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The site remained unknown to the
Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by
Swiss explorer
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
.^ I missed the beauty of the ancient red rose city.- Petra-Jordan Photo Gallery by Mansour Mouasher at pbase.com 18 January 2010 1:35 UTC www.pbase.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^ Ancient Rose-Red City .- Petra-Jordan Photo Gallery by Mansour Mouasher at pbase.com 18 January 2010 1:35 UTC www.pbase.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage."
[5]Geography
Pliny the Elder and other writers identify Petra as the capital of the Nabataeans,
Aramaic-speaking
Semites, and the centre of their
caravan trade. Enclosed by towering rocks and watered by a perennial
stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress, but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to
Gaza in the west, to
Bosra and
Damascus in the north, to
Aqaba and Leuce Come on the
Red Sea, and across the desert to the
Persian Gulf.
The end of the Siq, with its dramatic view of
Al Khazneh ("The Treasury")
Excavations have demonstrated that it was the ability of the Nabataeans to control the water supply that led to the rise of the desert city, creating an artificial
oasis. The area is visited by
flash floods and archaeological evidence demonstrates the Nabataeans controlled these floods by the use of
dams,
cisterns and water conduits. These innovations stored water for prolonged periods of
drought, and enabled the city to prosper from its sale.
[6][7]
The narrow passage (Seeq) that takes you to Petra
Petra is known as the Rose-Red City for the color of the rocks in which Petra is carved
Although in ancient times Petra might have been approached from the south via
Saudi Arabia on a track leading around Jabal Haroun ("Aaron's Mountain"), across the plain of Petra, or possibly from the high plateau to the north, most modern visitors approach the site from the east. The impressive eastern entrance leads steeply down through a dark, narrow gorge (in places only 3–4 m (9.8–13 ft) wide) called the
Siq ("the shaft"), a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the
sandstone rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into
Wadi Musa. At the end of the narrow gorge stands Petra's most elaborate ruin,
Al Khazneh (popularly known as "the Treasury"), hewn into the sandstone cliff.
El Deir ("The Monastery")
A little further from the Treasury, at the foot of the mountain called
en-Nejr, is a massive theatre, so placed as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view. At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect. The
amphitheatre has been cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible. Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose-colored mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures, and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers.
History
Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the
eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BCE). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the
Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir.
.^ Though in the bright light of the day one can imagine the city with its former inhabitants, but in the late afternoon it is an eerie place full of the ghosts of its many tombs.- Petra-Jordan Photo Gallery by Mansour Mouasher at pbase.com 18 January 2010 1:35 UTC www.pbase.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
Stations 19 through 26 of the
stations list of
Exodus are places associated with Petra.
[8] This part of the country was
Biblically assigned to the
Horites, the predecessors of the
Edomites.
[9] The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. Although Petra is usually identified with
Sela which means a
rock, the Biblical references
[10] refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. 2
Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. In the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock" (2 Chr. xxv. 12, see LXX).
On the authority of
Josephus (
Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7)
Eusebius and
Jerome (
Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that
Rekem was the native name and
Rekem appears in the
Dead Sea scrolls[11] as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with
Mount Seir. But in the Aramaic versions Rekem is the name of
Kadesh, implying that Josephus may have confused the two places.
[citation needed] Sometimes the Aramaic versions give the form
Rekem-Geya which recalls the name of the village El-ji, southeast of Petra. The capital, however, would hardly be defined by the name of a neighboring village.
[citation needed] The Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, remains unknown. The passage in
Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94–97) which describes the expeditions which
Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BCE is understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra,
[citation needed] but the "petra" referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name and the description implies that the town was not yet in existence.
[citation needed]
The Rekem Inscription in 1976
.^ My only suggestion is for you to identify ALL the pictures you post in the gallery, that way, I could remember what the names of the places and monuments are.- Petra-Jordan Photo Gallery by Mansour Mouasher at pbase.com 18 January 2010 1:35 UTC www.pbase.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^ I've been reading the "Left Behind" books and I am currently reading "Armageddon" which describes the Siq and heavily references Petra as a place of refuge.- Petra-Jordan Photo Gallery by Mansour Mouasher at pbase.com 18 January 2010 1:35 UTC www.pbase.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
About twenty years ago the Jordanians built a bridge over the wadi and this inscription was buried beneath tons of concrete.
