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Jordan - Petra

by E. Park

Over Thanksgiving weekend my siblings and I decided to rent a family friendly movie to watch. This might seem like a typical activity for any traditional family, but not us. We LOVE horror movies and we get a kick out of scaring each other while watching the movie in a pitch dark room. But not this year, life has changed for the three of us. We have outgrown silly activities and now my brother is a proud father of a one year old boy, so there goes the horror movies and hazing.

We rented Transformer II, and it is my perfect introduction in sharing my exciting journey to city of Petra in Jordan. (Just in case you haven’t seen the movie, Petra is where the main character finds the “Key”)

Petra is a remote and hidden treasure. I booked a guided tour as soon as I landed in Amman. The drive to Petra was about two hours from the city through the desert. While on transit, I wondered, how can a civilization thrive under this type of climate and how did Petra become a trading center. As usual, I always find the answers while on location.

Historians named Petra as the capital of the Nabataeans. Nabataeans were ancient Aramaic-speaking Semites. Because of its geographic location, Petra served as an important historic trading center for goods being carried from Africa all the way to Asia. The entrance to this lost civilization is very narrow through mountains of rocks. You need to form a single line, since the opening can only fit one person at a time. I am assuming this was strategically thought out to prevent unwanted strangers intruding their fortress.

As soon as you pass through the entrance, you are faced with this magnificent building with its entrance carved in an enormous stone mountain. Locals and tourists refer to this building as the “Treasure.” This is the building you see depicted in the Transformer movie and Indiana Jones. The building resembles old Greek or Roman structures and if you walk a few more steps down the desert sand paved road, you can admire another similar Roman building. These are reminders of the Roman influence and rule of Petra. The amphitheatre has been cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible.

Civilization flourished in this climatic because of the Nabataeans successfully control of water through fascinating water conduits. You can easily see and touch these throughout the city. This allowed for Petra to be a trading center and geopolitical stronghold during its peak time.

Once you look beyond the commercialization of this ancient site, you can relax at one of the open coffee shops and drink up the amazing views and rosy colors at sunset.

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