Petra - Rose City of the Desert in Jordan

Gateway to the ancient world
It is perhaps the most spectacular gateway to the ancient world. What starts as a narrow path deep within a crack splitting these sandstone cliffs eventually gives way to a hidden glory of a civilization that once thrived 2000 years ago.

The first glimpse is a tease: a shaft of light beckons you from the claustrophobic gorge that squeezes out the sunlight. As you step closer, the opening widens to expose a magnificent façade carved into the rose-tinted cliff face. It is Al Khazneh, or “The Treasury” - the awe-inspiring entrance to the ancient city of Petra, in modern-day Jordan.
If you’re still having trouble visualizing this, think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - the Treasury was the setting for the climax of this Hollywood blockbuster.
The surrounding cliffs boast scores of rock-hewn structures - majestic columns, spanning archways and yawning grand portals - belonging to a city almost entirely carved from sandstone.
Petra is a hiker’s dream. Every step up a stony stairway, every wander down a hidden trail leads to a wealth of discoveries - a rock drawing, an eroded relief of a once-formidable god, a weathered façade of a grand temple. Even the natural beauty is stunning: swirls of red, yellow, brown and grey streak across the sandstone surfaces, like an artist’s palette.
Petra was built two millennia ago by the Nabateans, nomadic people who settled in southern Jordan more than 2000 years ago. They prospered with Petra’s position at the crossroads of caravan routes between India, Arabia and Africa. But success had a price: an uneasy Rome saw the Nabateans as a threat to the expanding Roman Empire. By 106 AD, Emperor Trajan had annexed Nabatean Kingdom into the Roman province of Arabia and made Petra its capital.
The Roman influence is still evident today: beyond the Treasury lays a 7000-seat theatre that was expanded by the Romans. On the facing cliffs to the north, beyond the Nabatean “Royal Tombs” - the most impressive of Petra’s 500 tombs - lays the tomb of Roman Governor Sextus Florentinus, who oversaw Arabia. Carved around 130 AD, it remains Petra’s only dated tomb.
The governor’s grave offered a wonderful vantage point of the Cardo - the Roman road that cut through the heart of ancient Petra. A row of broken columns, white limestone paving stones, stone steps and foundations are all that remains of a thoroughfare that held the once-bustling Trajan’s Market, where merchants would ply goods gleaned from across the Roman Empire.
The Christian Byzantine era even made its mark on Petra. Archaeologists have uncovered the intricate mosaic floor of a Byzantine church on a knoll overlooking the Cardo. And the towering Urn Tomb, initially carved into the cliffs around 70 AD, was altered in the fifth century for use as a Byzantine church.
Those willing to brave an arduous, but rewarding, trek up a rugged mountain path broken only by 800 rock-hewn steps will discover Petra’s largest monument, Al-Deir. The massive structure bursts from the cliff face, dominating the stony plateau high atop this mountain.
The Nabateans built this dramatic edifice 1900 years ago, but by the fourth century it became a place of veneration for Christians - hence its modern-day moniker of “The Monastery”.
Petra’s ancient glory never lasted. Soon after taking over Petra, the Romans diverted the trade routes towards Syria, bypassing the Nabatean city and bringing about its abrupt demise.

Petra had faded into history until it was ‘rediscovered’ on 22 August 1812 by Swiss adventurer Johann Burckhardt, who followed Bedouin rumors of a “lost city”.
Even then, the city was never lost to those who have made their homes in the rocky chambers and nearby caves in this rugged Jordanian terrain.
Today, Petra’s environs are still home to 450 Bedouin families - all related to one another. But most of the ‘Beduil’, as they are known locally, no longer live in these rocky dwellings: In 1985 the Jordanian government built housing outside Petra for the semi-nomadic people, as part of efforts to create a protected archaeological zone. Although most of the families have since relocated to this government-built village, 25 families still call Petra’s caves home.
Today, the Beduil have an unofficial yet integral role in Petra - offering visitors donkey rides across the rough terrain, selling camel bone cases, old coins and other trinkets along worn paths and, most importantly, help for anyone in need.
Considering they’ve been pushed out of their traditional homes - first by archaeology, then by tourism - the Beduil are extremely hospitable.

On a rocky perch overlooking Petra’s ruins, three Beduil sit around a small fire, where they’re boiling water. One man, Solomon Mohammed, smiles and offers a glass of tea - “Bedouin whiskey”, he calls it - with an invitation to join the trio.
When asked how the influx of visitors has changed their traditional lifestyle, Mohammed replies: “It’s the same life, we don’t change anything … Petra won’t change.”
His friend Gassam Ali Al-Beduil agrees.
“Tourism doesn’t change anything, it makes business easier for us,” he says. “It’s the good life - we make good business from this.”
But there have been changes. Tourism has left its indelible mark on this land, just like the Nabateans when they carved their city of Petra into the sandstone cliffs two millennia ago.
Even Wadi Mousa - the once-sleepy hillside town a few kilometers outside Petra - has become a thriving centre with a mix of budget accommodation, upscale hotels, cafés, restaurants and shops thanks to its proximity to Jordan’s most popular destination.
But Al-Beduil insists: “For us, life hasn’t changed.”
How to get to Petra, Jordan Petra is a five-hour drive from Amman , Jordan . Tours can be booked with travel agents in Amman and the Red Sea resort of Aquaba. Accommodation is also available in Wadi Mousa, the closest town to Petra. You’ll need at least one to three days to tour Petra, depending on how many sites you choose to visit. For more information, call the Jordan Tourism Board at (962) 6-5678294 or email jtb@nets.com.jo.