The border crossing from Saudi Arabia to Jordan is one of the easiest and most trouble-free of all. Although a visa is officially required, nobody asks for one at the border. Our passports are enough. We can even get a SIM card for Jordan and change money at the customs area. By then we are ready and drive to the southern beach of the Gulf of Aqaba, which we reach shortly afterwards.

Aqaba

On the south beach – Yamaniya Beach

Together with some colleagues from the Mantoco travel group, we stand on the south beach of Aqaba completely free and undisturbed. The coastguard drives along the beach several times a day and waves in a friendly manner. We stay here for 8 days. For future trips, we plan to stay longer than just three or four days, because it is simply beautiful and we really enjoy it. It is simply wonderful here. The people are friendly, but not intrusive. In contrast to Saudi Arabia, we see families with children on the beach and having picnics. That makes us happy and creates a livelier atmosphere.

Moevenpick Hotel

The Moevenpick Hotel is located a few kilometers south of the beach. One of those hotels that you would like to use for a vacation. The hotel is very tastefully decorated inside and out. The staff – mostly from the Philippines – have a winning smile and Asian efficiency.
We want to celebrate Verena’s 70th birthday in the Hizma Desert here with Thommy and Conny. A wonderful evening with a beautiful evening atmosphere over the sea and great company. The icing on the cake is the fact that they actually sell original Moevenpick ice cream from Switzerland here. Unbelievable!

Through the country EDOM

Today we are traveling through the land where the Edomites once settled. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of the Israeli patriarch “Jacob”. Jacob was given the name “Israel” by God. He had twelve sons by four wives, the princes of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Along the main road, we discover a drinking water store every now and then. At one of these outlets, we can fill our water tanks with good water pressure. The landscape is barren. Our route takes us across a plateau, unfortunately with little view because the haze is so thick. Later, the road takes us through picturesque mountain villages and then down to PETRA.

PETRA – Neustadt

We drive to the recommended parking lot, right next to the entrance to the Petra ruins. Regina and Peter have been here with their truck since yesterday. It’s always a pleasure to see them again. We have a good time together. That’s why we’re having dinner out again today. It’s simply even nicer eating out with the four of us. And they already know a suitable restaurant and the food here tastes really good, even though we are in a Jordanian tourist hotspot.

The “Siq”

The Siq forms the entrance to the extensive ruins of Petra. The gorge is a good 1200m long and ends at the “Pharaoh’s Treasure House”. The Nabataeans carved water supply pipes along the walls to the left and right of the gorge.
We hike through this beautiful gorge with devotion and emotion.

The Pharaoh’s treasure house

Suddenly the Siq Canyon opens up and we are standing in front of the Pharaoh’s treasure house, the“Khazne al-Firaun“. However, the “treasure house” never housed any of the pharaoh’s treasures, but is a monumental mausoleum carved out of the rock. It is called a treasure house because the Bedouins used to circulate the legend of a hidden treasure in this ruin.
Today it is assumed that King Aretas IV had this mausoleum built for his family. He reigned from 9 BC to 40 AD.

We not only enjoy the beautiful building, but also the overall atmosphere. In other words, we turn the NEED (overflowing with tourists) into a TUGEND (enjoying them).

Petra – some history

Petra means “rock, rock massif” in ancient Greek, in Nabataean it was probably called Reqmu “the red one”. Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Empire in ancient times. It is considered a unique cultural monument due to its monumental burial temples, whose facades were carved directly out of the rock.

Petra is located in a wide basin in the mountains of Edom. Thanks to its strategically favorable location at the crossroads of several caravan routes that connected Egypt with Syria and southern Arabia with the Mediterranean, the city was an important trading center from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century AD. In particular, Petra controlled an important junction on the Incense Route. This ancient trade route ran from Yemen along the west coast of Arabia and split at Petra into a north-western branch that led to Gaza and a north-eastern branch that led to Damascus.

Petra is hidden and well protected between rugged rock faces. The site is only accessible via a narrow mountain path from the northwest or from the east through the Siq . Petra also had a reliable water supply. The water was channeled into the city via aqueducts carved into the rock and through terracotta pipes. The highly complex water supply system, which included more than 200 cisterns, was fed from all known water sources within a radius of more than 25 kilometers around the city.

