Not only is the wonderful beaches of Aqaba and the healing mud of the Dead Sea famous for Jordan. Petra is its main attraction, to look at which hundreds of thousands of tourists come from all over the world. The architects who built this city, incomprehensibly hollowed out in the rocks of the cave, turning a dead stone into majestic temples and tombs. But then there were no modern tools, and the technology did not reach half of the current level. Nevertheless, people, figuratively speaking, barehandedly managed to create masterpieces that survived the centuries.
Nabataeans - founders of the city-fairy tale among the rocks
According to legend, the Nabataeans are the descendants of Sim, the son of the world famous Noah. In the III century BC they formed the state of Nabatea. Caravan routes were the most important for the economy of those times on its lands. Therefore, the territory of the Nabataean kingdom was a tasty morsel for many neighboring states and was often attacked. But the Nabataeans not only managed to protect their land from the invaders, but also controlled part of Syria and remained independent in times of power of the Roman Empire. The Nabataeans harbored a great hatred of the Jews and not only fought with them endlessly, but even bought out other Jewish prisoners to torture them and then killed them. On the territory of the majestic Nabatea now is Jordan. Petra - the former flourishing capital of the disappeared ancient state. Now it is a unique museum, created by nature and human genius.
Lost city
The lost cities of fantastic novels seem to be written off from Petra, hiding in the rocks of the city. Who knows, it would have been known to mankind about this place if in 1812 the Orientalist from Sweden Johann Burkhardt, traveling the Middle East under the name of Ibrahim ibn Abdallah, did not come across an unusually beautiful gorge, did not go through it and opened for The ancient city of Petra. Jordan reverently cherishes its shrine, which is included in the list of wonders of the world. Petra - in Greek means "stone, stone." The city received this name, because at some point in its history it was associated with ancient Hellas. This is evidenced by the numerous elements in the architecture of buildings, colonnades and porticoes, reminiscent of parts of the ancient Greek churches, but with their own non-Hellenistic details. Burckhardt himself was not looking for a lost city, but was going to cross the Sahara to the sources of the Niger. This man died on the threshold of his 33rd birthday, becoming famous for ages because of his unexpected discovery.
Geographical position
The hot dry climate, the only river Jordan, a small section of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea and 90% of desert plains with impregnations of lifeless rocks. This is Jordan. Petra, a unique historical heritage and pride of the country, can not boast of blooming gardens. It strikes the imagination with the harsh beauty of silent cliffs, streaming their arrays to the sky for tens of meters. The city is located at an altitude of 660 meters above the Arava valley and communicates with the world through the narrow Sik gorge. Arava is a desert plain where there is almost nothing alive. In the old days travelers who accompanied caravans of camels crossed Arava, languishing with heat and waterlessness. As a life-giving mystical oasis, there was for them the majestic Petra, where you could drink plenty of water and rest. The Nabataeans chose one of the most impregnable places for their capital. You can get into the city only through a narrow canyon from the south or from the north. According to the legend, it happened because Moses struck the rocks with his staff. According to another legend, the Nabataeans did not let the Jews through their city, whom Moses led through the desert.
Sik Gorge
And the passage along the Arava, and the advance along the gorge, are included in the program of the excursion tour, called "Jordan, Petra, sights". For those who do not want to trouble their feet, enterprising Arabs rent horses, camels, donkeys and even small carriages. The entrance to the gorge is paid. If one day did not have time to inspect everything, the next day you have to pay again. The price until recently was 20 dinars (about 20 euros). However, the money spent is worth the beauty that you will not see anywhere else in the world. The amazing begins with the first steps along the gorge. It represents a narrow meandering canyon about one kilometer in length. Why not equal? The Arabs speak because the staff of Moses was crooked. The width of this natural masterpiece is not the same. In some places, the gorge is so narrow that the horse-drawn carriage barely passes, and in some - reaches a width of 3 meters. Go for it more interesting, behind the group and left alone with the rocks, these eternal guards of the lost city. Their sheer, and in some areas, the whimsically overhanging slopes rush to the sky, almost closing above their heads. And only the blue stripe of the sky does not allow breaking off the connection with the real world. The color of the slopes varies with the time of day. Especially beautiful it is at dawn and at sunset. But in the daytime the multicolored layers of sandstone that form these monoliths look remarkably.
