Memory of Stones
Petra - The Pink Pearl of the Nabataeans
UNESCO World Heritage Center
Petra is a famous archaeological site, located in the southwest of Jordan. Dating back to around 300 BC. JC, it was the capital of the Nabataean kingdom.
Accessible by the Sîq, a narrow canyon, the site contains tombs and temples carved into the pink sandstone cliffs from which it takes its nickname "pink city". The 43-meter-high Khazneh is arguably the most famous building in Petra. It is a temple with an ornate facade in Greek style and known by the other name of "Trésor".
Located on the edge of the Aveyron river, the small Saint-Vergondin church is of Romanesque origin, reworked in the 17th century, and includes a Gothic chapel at the end of its nave. The church was attached to the diocese of Albi after the French Revolution because it previously depended on the diocese of Cahors.
Shortly before leaving the Sîq appears what is, for many visitors, the most exceptional monument of the ancient city of Petra, the Khazneh Firaoun or Pharaoh's treasure.
This Jordanian city created by the Nabataeans has not revealed all its secrets
We may have heard of it, seen it in a photo, but when we emerge from the Siq and find ourselves in front of the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), it comes as a shock. Mysterious, dangerous city, for a time cursed, Petra is one of those places on the planet where you dream of having visited once in your life. Huge cliffs of pink and marbled sandstone make the majesty of this landscape on which man has affixed his mark.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
The Treasury is its symbol. 43 meters high and 33 meters wide, this two-story building with the false air of a Greek temple has been carved into the rock, from top to bottom . This represents, according to architects and stonemasons, a feat both from the point of view of design and execution. The work would have been carried out from a platform which descended as the work progressed. Palace or royal tomb? We do not know the function of this building, built at the beginning of the 1st century AD. J. - C., and the excavations carried out in the tombs discovered under this building did not allow to unravel the mystery.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
Walking from monument to monument and climbing the stony paths on which it is better to be comfortably shod, it is difficult to imagine that the streets of Petra were lined with flowered and cultivated gardens. The complex network of dams, fountains and canals that the Nabataeans had built allowed for irrigation.
The best time to admire Al-Khazneh is between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (depending on the season) when the sun's rays illuminate its facade.
Different colors outside of this time slot ... See below.
43 m high and 33 m wide, the Khazneh was carved from the pink sandstone of the mountain. You can still see the notches that were used to hang the scaffolding. It includes several elements of Hellenistic architecture, for example the tholos, or some sculptures.
It is built on two levels. On the first, the facade of the building is surmounted by a pediment supported by six columns terminated by Corinthian capitals. Notice the typical Nabataean horns at the corners. Between the columns are arranged reliefs very damaged by erosion and human attacks (rifle bullets) representing two horsemen: the Diocures, Castor and Pollux, who guide the souls of the deceased.
In the center of the pediment, we can see a solar disk surrounded by bovine horns and ears of wheat. These are the symbols of the Egyptian goddess Isis, probably equated with the Nabataean goddess Al-Uzza.
The upper part consists of a circular central building, the tholos, where deities are carved, and side panels making up a peristyle. We can also see two winged victories. Inside the monument, however, there is not much to see: those who have seen Indiana Jones will be disappointed. You will see three rooms, one of which may have contained the funeral chamber and the other two burial chapels.
Bas relief of the camel driver in the Sîq as well as one of the two canals which draws water from Wadi Musa (the valley of Moses) to supply the cisterns distributed to Petra
A very ingenious hydraulic system
They design an ultra-efficient, highly advanced and efficient system for recovering rainwater through channels dug in the rock and connected to the city of Petra. The objective is to collect, conduct and distribute the water from the springs. The stucco coating protects them from erosion while keeping them clean. The 200 tanks located in and around Petra and specially designed to prevent evaporation provide 41 million liters a year. This quantity of water therefore enables Petra to supply water to 100,000 people per year. Moreover, at the height of the site 30,000 Nabataeans lived there and nearly 500,000 travelers pitched their tents around it. They have to pay heavy taxes to use the water. Thanks to these taxes and the taxes levied on caravanners in exchange for some form of protection, the city prospered and the best architects in Africa and Europe came to build the current necropolis.
Just outside the Kazhneh, you will arrive on the street of facades. It is a row of multiple Nabataean tombs carved into the facade. Opposite, follow one another a series of tombs of spectacular dimensions, they are funerary monuments of the Nabataean kings.
