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Having made a very brief visit to Petra several years before, in unbelievably cold conditions, we were so amazed that we knew we had to return. In 2000 we came back to spend 3 days exploring this incredible place and making a trip to the desert of Wadi Rumm.
The earliest settlement at Petra is probably around 7000BC. In the Iron Age, 1200 - 300 BC, the area was known as Edom and there were certainly Bronze Age people here called Horites (Deut. 2:12,22) hunters who lived in caves. The Book of Job describes splendid tombs, great wealth, gold, silver and ancient treasures. The Petrans were known as keen gardeners, cutting irrigation channels through the rock.
At the death of Alexander Petra was sandwiched between the territory of two of the three generals who carved up the empire - these were Seleucus who founded the Seleucid dynasty in Syria, and Ptolemy, founding the Ptolomeic dynasty in Egypt. After around 100 BC both these dynastic empires declined and Petra began to flourish, gradually extending its dominion into the Negev, east to the Euphrates and south along the Red Sea.
Guarding the trade routes the Petrans became wealthy providing safe passage for the caravans plying the various trade routes which passed through their domain.
We flew into Amman very late at night and were met by a driver to take us to our hotel near Petra. This was a rather scary drive - we discovered that this was the driver's fifth such journey of the day and he looked in danger of falling asleep, when he wasn't eating, drinking or trying to get his mobile to work. We talked as best we could to him to try and avoid disaster!
Our hotel was wonderful: Taybet Zaman - one of my all time favourites. It is a village which has been completely converted to a hotel. Guests stay in the village houses and ours was superb - a living room wih deep sofas, marble bathroom and huge bedroom. Beautiful, comfortable and air-conditioned. A wonderful place to stay. We did most of our exploring in the mornings and spent the afternoon by the pool - introducing the locals to an eastern version of a chip butty - fries in pitta bread!
We took the shuttle bus to Petra and bought a three day ticket at the new Tourist Office at the entrance. We got there as early as possible each day and left around mid-day or earlier, if we could, as the walk out can get tremendously hot.
The tombs and temples carved in to the rock, for which Petra is justly famous, are the work of the Nabateans over 2000 years ago. It was unkown to the western world until 1812 when Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiis explorer, rediscoverd it, and John William Burgon immortalised it as a "rose-red city half as old as time itself".
The main entrance to the site is through the siq - a defile of fantastic high cliffs, narrow in places, over 1km in length, itself with many remains including the lovely obelisk tomb which leads to the most atmospheric view o al-Khazneh (the so-called "Treasury" for the legend that the urn contains the pharaoh's treasure).
The main street of Petra is about 1km in length and takes a good few hours to explore thoroughly.
The street of facades, on the left after the Treasury, are four levels or "streets" of over forty tombs carved out of the cliff face followed by the theatre which could seat upto 8500.
The colours in the rocks are very beautiful - deep pink and white striations in places. The colours are due to the presence of iron oxide, carried by water. Shades range from deepest red to yellow, pink and white.
Further along on the right and raised above the street are the so-called Royal Tombs: Urn, Silk, Corinthian, Palace and Tomb of Sextus Florentius. It is uncertain whether these were actually tombs or temples - or even homes!
Opposite the Royal Tombs the street takes a sharp turn into the City Ruins on the Cardo Maximus. This colonnaded street was built by the Romans after their conquest in 106AD.
This area to us was the least interesting - there are far better Roman ruins elsewhere.
My absolutely favourite spot in Petra. Not too difficult a climb if you're reasonably fit.
The actual summit, the place if sacrifice, is quite a small area and it doesn't have an obvious route onto it - a bit of a scramble but well worth it. It's very atmospheric - the only ritual sacrifial place of this type we've seen.
The altar, where throats were cut, remains intact, as well as a shallow stone in front of it for bloodless offerings such as fruit. In the picture the drain from the altar, cut into the platform to take away the blood, is clearly visible in the centre foreground to the right of this stone.
From the top and on the walk down there are wonderful views both down onto Petra and out over the larger landscape.
The triclinium opposite the Roman Soldier's tomb has the only carved interior in Petra and very intense colouring.
A more strenuous climb is to the Monastery - a truly incredible piece of stonework with the largest facade in Petra.
The climb itself provides wonderful views and has other sites along the way, such as the Lion Tomb, but nothing to compare with the view that greets you when you finally exit the narrowrock corridor into the courtyard in front of this most impressive of achievements.
Forever associated with T.E. Lawrence and his campaigns in the First World War, a visit to Wadi Rumm was essential. Lawrence was travelling through this area to make attacks on the railway line south of Maan to draw Turkish troops into its defence and thus leave fewer for attacks elsewhere.
We hired a car to take us there and then a driver to take us into the desert with the aim of avoiding any other groups of visitors.
This is such an atmospheric place. We stopped several times to experience the deep quiet of the desert - and once to push the jeep out of the sand!
The sand is deep red in places and your guide will obligingly point out Lawrence "landmarks" - the autheticity of some, such as "Lawrence's house" is questionable.
However, the springs are probably correct. Robert Graves describes the journey to Wadi Rumm in 1918:
"Towards sunset there was a break in the cliffs to the right, leading to water. They turned in here and found themselves in a vast oval amphitheatre floored with damp sand and dark shrubs. ... A little path zig-zgged up to the ledge and there, three hundred feet above the level of the plain, jetted the water-springs."
Here they watered their camels.