JORDAN: Petra
The Nabataean city of Petra, in
south-west Jordan, is one of the `Seven Wonders of the Ancient World`.
Dating from around 5BC, its monuments display ancient Egyptian, Greek and
Roman elements, but what makes them unique, is that ancient masons sculpted
entirely from towering sandstone cliffs. Although the soft rock precluded
more detailed work, structures such as the rose-pink Treasury are awesome
even by today`s building standards. In the early Christian era, facing
competition from new sea and caravan routes, Petra faded from view. Hidden
in the rugged landscape, it remained known only to local Bedouin until its
re-discovery by the Swiss explorer Ludwig Burkhardt in 1812. Today it is
visited by tourists from all over the world yet its location, at the mouth
of Wadi Musa, has long been venerated as the biblical site where Moses
struck the ground and water gushed forth. Two main deities were worshipped
by the Nabataeans; Dusares symbolising strength to whom they dedicated the
great Qasr el Bint, and Uzza, the Goddess of Water and Patron of Fertility.
An inscription at Medain Salih, a second Nabataean settlement in Saudi
Arabia, records that girls as well as boys were sacrificed in her honour.
Altars in the `High Places` of Petra are cut with gutters for draining blood
and seats carved in the rocks were for spectators of the ritual. Now silent,
Petra is a site impregnated with history which must have once echoed with
the sounds of chipping of the early sculptors. The site was inscribed on the
UN World Heritage list in 1985.