Petra — Ancient Nabateans built a place of wonder in the wilderness

After resting up awhile and admiring the stark beauty of the magnificent columns in this monument, I started back down. A member of our group, Janelle Andersen, caught me on the way down and told me there was some native Jordanian or Bedouin who was playing Tarzan up on the monument jumping between the columns. I told her she was joking and wouldn't believe it without seeing it. She promptly produced a photo on her digital camera, and I was ready to turn around and go back up to see this crazy guy. But he had already come down from his adventure, and she had talked to him. She said he must have been on drugs.

Temperatures at Petra were in the mid 80s in May. We were told that was cooler than average. Water and various other beverages were readily available. Inside the bowl area there were even a couple of restaurants. And, of course, the obligatory trinket stands lined the entire trail selling all manner of touristy things.

Over 800 monuments lie within the bowl structure, which is believed to have harbored some 30,000 residents during the first century A.D. Many hikes begin on the fringes of the center bowl leading to ancient structures that can best be viewed from the hike to the Monastery. To see everything at Petra would require a stay of at least a week.

The Nabateans were expert hydraulic engineers. The walls of the Siq are lined with channels that were originally fitted with clay pipes to carry drinking water to the city, while a dam to the right of the entrance diverted a stream through a tunnel to prevent it from flooding the Siq.

Petra became the center of a busy spice trade between the first century B.C. and the third century A.D. A large earthquake destroyed at least half the city in A.D. 363. Petra never returned to its earlier glory.

The birth and life of Jesus Christ, which took place not too far in the distance, seemed to pass unnoticed. However, by A.D. 313 Christianity had become a state recognized religion, but pagan worship continued in Petra side by side with Christianity.

A certain mobster monk called Bar Sauma arrived at Petra in 423 with 40 brother monks who felt it their duty to rectify whatever paganism was still taking place. Outside Petra, the monks had destroyed many pagan temples and were thrashing at the city gates when a torrential rainstorm hit that broke down part of the city wall.

The whole episode was deemed to be of truly miraculous significance as there had been an unbroken drought for four years, and the impressed pagan priests converted to Christianity.

Indiana Jones discovered the Holy Grail there, but the site of Petra was not identified in the film. And, oh yes, it was only a movie.

If you go ...

Getting there: Go with a tour group. There are too many pitfalls, otherwise. One example: The entrance fee to Petra included a horse ride to and from the Siq entrance, a distance of about one mile. But the animal owners were obstinate in extracting an additional charge. It required help from the tour operators to resolve the issue.

Accommodations: The Marriott in Amman was the best hotel we encountered in the Middle East. It had the best food and best room amenities. For more than one day at Petra, stay near the site. There are 75 hotels there today, and all are relatively new, as the first one was built in 1980.

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E-mail: wjewkes@desnews.com