Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Petra, Jordan

 Ex-Travel-Ganzer, Welcome here in my blog. Today we are going to visit a beautifull and incridible place in Middle East. Some people may compare this place with Stonehenge in England, but trust me these two site is different and both of them offer different incredible view and incridible experience. If you still can not believe, just read this and then you can make decision whether to visit or to explore its ( I guess both of them are the same, so the thing is you must visit Petra).
Petra, Jordan
 Petra is a famous city carved out of stone, hidden by towering sandstone mountains in Jordan. Although uninhabited today, during ancient times, it was an important city, and was the main city of an ancient people called the Nabataens, who lived in southern Jordan, Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, and created a kingdom with its capital at Petra. Lying in the centre of an ancient caravan trade routes, Petra benefited from the resulting commerce. Caravans pass through Petra for Giza in the south, Bosra and Damascus in the north, Aqaba on the Red Sea, and eastward to the Persian Gulf.
Petra, Jordan
 Petra is one of the world’s most visually stunning archaeological sites, Petra (meaning ‘the rock’ in Greek) is an abandoned necropolis of temples and tombs cut into towering cliffs of red, pink and orange sandstone.
Primarily known as a commercial and ceremonial center of the Nabataean culture during the centuries before and after the time of Christ, the region of Petra was inhabited in far greater antiquity. Archaeological excavations have revealed a rock shelter of the Upper Paleolithic period, dating to around 10,000 BC, and a Neolithic village from the 7th millennium BC. While evidence of habitation during the Chalcolithic and Bronze ages has not yet been found, the region of Petra was again occupied in the early Iron Age, around 1200 BC, by the Edomite culture of the Old Testament (Edom, meaning red, is the Biblical name for this region of the Middle East).
Petra, Jordan
 Petra during Hellenistic and Roman times became a major caravan centre for the incense of Arabia, the silks of China and the spices of India, a crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. An ingenious water management system allowed extensive settlement of an essentially arid area during the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods. It is one of the world's richest and largest archaeological sites set in a dominating red sandstone landscape. 
The Outstanding Universal Value of Petra resides in the vast extent of elaborate tomb and temple architecture; religious high places; the remnant channels, tunnels and diversion dams that combined with a vast network of cisterns and reservoirs which controlled and conserved seasonal rains, and the extensive archaeological remains including of copper mining, temples, churches and other public buildings. The fusion of Hellenistic architectural facades with traditional Nabataean rock-cut temple/tombs including the Khasneh, the Urn Tomb, the Palace Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the Deir ("monastery") represents a unique artistic achievement and an outstanding architectural ensemble of the first centuries BC to AD. The varied archaeological remains and architectural monuments from prehistoric times to the medieval periods bear exceptional testimony to the now lost civilisations which succeeded each other at the site.
Petra, Jordan
 Petra is the treasure of ancient world, hidden behind an almost impenetrable barrier of rugged mountains, boasting incomparable scenes that make it the most majestic and imposing ancient site still-standing nowadays.. It has been said "perhaps there is nothing in the world that resembles it", actually, for sure, there is nothing in the world that resembles it. The rock-carved rose-red city of Petra is full of mysterious charm, it was "designed to strike wonder into all who entered it".
The approach through a kilometer long, cool, and gloom chasm (or Siq) a long narrow gorge whose steeply rising sides all but obliterate the sun, provides a dramatic contrast with the magic to come. Suddenly the gorge opens into a natural square dominated by Petra's most famous monument, The Treasury (El-Khazneh), whose intricately carved facade glows in the dazzling sun.
Petra, Jordan
 More facades beckon the visitor on until the ancient city gradually unfolds, one monument leading to the next for kilometer after kilometer. The sheer size of the city and the quality of beautifully carved facades is staggering and leads one to reflect on the creativity and industry of the Nabataeans who made Petra their capital.
Petra is always breathtaking, and never to be forgotten. It flourished for over 400 years around the time of Rome and Christ (pbuh), until it was occupied by the Roman legions of the Emperor Trajan in 106 AD.
The Petra basin boasts over 800 individual monuments, including buildings, tombs, baths, funerary halls, temples, arched gateways, and colonnaded streets, that were mostly carved from the kaleidoscopic sandstone by the technical and artistic genius of its inhabitants.
Petra, Jordan
 North from the Khazneh lies the massif of Jebel Khubtha. Three large structures (Royal Tombs) are carved into the rock face, which is known as the King's Wall.
First is the Urn Tomb, a well-preserved monument that faces on to an open terrace fronted by a double row of vaults. A colonnaded cloister runs along the northern side of the terrace. The elaborate facade fronts a single, unadorned room. The walls are smooth, the interior corners exact. The only decoration to be seen at present comes from the beautiful whorls of different-coloured sandstone in the walls, ceiling and floor of the chamber.
Petra, Jordan
 The Corinthian Tomb, a smaller version of the Khazneh, is followed by the Palace Tomb (Silk Tomb), named from the extraordinary chromatic effect of the rock.
Some distance away from the Royal Tombs, to the north, there is a tomb built in 130 for the Roman governor of the city under Hadrian, Sextius Florentinus.