Tombs on Façades Street in Petra
the Tomb of the Urn
Among them you will find the Tomb of the Urn built on stone vaults, the Corinthian Tomb which looks a lot like the Kazhneh but more damaged by erosion, the Tomb on the floor, impressive with an upper part, and the Tomb of Sextus. Florentinus, former governor of the Roman Province of Arabia.
The Garden Tomb
Preceded by a terrace which is accessed after a flight of steps, it is the only tomb of Petra directly open to the outside through a row of two columns and two pilasters. The layout of the whole suggests that it may be a temple.
The Renaissance Tomb
Preceded by a terrace which is accessed after a flight of steps, it is the only tomb of Petra directly open to the outside through a row of two columns and two pilasters. The layout of the whole suggests that it may be a temple.
Take to the skies to discover two sacred places!
The cliffs will make you want to take to the heights! To access the High Place of Sacrifice you will have to climb them! The panorama you will have from above is worth it: a 360-degree view of the ancient city and the surrounding desert.
The Roman Theater
After the street of facades, you will come across the Roman Theater. As the name suggests, it has long been attributed to the Romans. But, after excavation, it turned out to date from an older period, which makes it a Nabataean theater. It has long been buried under the sand and is therefore currently in poor condition. Its many steps testify to the strong population and the importance of this place of culture for the Nabataeans.
El - Deir Monastery
To access the Deir or monastery, you will also have to climb trails and especially 822 steps carved into the rock.
Before reaching it, you can enjoy many views of the city of Petra, each more sublime than the next. After 45 minutes of travel, you will finally see this sacred place! Its facade, carved in yellow sandstone, is colossal and its style recalls the Khazneh, except that it is not a tomb but a place of worship.
These jagged sandstone rocks, shaped by wind and sand, give the site its extraordinary palette of colors, ranging from yellow to purple through oranges, pinks, reds, yellows, greens and blues. These fantastic colors are due to the metallic oxides contained in the sandstone. Iron oxides for reds (as in the Wadi Rum desert), copper oxides for greens and blues, zinc oxides for whites and sulphides for yellows.
Finding a point of view in height is also ideal to have photos of the Khazneh from all angles!
Discover the siq Al-Barid, the little Petra
The origin of the siq Al-Barid nicknamed Little Petra is not well known. Of what could be an old caravan relay, only a few vestiges remain, including a temple and tricliniums, a house with Nabatean frescoes. At the end of the path, a remarkable viewpoint invites you to take a well-deserved break. 10 minutes away, there is a major Neolithic site, dating from 10,000 to 8,000 BC The access road winds through a rainbow-colored lunar geological complex, ending in a plain dotted with acacias, sand dunes marking the horizon in the distance.
Travelogue
In 2007, it was my first meeting with Petra, I had arrived a few days earlier in a hotel in Eilat in Israel by the Red Sea at the top of the Aquaba golf course, this seaside resort ideally located less than a kilometer from the borders with Egypt and Jordan, allowed me to discover some sites in these countries. Each time, I took "day" excursions with local guides that I joined just behind the border lines. This allowed me, among other things, to cross the Egyptian border to go to the Orthodox Saint Catherine Monastery in Sinai.
Regarding the Petra site, I was only able to stay there for a few hours, since the trip took me more than 2:30 to go and I had just as much for the return to regain the hotel. Needless to say, my frustration was great at such indescribable beauty.
Back at the hotel, I made a promise to myself to come back to this Nabataean city as soon as possible and stay there this time for several days to see a lot more than on my first visit.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
Done, the following year, this time arriving in Amman, the Jordanian capital, towards Petra where I stayed there for a week or so, where I was able to walk a good number of kilometers in this ancient city. .
Finally, my trip ended in the footsteps of Lauwrence of Arabia for a weeklong trek in the Wadi Rum desert in the extreme south of the country, close to Saudi Arabia.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
ABSOLUTELY TO DO!
In addition to this, you will need to know more about it.
"Petra by night" a nocturnal course which begins at the entrance of the Sîq, this one being lit by candles which are arranged on the ground, in Kraft paper bags which are filled to the first third of sand for their stability. The light of these hundreds of small flames arranged every four or five meters from each other, dance on the vertical walls of the sîq, tracing a bewitching path to the Khazneh.
Once traversed the 1200m of this narrow canyon lit by these lights, one emerges in front of the treasure on a bed of candle holders which diffuse on its columns and pediments a subdued light revealing an almost unreal glowing color. A unique experience that gives the impression of visiting a completely different site than during the day ...
A few minutes later a short musical show begins, with a few explanations on the history of Petra.
A night course not to be missed!