Articles tagged ‘ Royal Tombs’

Articles Tagged ‘Royal Tombs’

Jordan 2 – Petra (Part 2)

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

The Treasury

The Siq

Now that we have a little history on the origins of Petra let’s talk about the specifics of the lost city and surrounding area. After having been recently voted to the 7 New Wonders of the World, the fortunes of locals and those in charge of Petra have increased immensely. To be sure, the fees into Petra are exorbitant and changing on a quarterly basis throughout 2010. The fees are designed to sting cruise ship passengers and day-trippers and to encourage people to stay (and spend more money) in the local modern village of Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses). For my 2-day pass it was roughly 53 US$ and will increase to US$75 by the end of the year. Still, people flock to this amazing place…the “rose-red city” named for the colored sandstone from which the buildings and monuments are carved.

After entering the Petra grounds, included in your ticket is a horse ride to the entrance of the Siq (which naturally I declined due to my aversion to riding on the backs of beasts of burden). The Siq is a long, dramatic gorge cut into the sandstone which is the principal (and the only official) entrance into the city of Petra. The Siq was formed when tectonic forces split the mountain in two. As you walk, you don’t really notice the slow descent but ultimately the altitude drops roughly 500 feet from the entrance to the city center…equivalent to a 45-story skyscraper. The Siq is cool and often dark with water gutters running alongside the original cobblestone road (see pictures of both from Part 1). Finally, just when you think it can’t go on any longer…the Siq opens up to one of the most impressive monuments in the entire city…the Treasury.

A close-up of the Treasury

Another close-up of the detail

It turns out the Treasury was built on top of ruins of old tombs

The notches on the left are likely footholds for the carvers of the Treasury

The Treasury was designed to impress and as it is positioned opposite the main route to Petra the effect was very successful. The Treasury enjoys a protected position from the elements so is the best preserved of the edifices in Petra. Legend has it that the local bedouins named the monument as such because a pharaoh was believed to have been slowed down on his journey by having to carry all his treasure so he created this monument to deposit his riches in the urn at the very top. For centuries afterwards marksman would shoot the urn trying to break and release the treasure but to no avail…they ultimately ended up only blasting chunks off the urn. The Treasury dates to the 1st century BC and demonstrates how the Nabatean culture was an amalgam of the elements of Hellenistic (Greek) and Middle Eastern worlds. One of the columns is obviously new, a brick-and-plaster replacement for the original which fell in antiquity. This quite handily demonstrates an extraordinary feature of Nabatean architecture…these columns support nothing as they were sculpted in place and offered no real support to the structure.

Moving on down the road one comes to the massive theater of Petra. It is clearly classical in design and though it was built before the Roman occupation it clearly demonstrates links between Nabatea and Rome. As many as 8500 people could be accommodated and aside from the stage and backdrop, the entire structure was carved out of the mountainside. Much renovation has been done here and much of the damage is attributed to the fateful earthquake of 363 AD.

The Theater

Some more examples of the rock’s coloring

Next up: the Royal Tombs. The first tomb on the cliff is the Urn Tomb which is reached by the modern steps leading from below. The whole structure is thought to be a tomb of someone extremely important…probably a Nabatean king though who isn’t exactly known. Set into the facade between the columns are spaces for three bodies which is a unique configuration for Petra where normally bodies were placed inside the tombs. Later converted into a major church (perhaps a cathedral?) the large interior room features a Greek inscription in red paint recording the dedication of the church by Bishop Jason in 447 AD. Further down the way are several other Royal Tombs of lesser importance and while we didn’t explore all of them they are all very impressive with similar features to the Urn Tomb.

One of the Royal Tombs: the Urn Tomb

The Silk Tomb…unremarkable except for the brilliant coloring

A rain gutter

More Royal Tombs

The Urn Tomb again (note the 3 spaces for bodies between the columns)

Inside the Urn Tomb

The ceiling of the tomb…the black stuff is from burning fires inside

The Greek dedication by Bishop Jason

From the inside of Urn Tomb looking out

As you enter the city center you find yourself walking along the Colonnaded Street that stretches out ahead towards the mountains. This area is largely ruinous although it its heyday all the land on either side would have been covered in buildings, houses, markets, temples, etc. In fact, many archaeologists theorize that much of Petra is still hidden beneath the dusty soil and that what has been exposed so far is just the tip of the iceberg. The road continues downhill until you end a the swanky restaurant run by the Marriot. Beyond the restaurant one begins the uphill climb to the most impressive monument of all…the Monastery…which we will visit in the next post.