[12]
More satisfactory evidence of the date of the earliest Nabataean settlement may be obtained from an examination of the tombs. Two types may be distinguished: the Nabataean and the
Greco-Roman. The Nabataean type starts from the simple
pylon-tomb with a door set in a tower crowned by a parapet ornament, in imitation of the front of a dwelling-house. Then, after passing through various stages, the full Nabataean type is reached, retaining all the native features and at the same time exhibiting characteristics which are partly
Egyptian and partly
Greek. Of this type there exist close parallels in the tomb-towers at el-I~ejr in north Arabia, which bear long Nabataean inscriptions and supply a date for the corresponding monuments at Petra. Then comes a series of tombfronts which terminate in a semicircular arch, a feature derived from north
Syria. Finally come the elaborate façades copied from the front of a
Roman temple; however, all traces of native style have vanished. The exact dates of the stages in this development cannot be fixed. Strangely, few inscriptions of any length have been found at Petra, perhaps because they have perished with the stucco or cement which was used upon many of the buildings. The simple pylon-tombs which belong to the pre-Hellenic age serve as evidence for the earliest period. It is not known how far back in this stage the Nabataean settlement goes, but it does not go back farther than the 6th century BCE.
A period follows in which the dominant civilization combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly pointing to the age of the
Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century BCE, when the Ptolemaic and
Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean kingdom came to the front. Under
Aretas III Philhellene, (c.85–60 BCE), the royal coins begin. The theatre was probably excavated at that time, and Petra must have assumed the aspect of a
Hellenistic city. In the reign of
Aretas IV Philopatris, (9 BCE–40 CE), the fine tombs of the el-I~ejr [?] type may be dated, and perhaps also the great High-place.
Roman rule
In 106 CE, when Cornelius Palma was governor of Syria, that part of
Arabia under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the
Roman Empire as part of
Arabia Petraea, becoming capital. The native dynasty came to an end. But the city continued to flourish. A century later, in the time of
Alexander Severus, when the city was at the height of its splendor, the issue of coinage comes to an end. There is no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently to some sudden catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-
Persian power under the
Sassanid Empire. Meanwhile, as
Palmyra (fl. 130–270) grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra, the latter declined. It seems, however, to have lingered on as a religious centre. A
Roman road was constructed at the site.
Epiphanius of Salamis (c.315–403) writes that in his time a feast was held there on December 25 in honor of the virgin
Khaabou (Chaabou) and her offspring
Dushara (
Haer. 51).
[citation needed]Religion
The Nabataeans worshipped the
Arab gods and
goddesses of the
pre-Islamic times as well as few of their
deified kings. One,
Obodas I, was deified after his death. Dushara was the main male god accompanied by his female trinity:
Al-‘Uzzá,
Allat and
Manāt. Many statues carved in the rock depict these gods and goddesses.
The Monastery, Petra's largest monument, dates from the 1st century BCE. It was dedicated to Obodas I and is believed to be the symposium of Obodas the god. This information is inscribed on the ruins of the Monastery (the name is the translation of the Arabic "Ad-Deir").
Christianity found its way to Petra in the 4th century CE, nearly 500 years after the establishment of Petra as a trade center.
Athanasius mentions a bishop of Petra (Anhioch. 10) named
Asterius. At least one of the tombs (the "tomb with the urn"?) was used as a church. An inscription in red paint records its consecration "in the time of the most holy bishop Jason" (447). After the
Islamic conquest of 629–632 Christianity in Petra, as of most of Arabia, gave way to Islam. During the
First Crusade Petra was occupied by
Baldwin I of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem and formed the second
fief of the
barony of
Al Karak (in the lordship of
Oultrejordain) with the title
Château de la Valée de Moyse or Sela. It remained in the hands of the
Franks until 1189. It is still a
titular see of the
Catholic Church.
[13]
According to Arab tradition, Petra is the spot where
Moses struck a rock with his staff and water came forth, and where Moses' brother,
Aaron, is
buried, at
Mount Hor, known today as Jabal Haroun or Mount Aaron. The Wadi Musa or "Wadi of Moses" is the Arab name for the narrow valley at the head of which Petra is sited. A mountaintop shrine of Moses' sister Miriam was still shown to pilgrims at the time of
Jerome in the 4th century, but its location has not been identified since.