The Khazneh el Faroun, or the Treasury of the Pharaoh, is an imposing facade standing some 40 m tall, cut directly from the rock of the mountainside. On the lower floor is a portico with six columns, crowned by floral capitals and surmounted by a fronton; the third floor is divided into three parts at the centre is a tholos with a conical roof, surmounted by a urn, and on either side two half-frontons, supported by columns. An architectural and sculptural decoration of the highest quality adorns the architecture elements and the front of the building. The Khazneh is the only rock-cut building in Petra that presents absolutely no Nabataean element and attests to link exclusively with the Alexandrian world and Hellenistic artistic traditions. Behind the impressive facade, a large square room has been carved out of the rock of the cliff. This is typical of the tombs in Petra; the interiors are as plain as the exteriors are intricate.
Petra, Jordan
 The Siq is the gorge formed by the torrent, the Musa, which the Nabataeans blocked with a dam and channelled to carry drinking water to the city; along the rock walls of the Siq there is a succession of inscriptions, niches and small votive altars, but also reliefs and sculptures that depict a caravan of men and camels. Once inside, the Siq narrows to little more than 5 m in width, whereas the walls tower up hundreds of metres on either side. The floor, originally paved, is now largely covered with soft sand, although evidence of Nabataean construction can still be seen in some places.
There are also noteworthy relics from Roman times: at the southern edge of the valley stands the 1st century AD theatre, carved almost entirely in the rock, which could hold more than 8,000 spectators, while at the end of the Siq the ruins open out of the colonnaded way. Set on a promontory that overlooks the valley of Petra to the west, accessible via a type of sacred stepped way cut into the rock, is another building with an imposing facade carved out of the rock: this is al-Dayr, the austerity and the simplicity of which join to demonstrate the original local version of elements of the Hellenistic tradition. The structure of the interior is devoid of any funeral installation.
Petra, Jordan
 Petra is considered the most famous and gorgeous site in Jordan located about 262 km south of Amman and 133 km north of Aqaba. It is the legacy of the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled in southern Jordan more than 2000 years ago. Admired then for its refined culture, massive architecture and ingenious complex of dams and water channels, Petra is now a UNESCO world heritage site and one of The New 7 Wonders of the World that enchants visitors from all corners of the globe.
Petra was inscribed a a World Heritage Site during the 9th session of the World Heritage Committee which met in the Headquarters in Paris, on 2-6 December, 1985. It is regarded as one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture. The reason Unesco list this site as one of the world heritage because few criterion such as :
Criterion (i): The dramatic Nabataean/Hellenistic rock-cut temple/tombs approached via a natural winding rocky cleft (the Siq), which is the main entrance from the east to a once extensive trading city, represent a unique artistic achievement. They are masterpieces of a lost city that has fascinated visitors since the early 19th century. The entrance approach and the settlement itself were made possible by the creative genius of the extensive water distribution and storage system.
Criterion (iii): The serried rows of numerous rock-cut tombs reflecting architectural influences from the Assyrians through to monumental Hellenistic; the sacrificial and other religious high places including on Jebels Madbah, M'eisrah, Khubtha, Habis and Al Madras; the remains of the extensive water engineering system, city walls and freestanding temples; garden terraces; funerary stelae and inscriptions together with the outlying caravan staging posts on the approaches from the north (Barid or Little Petra) and south (Sabra) also containing tombs, temples, water cisterns and reservoirs are an outstanding testament to the now lost Nabataean civilization of the fourth century BC to the first century AD.
Remains of the Neolithic settlement at Beidha, the Iron Age settlement on Umm al Biyara, the Chalcolithic mining sites at Umm al Amad, the remains of Graeco-Roman civic planning including the colonnaded street, triple-arched entrance gate, theatre, Nymphaeum and baths; Byzantine remains including the triple-apses basilica church and the church created in the Urn Tomb; the remnant Crusader fortresses of Habis and Wueira; and the foundation of the mosque on Jebel Haroun, traditionally the burial place of the Prophet Aaron, all bear exceptional testimony to past civilizations in the Petra area.
Criterion (iv): The architectural ensemble comprising the so-called "royal tombs" in Petra (including the Khasneh, the Urn Tomb, the Palace Tomb and the Corinthian Tomb), and the Deir ("monastery") demonstrate an outstanding fusion of Hellenistic architecture with Eastern tradition, marking a significant meeting of East and West at the turn of the first millennium of our era.
The Umm al Amad copper mines and underground galleries are an outstanding example of mining structures dating from the fourth millennium BC.
The remnants of the diversion dam, Muthlim tunnel, water channels, aqueducts, reservoirs and cisterns are an outstanding example of water engineering dating from the first centuries BC to AD.
Petra, Jordan
 Petra sights are at their best in early morning and late afternoon, when the sun warms the multicolored stones, you can view the majesty of Petra as it was seen first when discovered in 1812 after being lost by the 16th century for almost 300 years!  

How To get To Petra.
 To get to Petra, first thing you must do is take a flight to Amman, Jordan. Petra famous and gorgeous site in Jordan located about 262 km south of Amman and 133 km north of Aqaba. You can engage tours from Amman or Aqaba. If you are an independent traveler, you can take a JETT bus. There are also minibuses from Wadi Rum costing 3.00 Jordanian dollars for a 1.5 hour trip to Petra. You can also hire a taxi for about 75 Jordanian dollars (or less, if you're good at bargaining) to take you from Amman.

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