The Red Rose City, Part 1

“I was without protection in the midst of a desert where no traveller had ever before been seen; and a close examination of these works of the infidels, as they are called, would have excited suspicions that I was a magician in search of treasures.” - Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 1812

On August 22, 1812, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was worried.  A Swiss adventurer and traveler, he had just walked through a narrow valley and was looking upon the 50 meter tall, rose-colored façade of what the local Bedouins called El Khazneh, or The Treasury.  He later described it as “one of the most elegant ruins of antiquity existing in Syria”.

Disguised as a Hindustani Muslim pilgrim and going by the name of Sheikh Ibrahim, Burckhardt had heard during his travels across the Middle East about a lost city in ‘southern Syria’ (modern Jordan).  He spoke fluent Arabic (although with an odd accent - thus he called himself a Hindustani to cover that up) and his guide thought he was indeed a Muslim traveler. But he knew that if he was discovered to be a European, there might be a quick and violent end to his adventures. 


Johann Ludwig Burckhardt...

“At the distance of a two long days journey north-east from Akaba, is a rivulet and valley in the Djebel Shera, on the east side of the Araba, called Wady Mousa. This place is very interesting for its antiquities and the remains of an ancient city, which I conjecture to be Petra, the capital of Arabia Petraea, a place which, as far as I know, no European traveller has ever visited.” - Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 1812

He told his guide he wanted to sacrifice a goat at the tomb of Aaron, atop a peak near El Khazneh.  And thus he became the first European in over 700 years to see one of the most beautiful ancient cities in the world. Burckhardt didn’t want to take any more chances, so he didn’t linger long, only seeing a small area of the ancient city. But he saw enough to realize he had discovered the lost city of Petra.

Burckhardt would go onto Egypt, where he would travel deep into Nubia and be the first westerner to discover the ancient Egyptian monuments there, including Abu Simbel, the great temple of Ramses II. 

Scottish artist David Roberts' 1829 lithograph of El Kahzneh...

Petra: A Very Short History

The Nabateans, the people who built Petra, were a nomadic tribe of tent dwellers until around the 3rd Century BCE. It was then that they decided to settle down and become business men. They inhabited an area that was a crossroads of many major routes between Africa, Asia and the Middle East. They set up what we would call toll booths, charging caravans large sums of money to come through their land, in essence protecting the caravans from brigands and thieves. These caravans were carrying things like frankincense and myrrh, two very valuable commodities. The Nabateans soon became a very rich people and by the 1st Century BCE were carving amazing buildings out of the sandstone mountains they inhabited. Most of the structures of Petra were carved in the two hundred year period between the 1st Century BCE and the 1st Century CE. By then the Roman Empire was the dominant power and they took over Petra. Eventually, between a couple of major earthquakes and some huge floods, Petra was abandoned around the 7th Century CE. Later, the Bdoul tribe inhabited Petra  (and are its current inhabitants), and in 1812 our friend Johann Ludwig Burckhardt showed up. Petra has been a tourist destination ever since. 

Day 1

Camping With the Bedouins

One of the nicest ideas for lodging, both in Petra and in Wadi Rum, is campsites where you can stay in a not so authentic Bedouin goat hair tent and hang out with the locals. In Petra, there are a couple of these near Little Petra, about a fifteen minute drive from the main entrance. We got here late in the day, so just hung out in camp and enjoyed the ambiance. After dinner, which consisted of some great salads and this wonderful rice pilaf dish with chicken, Amy went to our tent to catch up on sleep, but I stayed a while in the public area, where there was a nice fire and a couple of guys playing Bedouin music on an Oud, a stringed instrument a little like a mandolin, and some drums. The music was great, but unfortunately went on until almost midnight so we didn’t get all that much sleep.  (We thought this was going to be the norm, but luckily, it wasn’t!  Most guests are pretty exhausted by their hiking so on other nights it got quiet earlier).

The camp, Seven Wonders Bedouin Camp, has about 30 tents, clean shared toilets and showers, separate for men and women, and a great ambiance. In the evening you sit outside (or in a very long, large, carpet-lined lounge tent if it’s cold) around a big fire. The large rocky hill right next to the camp is lit up with yellow lights and the stars above are brilliant. 

Hanging out with the Bedouins...

“A beam of stronger light breaks in at the close of the dark perspective, and opens to view, half seen at first through the narrow opening, columns, statues, and cornices, of a light and finished taste, as if fresh from the chisel, without the tints or weather stains of age, and executed in a stone of a pale rose colour, which was warmed at the moment we came in sight of them with the full light of the morning sun.” - Hon. Charles Irby and Mr. James Mangles, 1818

The best way to see Petra is to get to the entrance by the 6am opening and walk through the Siq before the large tour groups get there. The Siq is the 1 kilometer narrow canyon which ends at Petra’s most famous monument, El Kahzneh, or the Treasury. 

It’s a real marvel walking through this amazing geological feature. At this early hour you just hear the birds and the one or two other tourists. There are a couple of monuments as you walk along, but suddenly, through the narrow crack in the rock, there stands The Treasury, in all her glory. 


The Siq...

Dogs playing in the Siq's water channel...

First view...

El Kahzneh...

It’s called The Treasury because Arab legend had it that in the urn at the very top, was a Pharaoh’s treasure. Half of the urn has been blown away, as Bedouins in the past shot bullets at it to dislodge the gold. Alas, it’s just solid rock. 

"Petra must remain a wonder which can only be understood by visiting the place itself and memory is the only mirror in which its whole resemblance can faithfully live." - Edward Lear, 1858

The best way to see the Treasury is from the lookout on the Al Kuptah mountain. To get there, you have to walk a few miles on a trail that ends up at a little cafe about 300 feet above the monument. An enterprising local has set up a tent and serves tea and Arabian coffee to those who want to gaze at the marvelous view.  We sat there for about an hour, enjoying the view, the coffee, and the cafe’s cat, Monica, who is world famous as she is the star of her own Facebook page. 

On the way up to the Treasury overlook.  Paths carved through rock by the Nabateans...

Monica, the cat...

On our way down, Amy saw some carved Nabatean steps off the trail. Being the intrepid explorer she is, she led us up the steps and we were soon in another area, where tourists seldom wander and which had some great water features and one of the fifteen “high places of sacrifice” that are in Petra. 

Amy finds some stairs off the main trail and up we go...

View of the central city of Petra from on high...

The great monuments aren’t the only mysterious architectural features of Petra. The Nabateans also figured out how to supply its 30,000 residents with plenty of water in this desert. This was through a series of carved canals, cisterns and reservoirs that are fed by the various springs in the mountains. You see them all over the city and if you aren’t careful, you might fall into one. 

One of the many water cisterns in Petra...

Carved water channel...

The views from up here, 500 feet above the central part of Petra, are amazing. You can see the 5000 seat amphitheater, the large castle, called Qasr al Bint, and the rest of the central area, including the long colonnaded street and the main temple. But it was time for lunch, so we went to a small eatery and had a delicious plate of hummus, olives, pita bread, a tomato and a cucumber. Very Jordanian!


The amphitheater, which held about 5,000 spectators...

After a little more wandering through temples, tombs and a Byzantine church with wonderful mosaics, it was late afternoon and since we hadn’t slept much the night before, time to go home. 

From the Treasury to the entrance is well over a mile, so we hired a horse and buggy to make the incredibly bumpy ride up (the road also can be a bit steep and climbs a lot before you get to the entrance). 

After another delicious dinner in camp, we were in bed by 9. Luckily, there was no music our second night.