Petra city center

After the Treasury, we reach the former city center with its many palaces and tombs. The theater could hold around 8500 people and was built in the 1st century AD by King Aretas IV. Although it corresponds to the Roman style, it also has clear Nabataean stylistic elements.

The ruins are so extensive that we don’t want to visit all the highlights. However, we take in the diversity and are overwhelmed.

Kolonadenstrasse and the Temenos Gate

The colonnaded road was probably built by the Romans in the second century AD to replace an earlier Nabataean road that followed the winding course of the Wadi Musa. It was severely damaged by an earthquake in 363.

The Temenos Gate was most likely built during the reign of Emperor Trajan in the second century AD as a ceremonial entrance to the sacred precinct of the Qasr al-Bint temple. It is typically Roman in plan and design and may have replaced an earlier Nabataean gate.

The great temple

The “Great Temple” complex is by far the largest building in Petra. It is accessible via a monumental entrance, the Propylaea, and has two successive open-air areas at different heights. The lower area consisted of a large paved courtyard flanked on each side by triple porticoes. Each housed 60 columns of carved drums with imported limestone capitals decorated with carved elephant heads, exotic symbols of power. Some of them have been partially rebuilt. Excavations have revealed that the upper district, which is accessible via two monumental staircases, housed a small open-air theater with semi-circular rows of seats. Its small size and layout suggest that it was designed as a council chamber or courtroom. The presence of this theater and the adjoining colonnaded courtyard suggests that the building primarily served as an urban complex under the patronage of the Nabataean royal family.

Qasr Bint Far’un

Qasr Bint Far’un (Palace of the Pharaoh’s Daughter) is Petra’s oldest and most venerable temple complex. The name comes from a local legend that tells of a pharaoh who, after hiding his treasure in the urn of the treasury, promised his daughter’s hand to the engineer who was able to create a system to supply water to the palace. Numerous water channels were discovered near the site.

The Qasr al-Bint monument is almost square (27.90 m x 27.62 m) and stands on a podium that reaches a height of 23 m. As the main temple of Petra, it is an example of Hellenistic architecture.

The church complex

The Petra Church

The Petra Church, a three-part basilica, was probably built in the second half of the 5th century AD. Its well-preserved mosaic floor is decorated with beautiful illustrations in round medallions depicting various motifs and symbolic personifications of the four seasons, the ocean, the earth and wisdom

The Blue Chapel

The Blue Chapel, named after its four blue columns made of Egyptian granite, which were probably brought here from a nearby Nabataean monument, is believed to have been built around the middle of the 5th century, at the same time as the Petra Church. The Blue Chapel could have served as a pilgrims’ hostel or as the residence of a church official.

The ridge church

The Ridge Church is a simple building with two wings flanking the nave, each separated by five pillars. There is a large cistern under the nave where rainwater is collected from the roof. The Ridge Church dates from the late 4th or early 5th century and was built using materials from Nabataean and Roman sources.

Royal tombs

The Royal Tombs are four striking, grand tombs carved into the western side of Khubtha Hill, overlooking the city center. Their elaborate architecture and prominent location suggest that they housed families from the upper social classes of Petra or the royal family. From right to left, these are: the Urn Tomb, the Silk Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the Palace Tomb.

The tomb of the Roman soldiers

The rock-cut tomb complex of the Roman soldier in Wadi Farasa is named after a Roman-style bust depicting a military figure. Its façade resembles that of an urn tomb with porticoes, two-storey buildings and a triclinium opposite the entrance, which is accessible via a large courtyard. The well-proportioned façade is decorated with pilasters and columns framing three niches, with a male figure in military dress in the central niche, accompanied by two attendants. The three statues on the façade probably represent a family portrait, with the father in the center and his sons or male relatives on either side. There are several niches inside the tomb, which were probably used for burial purposes. Recent excavations by the International Wadi Farasa Project have revealed that the courtyard was built in the Nabataean period, around the second half of the 1st century AD, and remodeled in the Roman period.