Petra: Jordan’s Holy Grail
16 Nov 2018
Described by a famous poet as “a rose-red city half as old as time,” Jordan’s Petra continues to beguile all who visit.
Two thousand years ago, traders bringing luxury goods such as incense, silk, spices and perfumes would pass through the Jordanian city of Petra, paying a toll to the resident Nabataeans who controlled the area.
Twenty years ago, it was movie-goers on the edge of their seats as Indiana Jones – in his third outing, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – and his posse clip-clopped, mouths agape, into the ravine that opens up at the end of the Siq. In a surrealistic reveal, the famous Al-Khazneh (aka the Treasury) comes into view as we amble agog into the sunlight again.
This superb edifice is the trademark structure of Petra, impossibly ornate and painstakingly carved out of the sheer sandstone rock face. Amid a throng of leering, selfie-shooting backpackers, indolent camels and jostling tour bus hordes, we stand and gaze up at this magnificent sight. In spite of the rabble, Al-Khazneh looms more than 40 metres above us, apparently unfazed by the milling crowd.
Amazingly, this stone metropolis sat for centuries almost undisturbed until rediscovered by Swiss adventurer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in 1812. Burckhardt disguised himself as a Bedouin to infiltrate the off-limits region and stealthily made notes and sketches.
Preserving history
A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985, Petra is in fact a sprawling outdoor archaeological museum of almost 70,000 hectares, of which only 20 per cent have
been excavated.
After Petra’s appearance in the Hollywood blockbuster, visitor numbers soared.
Unlike her bountiful neighbours, Jordan has no oil and, apart from tourism, relies on meagre export dollars from agricultural produce and minerals.
Apart from Petra, Jordan hosts numerous other ancient natural and man-made formations like Wadi Rum, the otherworldly landscape that was the setting for the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia and described by the Welsh-born army officer as “vast, echoing and god-like.” Today, visitors can camp in the desolate valleys, embark on Bedouin camel treks and even take a dawn flight in a hot air balloon.
Then there’s the Dead Sea, less than 50 kilometres from the capital, Amman, and the lowest point on the surface of the Earth at -430 metres.
But the ornate, parched and abandoned realm of the ancient Nabataeans remains the struggling kingdom’s major drawcard. And while most “tick box” visitors spend less than a day within the confines of the Petra Archaeological Park, a comprehensive exploration would take several. Climb 1,000 stairs to reach the fabulous Monastery, at least double the size of the Treasury and something of a discovery in itself. Then there’s the amphitheatre, the museum, the royal tombs, the great temple and the staggering Byzantine church with its intricate mosaics.
That same poet, John William Burgon, a 19th century clergyman, concluded his verse with the lines:
It seems no work of Man’s creative hand,
by labour wrought as wavering fancy planned;
But from the rock as if by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
Silent and beautiful, yes; but while these hand-hewn rocks of ages still stand, it’s the modern swashbuckler, Indiana Jones, who has set the scene for Jordan’s Holy Grail.
For more information on travel to Jordan, see visitjordan.com
Petra: Key facts
- Petra is located 262km south of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Park entrance fee is 50JD ($96) for visitors not overnighting in the town.
visitpetra.jo - The best time to visit is spring (Mar to May) and autumn (Sep to Nov).
- The name “Treasury” was coined from the misguided belief that the structure contained a pharaoh’s treasure. Bullet-ridden sculptures bear testament to locals’ attempts to break in.
- In 2007, Petra was voted into the controversial New Seven Wonders of the World along with the Taj Mahal
and Colosseum.
®