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Obelisks: Petra

Petra is an ancient city located in Jordan that was carved out of rose-red sandstone cliffs. It was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom between 400 BC and 106 AD. Some of the most notable sites in Petra include El-Khazneh, a famous monument with an intricate façade, and the Siq, a 1 km long gorge with steep walls that leads to the city. Petra has over 800 preserved monuments from when it was inhabited, including tombs, temples, and structures carved directly into the sandstone cliffs that demonstrate the advanced engineering of the Nabataeans.

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32 views2 pages

Obelisks: Petra

Petra is an ancient city located in Jordan that was carved out of rose-red sandstone cliffs. It was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom between 400 BC and 106 AD. Some of the most notable sites in Petra include El-Khazneh, a famous monument with an intricate façade, and the Siq, a 1 km long gorge with steep walls that leads to the city. Petra has over 800 preserved monuments from when it was inhabited, including tombs, temples, and structures carved directly into the sandstone cliffs that demonstrate the advanced engineering of the Nabataeans.

Uploaded by

SenadOmic
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PETRA

There is no denying that one of the most outstanding ancient sites in the world is Petra,
Jordan. There is nothing in the world which could come at par with the magnificence of
this rose-red, rock-carved city that is filled with mystery and charm. Many visitors swear
that the city was actually designed to strike awe and wonder into anyone who entered it.
Petra is said to be the most beautiful and most famous sites in Jordan. It is 133 km North
of Aqaba and about 262 km south of Amman. It serves as the legacy of the industrious
Arab people called Nabataeans who settled in South Jordan over 2000 years ago. It is
also a UNESCO world heritage site and belongs to the New 7 Wonder of the World which
continuous to enchant tourists all over the globe. It is notable for its refined culture,
magnificent architecture, and ingenious complex of water channels and dams.
One of the sites you must not miss when you are in Petra is the famous monument of ElKhazneh. Its intricate faade glows in the sun as it faces the opening of the citys gorge.
This gorge, on the other hand, is one kilometer long and has beautiful steeply rising sides.
Petra, Jordan has always been a lovely place even during the reign of the Roman empire.
It has more than 800 monuments including tombs, buildings, funerary halls, temples,
colonnaded streets, arched gateways, and even baths which will absolutely take your
breath away.

Obelisks
The obelisks are over 6m high; they are remarkable structures because they are carved out of
the rock face, not built upon it: looking at the negative space surrounding them, you can
understand the truly epic scale of excavation involved. Dedicated to the Nabataean gods
Dushara and Al-Uzza, their iron-rich stone glows in the sun and they act like totems of this oncehallowed ground.

Nymphaeum
At the start of the Colonnaded Street is this public fountain built in the 2nd century AD and fed by
water channelled from the Siq. Little can be seen today, although its recognisable by the huge
450-year-old pistachio tree, giving welcome shade in summer.

Eagle Monument
Carved into a niche in a cliff near the entrance to the Siq is a beautiful eagle with outstretched
wings. This bird is often depicted in ancient times as a symbol of a male deity and the niche was
likely to have been intended as a shrine.

Lion Monument
Water here was channelled to pour out of the lions mouth from the rock face above an example
of Nabataean engineering at its most sophisticated. A stone altar diagonally opposite suggests
the fountain had some religious function.

Djinn Blocks
Just past the entrance, look out for three enormous, squat monuments, known as Djinn Blocks or
God Blocks. Standing guard beside the path, they take their name from the Arabic word for spirit,
the source of the English word genie . Other than the fact they were built by Nabataeans in the
1st century AD, little is known about their why or wherefore they could have been tombs,
funerary dedications, or related to the worship of water and fertility.
Whatever their intended function, they are the lodestar for the modern visitor a tantalising taste
of the monuments to come, or announcing journeys end on your weary return.

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