The Anfishiyyeh Inscriptions, a collection of revealing Thamudic and Nabataean petroglyphs featuring depictions of a camel caravan, are carved into the side of a rock face.
Little Petra is exactly that, a much smaller Nabataean site with tombs and rockface architecture in a narrow canyon. We did a quick hike to the viewpoint at the end of the gorge. Magical Wadi Rum, in southern Jordan, is the quintessential Arabian desert, made famous in the western world by Lawrence of Arabia. Vast landscapes filled with rolling sand dunes, rugged rock formations and relics of ancient civilisations characterize the Wadi Rum Desert, sometimes referred to as the ‘Valley of the Moon’. Wadi Rum’s universal appeal has only been boosted by its use as the setting for a number of blockbuster movies, from Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 to The Martian in 2015. The dramatic red landscapes of Wadi Rum, coloured by iron oxide, cover an area the size of New York City and it is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than 20,000 petroglyphs and rock paintings are scattered throughout the Wadi Rum desert, documenting 12,000 years of history. The Anfishiyyeh Inscriptions, a collection of revealing Thamudic and Nabataean petroglyphs featuring depictions of a camel caravan, are carved into the side of a rock face. We were so happy and relieved to have such a great group of travelers.
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We spent today exploring the famed Nabataean capital - Petra! More than two thousand years old, Petra was built by the Nabataeans in the heart of the Shara Mountains. It prospered in the first centuries BC and AD and was a vital part of a major trading route connecting ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Today was the one I was most looking forward to of this trip, and it did not disappoint. The site was much larger than I'd expected with much more than just the Treasury to see. In fact, there was so much, that at one point I had a bit of an OCD meltdown of anxiety over how to cover it all. We were given a pamphlet that outlines "The Main Trail" through Petra that breaks it into 15 sections. The initial approach passes massive Djinn blocks, which are squared monuments. In this same area is the Obelisk Tomb. Above the tomb are four pyramids, and below it is the Triclinium, a banquet hall. As the Rodriguez family discovered (above), the narrow entrance to Petra could be defended as one must pass through a 1.2 kilometre long slot canyon known as The Siq (The Shaft) which at some points is no more than three metres wide. At the end of the gorge, visitors get their first glimpse of Al Khazneh, better known by the misnomer, The Treasury. We gathered with crowds of others to admire the Treasury, the most famous and internationally recognized facade here. Featured in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", it is believed to have been the mausoleum of the Nabatean King in the 1st-century. Pushing on from the Treasury, one walks along the "Street of Facades", a row of monumental Nabataean tombs carved into the cliff face. Famous for its rock-cut architecture, Petra is an important archeologic site and Jordan's biggest tourist attraction. Petra is referred to as the “Rose City” because of the colour of the stones used in its buildings and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Another highlight of a trip to Petra is the Nabatean Theatre, the remains of an ancient amphitheater, built during the Golden Age of Petra, between 9 BC and 40 AD, to hold a huge capacity of 8,500 spectators. It is the only one in the world carved into the rock. Slightly further along, four magnificent facades adjacent to one another have been dubbed "The Royal Tombs". These include the Urn , Silk, Corinthian, and Palace tombs. We explored many pathways, stairs, caves, and clifftop views in this area. Petra was once a major trading hub and the complexity of its structures attests to the large population of around 20,000 inhabitants who are thought to have lived there during the civilizations Golden Age. The Colonnaded Street would have been the main shopping place. The Great Temple Complex covers 7000 square metres. Qasr al-Bint is an almost square monument set on a podium. It was the main, most important temple of Petra, dedicated to Dushara. One of the younger parts of the complex is the Byzantine Church, home to lavish Byzantine mosaics depicting mythological animals, and personifications of the seasons, the ocean, the earth, and wisdom. Built around 450 AD, the Byzantine Church has proved an invaluable insight into everyday life in Petra during this period as in 1993, 152 papyrus scrolls were discovered in one of the church's rooms, dating from the 6th-century. There's a bit of a hike to reach Ad-Deir, now known as The Monastery. The Monastery is one of the largest monuments at Petra, measuring 47 m wide by 48.3 m high. It is believed to have been used for religious meetings since the early 2nd century AD, but only earned its current name after being used as a Christian chapel much later. We then backtracked through the entire site to reach the Visitors' Centre. After breakfast, we drove up Mount Nebo, mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land before his death. Jafar chose a lovely assistant to aid him in explaining the location's significance. In addition to its views, the mountaintop features the Brazen Serpent Monument, a rolling stone fortified door from an old monastery, a memorial to Moses, The Peoples of the Book Monument, and a Franciscan basilica preserving mosaics from the Byzantine era.
The Byzantine mosaics here were our first introduction to the area's theme... Madaba is best known for its spectacular Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics and is campaigning to be known as the mosaic capital. Our tour group visited a mosaic workshop and store to learn about the process. The most famous mosaic in Madaba is its 6th-century map of the Holy Land in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. The final stop of the day was a visit to Shobak Castle, where I enjoyed the views of the unique desert cave dwellings in a desolate landscape. We finished the day with dinner at the Petra Sunset Hotel.
After a long trip to Amman, Jordan that included a six hour layover in Frankfurt, we were checked into our hotel and slept well. We began the next day with a buffet breakfast and then a short "panoramic" tour of the city with just one stop outside the Roman Amphitheatre.
We proceeded to the Forum's oval colonnade. The Roman Theatre is a definite highlight. Beneath the foundations of a Byzantine church built in AD 530, they discovered an intricate mosaic floor with ancient Greek and Hebrew-Aramaic inscriptions. The Temple of Artemis and its Corinthian columns perch atop the hillside. Jerash boasts an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6,500 years. Conquered by General Pompey in 63 BC, Jerash came under Roman rule and was one of the ten great Roman cities of the Decapolis League. Our tour continued to Ajloun Castle, built by Saladin in the 12th-century.
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