Petra

Nov 19

Jordan is a country rich in history.  We are humbled to be here in this land where so many of the events in the Bible took place.  Today we traveled through the desert where the children of Israel wandered, and where conquering Romans and others traveled.  Our journey took us to the ancient city of Petra.

Elder Strong, the BYU professor in our group, thinks that Moses and the children of Israel lived in Petra for some time when they were out in the desert.  It's an interesting theory. 

Petra lies at the crossroads of trade in the area, and the people who lived here could probably collect taxes from travelers passing through.  It would be impossible for invaders to capture the site because the the entrance into the city was through a long pathway through a narrow gorge called the "seek."

About a mile from the entrance, the gorge opens up to this amazing sight....

The "Treasury"!!  Indiana Jones made this place famous.  It's really only a facade--there isn't anything behind it but solid rock.  Years ago the army came in and sprayed bullets into the rock, thinking they would break open a hidden treasure.  But there was none.

There were many ancient structures and burial tombs located here.  There is still a lot of excavation work to be done.  This building obviously has more to it down deeper.  The hole in the rock is the top half of a door.

This mountain has hundreds of small "apartments" carved out of the rock.  It's like a high-rise apartment building with no elevators.  You have to walk up.  I wondered how the mothers would keep their children from falling off the cliff.

A huge amphitheater.  If the children of Israel really did live here, this could have been their conference center.  Or not.

Historical sites have their "hawkers."  Lynn bargained with this  young man for some bracelets.  Check out the cool hat he's wearing!  He finally found one that fits.

You can't come here without getting a ride on a camel!

More high-rise apartments and hawkers.  One merchant was selling frankincense and myrrh but we didn't buy any.

This huge room was amazing.  The rock formations were all different colors in waves.  The acoustics were excellent, so our group stood together and sang, "High on a Mountain Top."  Hopefully not too many heard us because the song has the word "Zion" in it.  Not a good thing to be singing about around here.  Anyway, we weren't the Tabernacle Choir by any stretch.

Emad Hijazin, director of the park at Petra, charged us 1JD each to get in.  The usual fee is 70 JD which is around $90.  Emad is a friend of the Church and a Christian man.  He has seen a sharp decrease in tourism in the past year because so many people are afraid to come to this part of the world.  It's too bad, because we were perfectly safe (except for one town we traveled through that the bus driver said they shoot strangers so we didn't stop there).