The Red Rose City, Part 2

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. 

   - John William Burgon, 1845

Day 2

Relaxed and refreshed after a good night's sleep, we again got to the entrance to Petra by its opening at 6am.  But instead of heading straight to the Treasury, Amy had heard about a special carving in a small valley nearby.  So, with an old map of Petra in hand, we walked over some rocky terrain and up a couple of valleys to find the "Eagle Niche".  This was a Nabatean carving of some kind of eagle god on the side of a cliff.  We were followed by one of Petra's many friendly dogs, who just wanted company.  After going on a bit of a search, there it was; a beautiful carving of an eagle, complete except its head knocked off by someone who just didn't like idol worshippers.  From a cliff nearby, you could look out over the tops of the mountains to the Siq below.  A little further on there was a goat herder's cave, complete with one of those Nabatean cisterns, still in use by evidence of a tea kettle next to it.

The Eagle Niche and next to it, a Nabatean goddess...

Our little pal who followed us on our little hike...

Nabatean water cistern...

“The scenery made a deep impression upon me, from its extreme desolation and its savage character...But I felt somewhat disappointed with the ruins themselves, of which I had read such glowing descriptions. I thought the architecture debased and wanting both in elegance and grandeur. It is of a bad period and of a corrupt style.” - Sir Henry Layard, January 1840

Back we went to the Siq and down to the Treasury.  We hadn't eaten breakfast, so we stopped at the cafe right below it.  The coffee was delicious, the view of the Treasury grand, and there were a couple of nice cats to keep us company.


Climbing up the first tomb you see in Petra, the Obelisk Tomb...

The Siq...

This carved water channel goes all the way down the Siq...

First view...

At the Treasury Cafe...

...and of course there are cats...

The exit of the Siq ends up at the Treasury...

From here, we headed to the High Place of Sacrifice.  Although there are actually 15 high places of sacrifice throughout the ancient city, this is the famous one that everyone goes to.  First, you turn right at the Treasury and head down the beautiful Street of Facades.  This is a path, kind of a riverbed actually, that has many beautiful tombs along it.  There are some that are buried 2/3rds up their facades, buried by thousands of years of flood debris.  But others, on the high side of the valley, are there in all their glory.  Many are quite large and the interiors, while quite plain,  are dramatic in their size and perfection of carving.


Part of the long line of tombs on the Street of Facades...

And if you don't feel like walking, there's always these guys...

Tombs half buried from the detritus of past floods...

Waiting to give someone a lift...

Amphitheater, which sat about 5000 spectators...

To get to the High Place of Sacrifice, you have to hike up a steep trail, complete with modern and ancient stairs.  You can see where the Nabateans cut away the sides of mountains to get to where they wanted to go.  On the top, they carved out two mountaintops, quite impressive when you think of the work involved.  On one of the mountaintops, they left, in situ, two 20 foot obelisks.  The view from up here is striking and there is, of course, a cafe to sit and enjoy the experience.

The path to the High Place of Sacrifice...

The High Place of Sacrifice...

View from the top..

These two obelisks are all that is left of a big mound of rock.  They were carved in situ and when I think about the amount of carving, it is truly astonishing...

One thing you will not lack for in Petra are little vendor stands and cafes.  Enterprising Bedouins have set up many of these throughout the city.  You would think that this would take away from the ambience, but in a strange way it adds to it.

If you do the loop trail, you come down to the valley on a beautiful trail that takes you by many monuments, including a fountain carved like a lion and many temples, the most beautiful being the Garden Temple, where, archaeologists say, there was a garden in front. Everywhere you see evidence of the Nabatean waterworks, including channels and cisterns.  

The Garden Hall...

The Soldier's Tomb...

After a delicious buffet lunch with all sorts of great Jordanian food, we decided to do the big, difficult trail up to the Monastery, Petra's second most famous monument.  There are almost 1000 stairs up to the plateau where it sits, so we decided to ride a donkey. For 10 Jordanian dinars each, we hired Abdullah, a 10 year old boy who drives the donkey.  When school lets out at 1pm, he comes to Petra to help his family in the business of taking tourists up to the Monastery on donkeys.  Amy's donkey was ZuZu, mine was Michael Jackson.  It's a steep climb up there, but once you learn the technique of riding a donkey up a flight of stairs, it isn't so difficult.

Abdullah takes us for a ride...

Ad Deir, or the Monastery...

"Despite the appalling state into which it has fallen under the Empire of the Crescent (the Ottoman Empire), Petra still remains the eighth wonder of the world!  Those unable to visit it, dream of it: those who, like us, have gone there wish to see it again and study it further. After centuries of silence, it has returned to life, and has become the object of scientific expeditions, full of fascination." - Adelaide Sargenton-Galichon, 1904

Seeing the Monastery in the afternoon light is wonderful.  This is the largest, and possibly the oldest, facade in Petra and it's quite beautiful from the hill across the way.  And of course, there is a cafe right there, so you can enjoy the view with a coffee, tea, or our favorite Jordanian drink, a lime/mint iced drink.

The Monastery, 2018...

The Monastery, 1829, lithograph by David Roberts...

We walked down to the main part of the city, but already having walked over 12 miles, decided to take a camel back to the Treasury.  Well, I rode a camel but Amy preferred her donkey.  So off we went, the Lawrence of Arabia theme imbedded in my mind as I rode along.  But the truth is, it takes a lot of practice to look like Omar Sharif on a camel.  I have a lot more practicing to do!

We made it back to camp and it was time for a nice rest before dinner...