Petra. Jordan
We invite you on a digital adventure to Petra, the historical and mysterious metropolis in Jordan. Since the 2d millennium BC, Petra has been the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom and the intersection of the primary commercial routes among the East and the West.
Here we are in front of the mausoleum Al Khazneh that was built by one of the Nabataean Kings for himself. Many kings wished to be buried in Petra, and their wishes came true.
The 40-meter tall mausoleum is decorated with a fancy pattern. On the urn, you can see the bullet marks left by bedouins who tried to get the legendary treasures at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is also called “Treasury” for a reason: according to a legend, the treasure of the Egyptian pharaoh is hidden here. Let’s have a closer look at the facade of Al Khazneh.
We are approaching one of the Royal Tombs, the Urn Tomb.
In the 5th century, this mausoleum was turned into a church. Among other Royal Tombs, there is the Silk Tomb named for the rich color of the sandstone and the Corinthian and Palace Tombs that were built at the end of the Nabataean period, in the first century AD.
Look at these small cavities in rocks; they are the tombs, too! Officials, ministers, and other king’s
Confidants were buried here. This stone tomb complex was named the Street of Facades. The central part of the city covered around 3 km².
At the time of its prosperity, Petra was full of life. Its population was around 20,000 people.
Now we are approaching the majestic Amphitheatre. This is evidence that Petra was not always “the city of the dead.”
In 106 AD, Petra became a Roman colony, and just imagine how this theatre gathered 8,000 people to see gladiator fights, races, and other entertainments. To save the water in this dry area, people carved canals rights in the cliffs.
To reach Petra, one has to walk through the long Siq gorge, and for 2,000 years, this way has not changed.
Just as tourists enter the city nowadays, in the past, ancient caravans arrived in the oasis after an exhausting journey. The only difference is the distance of this way: the modern visitor is brought to the gorge by a car while thousands of years ago the transport was camels.
Only they could cross the Arabian Desert to enter the Nabataean capital, one of the most powerful states of that time that was created by an Arab nomadic tribe, Nabataeans. An hour’s walk from here, there is a well-preserved temple Ad Deir.
To get here, you have to pass 800 stair-steps! The temple is almost 50 meters tall and entirely carved out of the rock. Please have a closer look at Ad Deir the way no one has seen it before. No tombs were found in the temple, so historians consider it to be the place for solemn gatherings.
In the 4th century, it became a Christian monastery. A series of earthquakes destroyed a significant part of Petra, and people finally abandoned it in the 7th century. Now Petra is one of the most famous architectural monuments.
