The first spectacular glimpse of Al Khazneh in Petra framed by the 200ft high rock walls of The Siq.
You’re reading Home Truths, a newsletter from me, Susy Smith. I am many things: a parent of grown-up kids, a dog owner, a gardener and a compulsive mover of vases (I worked for years as a stylist). I am also a writer/editor and former Editor-in-Chief of British Country Living Magazine, for whom I still write a monthly column.
I write here on an eclectic mix of subjects about life, and a few of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. Subscribe now for free and join the community! You can also support me and my work by upgrading to a paid subscription at any time. For either of these options just tap the button below.
TRAVELLING BACK 2,000 YEARS
Inviting us to examine, more closely, the wear and tear wrought by thousands of years on the rockface of the narrow, shadowy gorge we were walking through, our guide asked if we liked surprises. Yes, we assured him enthusiastically. With that, he pivoted on his heel and gestured grandly behind us.
As we turned, we each gasped aloud. There, framed by the darkness of the 200ft high rock walls of The Siq, golden in the sunlight, was Al Khazneh, The Treasury, the most spectacular of Petra’s ancient ruins. Now I understood why Jordan is considered a must-visit destination for anyone interested in history and why Petra is a designated UNESCO world heritage site. It is absolutely extraordinary.
Half built, half carved into the soft sandstone cliffs, the city was established between the 1st and 3rd centuries BC by the Nabateans, a tribe that created huge wealth by controlling many of the trade routes in the area between east and west. At its height, the metropolis covered an area of 263 square kilometres and housed a population of between 20,000 and 30,000 inhabitants.
The style of The Treasury makes it likely that Greek architects were responsible for its ornate design and there are Roman influences here too as in AD 106 Petra was annexed by Rome. Aside from this there are the remains of myriad tombs, villas, temples and theatres built by the Nabateans but it was their innovative methods of collecting, storing and moving water that allowed their kingdom to thrive in such inhospitable terrain.
Sourcing from a spring approximately 8 km to the east, they created underground cisterns to store water and carved channels into the walls of The Siq, to bring it to the city. Some of these channels still exist and, looking at their detail, I tried to imagine what it would have been like for visitors arriving at this oasis, as they moved out of the unforgiving desert sun into the cool shade of The Siq and traversed the winding 1.2kms towards the thriving city accompanied by the soothing sound of clear, fresh, running water.
Ironically, it is thought that flash floods heavily damaged the channel at one point but it was in the 4th and 8th centuries that two other natural disasters brought about the downfall of the Nabatean people. Two massive earthquakes destroyed many of the city's buildings and its precious water-supply system. By A.D. 700, only a few people lived in and around Petra and the camel caravans that had once converged on the bustling city for trade in spices, perfumes, gold, ivory, fabrics and much more from China, India, the Far East, Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome came no longer.
Over time, the city was lost to the outside world and sat uninhabited and unknown for over five centuries until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
Prior to this, small numbers of the semi-nomadic Bdoul tribe of Bedouins had taken up residence in the long-abandoned caves of Petra and lived there as a community until they were forcibly relocated to a nearby, purpose-built settlement in the 1980s when the area was declared a world heritage site.
In her autobiography “Married to a Bedouin”, Marguerite van Geldermalsen documents what life was like for the Bedouin in Petra during this time. The New Zealand-born nurse tells how, while visiting Petra in the 1970s as a traveller, she met and later married Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller in the ancient city.
She describes the routine of her daily life as she became assimilated into and learned the ways of the Bedouin tribe, living in one of the caves and having three children with her husband until he died, prompting her to leave the settlement and move back to New Zealand and, eventually Australia.
It’s a fascinating story and provided me with an insight into what Petra might be like even before I left London, but in truth, nothing prepared me for how magical this ancient city in the desert would be.
Two faces in the rocks of Wadi Rum
Nearby to Petra is Wadi Rum, another world heritage site and described in our guidebook as “one of the most awe-inspiring sights in the entire Middle East”. In a desert of red sand, huge rocky peaks that have been weathered into strange, otherworldly shapes rise up to 2,000 feet from the flat valley floor.
This lunar landscape is where the Seven Pillars of Wisdom (named after T E Lawrence’s book about his exploits as Lawrence of Arabia in the early 1900s) can be found as can Lawrence’s Spring. More exciting are the patches of ancient graffiti left by traders pointing the way to those who came after and warning of dangers that might befall them on the route ahead.
In recent years, several movies have been filmed in Wadi Rum, not surprisingly several of them science fiction films, and one area of the mighty desert is now entirely reserved for filming purposes.
Where once caravans of camels carrying traders traversed, now travellers come from all over the world to explore the area, with hiking and rock-climbing high on the agenda. You can travel the traditional way by camel or cover more miles in a much shorter time by bouncing around in the back of one of the jeeps that take tourists to see the many breath-taking sights in this remarkable place.
Regular readers will know that in my last essay I talked of the anxiety I experience when travel is on the horizon. This trip was no exception but, as is usually the case, once I was through airport security, I relaxed and felt more curious than nervous. I am delighted Jordan was suggested to us as a destination. It’s not one that would ever have occurred to me otherwise and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
Aside from these fabulous historical sights – and there are many more we did not have time to see, I would flag up the fact that the people are charming, friendly and welcoming. Unlike its wealthy neighbour, Saudi Arabia, Jordan does not have oil so is very reliant on tourism and deserves to be more well known.
We stayed in a resort on The Red Sea near Aqaba that was enjoyably quiet, because it was off season, where there were good restaurants offering both local and international cuisine. A trip in a glass bottomed boat allowed us to see coral reefs and the marine life that inhabits them and then, wanting a closer look, my husband tried scuba diving for the first time. Meanwhile, with a mask and snorkel I was able to watch a wide variety of fish on coral just a few meters off the beach of our hotel.
Oh, and for those of you who remember that one of my requirements was time on a sunbed with a choice of good books to read, I got that too. I’d say my week away had the perfect balance of exploring and discovery and, as a contrast, exercising my mind rather than my body.
I have to say, it was a bit of a shock leaving temperatures of 25 to 30 degrees and arriving home to snow! Still variety, as they say, is the spice of life.
The view from my sunbed
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So glad it went well. Next stop Borneo?!