[14]Decline
Petra declined rapidly under Roman rule, in large part due to the revision of sea-based trade routes. In 363 an earthquake destroyed many buildings, and crippled the vital water management system.
[15] The ruins of Petra were an object of curiosity in the
Middle Ages and were visited by
Sultan Baibars of Egypt towards the end of the 13th century. The first European to describe them was Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.
Because the structures weakened with age, many of the tombs became vulnerable to thieves, and many treasures were stolen.
Threats to Petra
The site suffers from a host of threats, including collapse of ancient structures, erosion due to flooding and improper rainwater drainage, weathering from salt upwelling, improper restoration of ancient structures, and unsustainable tourism.
[16] The latter has increased substantially ever since the site was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
[17]Petra today
In 2006 the design of a Visitor Centre began.
The Jordan Times reported in December 2006 that 59,000 people visited in the two months October and November 2006, 25% fewer than the same period in the previous year.
[18]In popular culture
Petra was the main topic in
John William Burgon's Poem
Petra. Referring to it as the inaccessible city which he had heard described but had never seen. The Poem was awarded the
Newdigate Prize in
1845 :
| “ |
It seems no work of Man's creative hand,
by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;
- But from the rock as if by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
- Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
- Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,
that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;
- But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
- The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,
which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,
- match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time.
|
” |
The site is featured in
films such as:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,
Arabian Nights,
Passion in the Desert,
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation,
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the
Sisters of Mercy music video "Dominion", and
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It was recreated for the video games
Spy Hunter (2001),
King's Quest V,
Lego Indiana Jones and
Sonic Unleashed and appeared in the novels
Left Behind,
Appointment with Death,
The Eagle in the Sand and
The Red Sea Sharks, the nineteenth book in
The Adventures of Tintin series. It featured prominently in the Marcus Didius Falco mystery novel
Last Act in Palmyra.
See also
Notes
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Major Attractions: Petra, visitjordan.com
- ^ Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. “Petra.” Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 9th ed. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1985. ISBN 0-87779-508-8
- ^ Davey, Steve. "Unforgettable Places To See Before You Die", BBC, 12 December 2003.
- ^ UNESCO advisory body evaluation
- ^ Petra: Water Works
- ^ Geotimes — June 2004 — Petra: An Eroding Ancient City
- ^
- 25. Mithcah - Nu. 33:28-29 associated with Petra on the borders of Moab and Edom near Petra.
- 26. Hashmonah - Nu. 33:29-30 Ha Shmona Kiryat Shmona South
- 27. Moseroth - Nu. 33:30-31 described as the place where Aaron died at the foot of Mt Hor (Petra)
- 28. Bene-Jaakan - Nu. 33:31-32 the wells of Jaakan Near Mt Hor (Petra)
- 29. Petra - Nu. 33:32-33 Siq The cleft of the mountain, the entrance to Petra
- ^ Genesis xiv. 6, xxxvi. 20–30; Deut. ii. 12.
- ^ Judges i. 36; Isaiah xvi. i, xlii. 11; Obad. 3.
- ^ 4Q462
- ^ Iain Browning, Petra, Chatto & Windus, 1974. p. 108. On page 109 there is a line drawing of the inscription, but the photograph is my own and the observation concerning the burial is also mine, based on some fifteen visits to Petra over the last 30 years.
- ^
"Petra". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Petra.
- ^ Sacred Sites: Petra
- ^ Art Review; Rose-Red City Carved From the Rock - New York Times
- ^ Icomos.org, Heritage at Risk 2004/2005: Petra
- ^ "Heritage Conservation Grips Jordan's Petra Amid Booming Tourism". Xinhua. November 3, 2007. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/03/content_7006318.htm.
- ^ 31,926 tourists visit Petra last month
- ^ The Official New 7 Wonders of the Modern World
References
External links
- PetraNationalTrust.org, Preservation Projects Petra National Trust
- Smartedaleel.com, Interactive map of Old Petra
- Bib-arch.org, "Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans", Biblical Archaeology Review
- Opencontext.org, "Petra Great Temple Excavations (Archaeological Data)", Open Context Publication of Archaeological Data from the 1993-2006 Brown University Excavations at the Great Temple of Petra, Jordan
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