Sunday, August 22, 2010 - Last weekend we finally saw something I'd wanted to see for some time now - an ancient city called Petra, now listed as one of the "7 New Wonders of the World". This city was founded by a group of people called the Nabateans (of whom the biblical King Herod of the New Testament came) in the 2nd century BC, who were of the biblical Edomites (who were said to trace their lineage all the way back to Esau, of Jacob and Esau). Founded in the 2nd or 3rd century BC, Petra literally is a hidden city tucked deep inside a huge canyon, in the country of Jordan. The Romans conquered the city in the 2nd or 3rd century AD, but after the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, the city remained hidden and unknown by the world all the way until the 1800s, when a Swiss archaeologist (re)discovered it.
The city is a marvel; if you've seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, you'll recognise the pictures. The entire city is made up of monuments, tombs, and houses - all magnificently and ornately carved into the mountain walls on either side of the valley below. Who came up with the idea to start this I'll never know, but these people were geniuses.
I have a bit of an embarrassing confession to make. I started reading the Qur'an about a month ago, and being of Jewish decent and having much Jewish family - even Israeli family - it's been breaking my heart to read the Qur'an; so far, hardly a page goes by without an anti-semitic, hateful, or threatening remark made specifically about the Jews. And what it has to say about Christians is far worse. It's honestly caught me pretty off-guard; I wasn't expecting all this. In any case, needless to say, I was a bit nervous about going to a Muslim country. If they believe even a page's-worth of what's in the Qur'an, they must be a horribly angry people! Nothing could have been further from the truth though.. Everyone we met was far friendlier than the average American, and honestly seemed to be far happier in general. As the day went on, I felt ashamed. I still have a ways to go before I finish the Qur'an, but so far, there seems to be a gigantic difference between what's instructed of Muslims in the Qur'an, and how they seem to live. I am horribly intrigued now, quite confused, and obviously, I have a lot to learn.
The City
On Friday, we made our way 4 hours south to the border town of Eilat (which sits on the shores of the Red Sea), about 2 miles east of Egypt, 2 miles west of Jordan. Friday was the hottest day Eilat has had since 1998 - 116 degrees.. Ana compared Eilat to having a hair dryer blowing on your face.
We caught a bus at 7:00AM the next morning and headed to the Jordanian border, which was a more strict border crossing than I've gone through before. On the other side we met up with a Jordanian tour guide - Ali - who was horribly nice, helpful, funny, patient, and intelligent. We took a short peek at the city of Aqaba first, then drove about 2 hours through the desert. We passed the "Tomb of Aaron" on the way, as well as
Wadi Musa ("The Valley of Moses"), where Moses was said to have caught his only glimpse of the promised land.
And finally, we were at the entrance of Petra. Thankfully, it wasn't 116 degrees there, but it was still plenty hot. If you recall in
Indiana Jones toward the end, when the Indy and his crew are riding their horses through a narrow canyon, this is where the hike to Petra begins. This part was far more beautiful than I expected, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was nearly completely unspoiled. The beauty here is in the fact that it's completely natural. The hike from the entrance to the canyon until you reach the actual city was a little less than an hour, and every step was absolutely captivating.
Equally as impressive was the fact that for the entire distance, the Nabateans had carved an aqueduct system into the canyon walls, so when the rainwater dripped down, the pipes would carry it all the way down to the city. Brilliant! As you get closer to the city, everything gets prettier. Giant camels are carved into the walls, famous men of antiquity are carved into the walls, the rocks become more colorful. And then finally: the narrow valley path winds out of the canyon and blasts you in the face with magnificence. A gigantic, majestic facade hewn into the opposing wall confronts you out of nowhere. This is the "Treasury" - a royal burial tomb that I cannot fathom how they constructed. All I know is that they apparently began carving from the top and finished at the bottom. A series of indented notches can be seen ascending the vertical wall, which is apparently how the crew climbed to do their work. I don't see how someone didn't die every day constructing this.
Here the city begins, impressing the daylights out of you as you enter. Inside the city is a gigantic theatre, again, with the leveled seating carved into the mountainside, infinitely more tombs, people's houses, a monestery - all hewn into the mountains. And this was only a small subsection of the entire city. Apparently it would take you almost a week to properly see everything in the city. We've seen plenty of world-famous sites by now, and a lot of times we've hyped ourselves up so much that the experience doesn't live up to general expectations. This was the opposite; I was more impressed than I even thought I'd be.
And so, we began our ascent back through the canyon and back to the bus. This was harder than expected. I don't know how many liters of water we drank that day, but it wasn't enough. And some folks were having a harder time than us. But the site, as well as the Jordanians we met that have given me pause toward my pre-concieved notions of Muslims, was all well-worth the exhaustion.
