JORDAN: Petra
The Nabataean city of Petra in
south-west Jordan has been declared one of the `Seven wonders of the
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 El Deir - the Monastery and the rose-pink Treasury standing 45 meters
tall - are awesome even by today`s building standards. Around 102 AD, 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 being re-discovered 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 (Musa) struck the ground and water gushed
forth. Two main deities were also worshipped by the Nabataeans, Dusares symbolising strength to whom they dedicated the great Qasr el
Bint and Uzza, 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` are cut with gutters for draining blood
and there are seats carved in the rocks 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 these early sculptors. The site was
inscribed on the UN World Heritage list in 1985.