Al-Khazne
At the exit from the gorge, a wonderful creation of human genius opens its eyes. It is a mausoleum-temple cut down right in the rocks. Petra in Jordan, especially this great structure, is able to delight anyone. Its height is 39 meters, and width 25. Externally the facade resembles the temples of ancient Greece. However, on the walls there are figures of Amazons, the heads of the Egyptian goddess Isis and the mythological Medusa. Also on the facade you can see the figures of eagles, according to the beliefs of the Nabataeans, which carry away the souls of the dead. That is, during the construction several architectural styles intertwined. El-Hazne's urn crowns, in which the legends put the treasures of the pharaohs. That's why there was such a name of the temple - "treasury of the pharaohs". Inside the temple there are three small rooms without any decoration. Only the bare walls.
The Tombs of Petra
Many researchers are inclined to think that the pharaohs to El-Hazne have nothing to do with, and the structure served as the tomb of the rulers of Petra. In front of the temple there is a small round depression with a groove in which, possibly, sacrifices were made. Blood ran down the groove. But this detail does not confirm the theory of the tomb at 100%. There is nothing inside El Hazna that could shed light on what the structure served. The Nabataeans carried this secret with them. From a great civilization, Mr. Peter remained to us. Jordan considers it its main pearl. Even dilapidated by time, the city is grandiose. From El-Khazin, there is a short facade street leading to other monumental structures. Some of them were also cut down in the rocks, others were built of hewn stone blocks. There are many tombs in the city, but they are all much smaller and more modest than the great El Hazna.
Water supply in the city
The entire Arabian Peninsula is considered an arid region. The same is Jordan. Petra is a city where for a year only 150 mm of rain fell, which is negligible for the lives of 40 thousand inhabitants. However, the Nabataeans built a network of canals and reservoirs in which all the collected water was stored. In addition, the Nabatea irrigation system made it possible to collect water in the city district. Citizens always had enough water. There is an assumption that in times of rare but severe downpours over the Sik canyon, streams more than a meter deep could rush. In order that such a quantity of water does not flood the city, the Nabataeans built something like a dam, diverting the water flow to the side and not letting water rush into the gorge.
Other sights Petra
Not only is the unique temple of El Khazne famous for Peter (Jordan). The photo of its beautiful coast in the Gulf of Aqaba and the many surviving buildings of the glorious Petra will forever preserve the memory of visiting this great place on Earth. One of them is the monastery of Ad-Dair. It is located just above the main urban buildings and is also cut down in the rock. The facade of the monastery resembles the facade of the temple of El Hazne. In size, it is somewhat larger and reaches a height of 45 meters at a 50-meter width. To him leads many steps. Perhaps that is why he is not visited as often as El-Hazne. In addition to the monastery, in the stone city of attention deserves the Palace-Gravestone, the Temple of Winged Lions, a huge arena. It was created in the likeness of the Greek theaters and served, according to the historians' assumption, for cult-religious rites.
Jordan. Petra. Tours, hotels, souvenirs
Jordan is a great place for tourism. In many travel agencies you can order tours of different duration and directions. Those who choose a visit to Petra, can stay in a suburb of Wadi Musa, located from a stone city in a mile and a half. There are no hotels in Petra itself. It is open to visitors only a few hours a day. In Wadi Musa, from which to choose, the hotels are available for a different taste and purse. In addition, in the suburbs of tourists waiting for the numerous restaurants, shops, bars and even a nightclub. In addition to Wadi Musa, you can stay in the central city of Jordan Aqaba. It takes about 3 hours to get to Petra.
Visiting this historic city, every tourist buys souvenirs for memory. Sell them here literally on every corner. Women's jewelry, ceramics, utensils of Arab masters and small bottles with colored sand are very popular.