As a Jordanian PhD student I have joined an international research group at the University of Strathclyde. As I am passionate about traveling and culture I would like to bring closer one of the most beautiful parts of Jordan, Petra, which I strongly encourage you to visit. While going through these lines and pictures, you will know more about the beauty of this place.
The city of Petra, capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and it is Located 240 km south of the capital Amman and 120 km north of the red sea town of Aqapa. Petra the world wonder is undoubtedly Jordan's most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction, and it is visited by tourists from all over the world.
The city of Petra, capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and it is Located 240 km south of the capital Amman and 120 km north of the red sea town of Aqapa. Petra the world wonder is undoubtedly Jordan's most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction, and it is visited by tourists from all over the world.
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria and the city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabataean Empire which grew rich through trade in frankincense, myrrh, and spices.
The giant red mountains and vast mausoleums of a departed race have nothing in common with modern civilization, and ask nothing of it except to be appreciated at their true value as one of the greatest wonders ever wrought by Nature and Man. Although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares the visitor for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed.
Petra it is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Petra is also known as the rose-red city, a name it gets from the wonderful colour of the rock from which many of the city’s structures were carved.
Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1 km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80 m high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling. As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury). This is an awe-inspiring experience which represents the masterpiece of the ancient city with 30 m wide and 43 m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.
The Treasury is merely the first of the many wonders that make up Petra. Visitors need at least four or five days to really explore everything there. As you enter the Petra valley you will be overwhelmed by the natural beauty of this place and its outstanding architectural achievements. There are hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings - unlike the houses, which were destroyed mostly by earthquakes, the tombs were carved to last throughout the afterlife and 500 have survived, empty but bewitching as you file past their dark openings. Here also is a massive Nabataean-built.
There are obelisks, temples, sacrificial altars and colonnaded streets, and high above, overlooking the valley, is the impressive Ad-Deir Monastery – a flight of 800 rock cut steps takes you there. Within the site there are also two excellent museums; the Petra Archaeological Museum, and the Petra Nabataean Museum both of which represent finds from excavations in the Petra region and an insight into Petra's colourful past. Inside the site, several artisans from the town of Wadi Musa and a nearby Bedouin settlement have set up small stalls selling local handicrafts, such as pottery and Bedouin jewellery, and bottles of striated multi-coloured sands from the area.
It is not permitted for motorized vehicles to enter the site. But if you don't want to walk, you can hire a horse or a horse-drawn carriage to take you through the one kilometre Siq. For the elderly and/or handicapped, the Visitors' Centre, close to the entrance of the Siq, will issue a special permit for the carriage to go inside Petra to visit the main attractions. Once inside the site, you can hire a donkey, or for the more adventurous, a camel - both come with handlers and take designated routes throughout the site.
On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site, also Petra was chosen by the Smithsonian Magazine as one of the 28 places you should visit them before you die and On July 7, 2007 Petra was announced as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World and has become the perfect and best tourist destination for many leaders and celebrities around the world.
1- http://www.visitpetra.jo/
2- www.mota.gov.jo
3- http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/lost-city-petra/
4- http://nabataea.net/petra.html
5- http://wikitravel.org/en/Petra
About the Author
Mr Mohmad Ali Radi - Mohmad is working
on the formulation therapeutic nucleic acids (mainly siRNA) into stealth
nanoparticles to treat cancer.
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