Petra

Petra



This article is about the Jordanian site of Petra. For other uses, see Petra (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 30°19'43?N 35°26'31?E / 30.32861°N 35.44194°E
Petra*

The Treasury at Petra
State Party
JordanType Cultural
Criteria
i, iii, iv
Reference 326Region** Arab StatesInscription history
Inscription 1985 (9th Session)* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.Petra (Greek "p?t?a" (petra), meaning rock; Arabic: ???????,

Al-Batra?) is a historic and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that has rock cut architecture

and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans

[1], it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited tourism attraction[2]. It lies on the slope of Mount Hor[3]

in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running

from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in

2007 and a World Heritage Site since 1985. Petra was chosen by the BBC as one of "the 10 places you have to

see before you die".[4]
The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate Prize-winning

sonnet by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's

cultural heritage."[5]
Contents

• 1 Geography
• 2 History
o 2.1 Roman rule
o 2.2 Religion
o 2.3 Decline
• 3 Qur'an
• 4 Threats to Petra
• 5 Petra today
• 6 In popular culture
•
[edit] 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 Theatre
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. It is listed in

Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively

late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. 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
The only place in Petra where the name "Rekem" occurs was in the rock wall of the Wadi Musa opposite the

entrance to the Siq. 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.
Urn Tomb
[edit] 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 Manat. 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]
[edit] Decline


El Deir ("The Monastery") in 1839, by David Roberts.
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.

[edit] Qur'an
It has been mentioned in the Qur'an, sura Al-Fajr where it is called Thamud.[citation needed]
[edit] 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]
[edit] Petra today


Official advertisement poster of the Jordan Tourism Board calling to cast a vote for Petra in the poll for the

so-called "New Seven Wonders of the World".
On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.
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]
On July 7, 2007, Petra was named one of New Open World Corporation's New Seven Wonders of the World.[19]

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.



Petra is the treasure of ancient world, hidden behind an almost impenetrable barrier of rugged mountains, boasting

incomparable scenes that make it the most majestic and imposing ancient site still-standing nowadays.. It has been

said "perhaps there is nothing in the world that resembles it", actually, for sure, there is nothing in the world that

resembles it. The rock-carved rose-red city of Petra is full of mysterious charm, it was "designed to strike wonder

into all who entered it".

Petra is considered the most famous and gorgeous site in Jordan located about 262 km south of Amman and 133

km north of Aqaba. It is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled in southern Jordan

more than 2000 years ago. Admired then for its refined culture, massive architecture and ingenious complex of

dams and water channels, Petra is now a UNESCO world heritage site and one of The New 7 Wonders of the

World that enchants visitors from all corners of the globe.
The approach through a kilometer long, cool, and gloom chasm (or Siq) a long narrow gorge whose steeply rising

sides all but obliterate the sun, provides a dramatic contrast with the magic to come. Suddenly the gorge opens into

a natural square dominated by Petra's most famous monument, The Treasury (El-Khazneh), whose intricately

carved facade glows in the dazzling sun.
Petra Map & Monuments
The Discovery of Petra Before the Nabataeans
The Nabataeans Prosperity and Decline
Christianity and After Aaron's Tomb
Petra Tourist InformationMore facades beckon the visitor on until the ancient city gradually unfolds, one monument

leading to the next for kilometer after kilometer. The sheer size of the city and the quality of beautifully carved

facades is staggering and leads one to reflect on the creativity and industry of the Nabataeans who made Petra

their capital.