.
We had an option to ride a horse and cart down to the beginning of the tombs, but opted to walk down and try to walk back as well. The initial pathway is uncovered and open space of about a quarter-mile. After that, the walk down is utterly unworldly. You start at the beginning of the Siq, the long and very narrow canyon the protected the tomb city. The walk through the Siq is about another half-mile. Our guide, Ma’moun, stopped at a number of places to show us many of the remnants of the original Nabatean society. The Nabateans prospered in this area from the 1st Century BC until about the mid-4th Century AD when a large earthquake destroyed a much of the city (363 AD).
The Siq gets narrow and wide in a very sinuous fashion as you walk down it. Some places are just barely wide enough for foot traffic, a single horse cart, or horse, or camel, and some are wide enough to walk comfortably three or four abreast and still share the way with the other travel modes.
Looking ahead to the narrowest part of the Siq - about 3' near the top and about 10' at our level.
The two photos above are more views as we walked along.
This photo shows remnants of the original Nabatean paving stones. We know for certain that they are not Greek or Roman because they are random in shape, size, and placement. They were meant for foot traffic, while Roman or Greek paving stones were more even, smaller pavers, and meant for chariots and carts.
While we were walking along, we found Nemo!
Once we got in front of Nemo, we discovered that it was really an elephant...
The straight even-looking line about three feet up on the left wall is part of the original Nabatean water supply system. They found a way to channel water from the mountains along these grooves, and in some places in pipes, to irrigate and drink.
Ma'moun, our guide explains the remnants of a sculpture showing a man leading a camel. You can clearly see what is left of the man, and if you look carefully, you can see both the camel's front and rear feet (those large lumps to the left of the man and by Ma'moun's hand.
As we wound our way along the Siq, we were pleased and surprised that the shaft-like rock tunnel we were in provided both shade and cooling breezes - a refreshing change from the day before in the Valley of the Kings.
There it is! Getting close to our Indiana Jones moment...
Wait for it...
Almost...
At last: The Treasury! The Treasury is not really a treasury, but was thought to be a repository of riches by the ancients. It is actually a tomb as are almost all of the other structures and caves remaining in Petra. All of these magnificent structures are carved out of the living rock. They were actually carved from the top down as evidenced by several remnants and by reproductions carried out by archeologists.
We then proceeded another quarter-mile of so to view the amphitheater.
The way down to the amphitheater was very rocky and not easy to navigate.
The amphitheater was not built as in Greek or Roman construction, but was carved from the rock face of the mountain behind it.
The few steps you can see at the bottom of the slope are the beginning of the staircase to the High Place of Sacrifice. The High Place was used for religious ceremonies. There is a path that takes you to the top for magnificent views. We will do that next time.
The Street of Facades. These are burial chambers. The Nabateans used most of what we now know as Petra for their burial rituals. the main city was further out and was destroyed in that early earthquake.
We made it back to the Treasury and decided to use a horse cart to get back up rather than try to make the walk. I should mention that coming from the Visitor’s Center to the Siq and beyond all the way in the to amphitheater is downhill with much of it on rocks, gravel, and slippery surfaces. Opting for the horse cart for the return was the better part of valor… The horse cart ride was yet another adventure since neither the horse nor the driver spoke much English and did not understand the concept of “please go slowly to avoid a lot of jostling.” After another wild ride, we were back up top and had a few minutes to shop for the refrigerator magnet before lunch (a 3:00 PM lunch…).
This was the view of our ride back up the Siq. The southbound end of a northbound horse is not the most pleasant place to be for that type of journey...
We made it up to the Visitor's Center! The horsed was Iasus (ee-ah-soos) and the driver was Suleman (sul-ee-man). The young lady next to Suleman is The Princess...
Lunch was another huge buffet in a lovely modern hotel, the Petra Guest House, right on the property. After lunch, it was back on the bus and the return ride home (to the ship).
The Suez Canal is coming up. Stay tuned…
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.