Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - From Eilat to Jordan

Today, I was off to cross the border into Jordan to tour Petra, an archaeological site in Aqaba Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah, the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture.
I was leery to go with a tour group and really wanted to go alone, so I could explore and stay as long as I wanted, perhaps even a night, but I was advised against it. So I forked out the cash for a tour. I was picked up in the morning at the Shelter by the tour agent and he had also picked up this girl named Julie Gottshalk from Seattle, who has been living in Eilat for 9 months and now planning on moving back to the States the next day. She had decided to check out Petra before she left. I was very glad she had come, because as suspected the people on the tour were mostly older people, and mostly couples. Julie was a youthful blessing and we ended up spending the whole day together.





We boarded the bus and headed for Jordan.





Jordan is officially called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Tourism is a very important sector of the Jordanian economy, contributing between 10 percent and 12 percent to the country's Gross National Product. In addition to the country's political stability, the geography makes Jordan an attractive tourism destination. Jordan's major tourist activities include numerous ancient places, its unique desert castles and unspoiled natural locations to its cultural and religious sites. But Petra is Jordan's most visited attraction.







We travelled through Aqaba, it is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. The town borders Eilat and there is a border post where it is possible to cross between the two countries. Both Aqaba and Eilat are at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba.
The town is best known today as a diving and beach resort. However, industrial activity remains important to the area, and the town is an exporter of phosphate and some shells. The town is also an important administrative center within the far south of Jordan.


Aqaba has been an inhabited settlement since 4000 BC profiting from its strategic location at the junction of trading routes between Asia, Africa, and Europe. The early settlement was presumably Edomite in ancient times. It was a center of the Edomites, and then of the Arab Nabataeans, who populated the region extensively.
The Bible refers to the area in (1 Kings 9:26) "King Solomon also built ships in Ezion-Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shores of the Red Sea."

Petra

We made our way through Jordan and came across some very remote villages like this one.










Then we stopped at this location and and the tour guide mentioned that this was Petra. I didn't quite know what he meant, so I zoomed in just a little bit more and if you can see that little fissure or crack, right in the middle of this pic, believe it or not that is where Petra is located. It looks very hidden, but when you see how large Petra is from the proceeding posts, you will be amazed.







We finally made it to the sight, and you walk down a bit, well actually Julie and I rode on horses, like this guy, he was my horse guide, and I have a picture of me on the horse, but I look so ridiculous on it, I decided not to post it, not sure if the horse was extra small, or I'm considered a giant in Jordan.






And then you reach the pathway to the archaeological ruins.


















We stopped and had a picture with this guy. I'm assuming he is representative of what the Nabateans looked like when they constructed Petra. But these guys were planted all around the area, and they just stand there so people can take a picture with them. Kind of funny.

Petra - Some random shots

Petra- The Treasury

As we made our way through the cave like maze, you get a glimpse of the impressive eastern entrance that leads steeply down through a dark, narrow gorge 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 ("the Treasury"), carved into the sandstone cliff.












As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, the structure was carved out of a sandstone rock face. It has classical Roman-influenced architecture.
The treasury was originally built as a royal tomb, probably between 100 BC and 200 AD. Its name Treasury derives from a legend that bandits or pirates hid their loot in a stone urn high on the second level. Significant damage from bullets can be seen on the urn. Local legend attributes this to Bedouins, who are said to have shot at the urn in hopes of breaking it open and spilling out the "treasure" within (the decorative urn however, is solid sandstone). Many of the building's architectural details have eroded away during the two thousand years since it was carved and sculpted from the cliff. Religious unrest in the area during recent years has reportedly resulted in further damage to the site.





The Treasury has appeared in many Hollywood movies, but has gained more fame in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which it represented as the fictional entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail near Hatay. The movie Spyhunter depicted it as the façade of a rocket launch facility

Petra

So this gives you an idea of the size of this place, it is huge. And to think that it was just carved right out of a mountain is fascinating.
We ran into this 12 year old kid, named Amad, who spoke english really well, and he begged to give us a donkey ride, so we took him up on it. Notice the BMW sticker on the head of the donkey, we got a kick out of that.