4/25 - Petra–The Treasury and Beyond

As the Siq ends, it narrows, revealing our first view of the Treasury facade, beautifully lit by the afternoon sun.

Then suddenly we are spit out of the shadowy narrow confines and into the brightly lit and incredibly crowded courtyard surrounding the Treasury.  It’s crazy here – between the people, camels, donkeys and little coffee shop snuggled up against the rock walls opposite the Treasury.  But the hustle and the bustle doesn’t deter us – this is still an amazing place. 

The Treasury itself, built in the 1st century BC, is misnamed – it was carved out of the sandstone walls as a mausoleum and crypt.  The name is actually from a local legend that the Pharoah stored his treasure in the large urn at the top of the carved facade.  You can even see bullet holes where Bedouins have shot at the urn, hoping to break it and get the treasure.  Unfortunately, the only thing the urn contains is solid sandstone – no treasure to be found there. 

We have about 20 minutes to wander around here, taking in the scenery.  Unfortunately, you are no longer allowed to go into the Treasury building, as they have closed it off to protect the structure and the artifacts.  But, still, it is incredible to just stand here gazing around and wondering how on earth did they manage to carve this huge thing out of the sandstone rock?  And it is carved from the top down – you can still see the holes in the rock where the scaffolding was placed as they continued to decorate the Treasury with the intricate friezes and figurines. 

Before commencing on our walk down the Street of Facades, Adhib congregates us on the patio of the coffee shop for an explanation of the Treasury building – and we are joined by a local who is very interested in his talk.

Our short break over, we move on to the Street of Facades which is a row of Nabataean tombs carved in the cliff face.  They are magnificent – and again we are fascinated with the how and why they decided to create this wondrous place.   

It is here that you can branch off to hike up to the High Place of Sacrifice, an hour and a half journey up the side of the cliffs to a mountain plateau.  We’d love to do the hike, but we don’t have the time on our tour – which makes us all the more interested in coming back here to explore Petra more fully – not to mention the rest of the country.

So, we continue on down the street, passing by the Theatre which is carved into the side of the mountain underneath the High Place of Sacrifice.  The Theatre was built to accommodate 4,000 people and is the only theatre in the world that is carved into the rock. The acoustics are said to be incredible, and we can only imagine a concert here with the sounds reflecting off the stone wall in back, then projecting out through the theatre.

We walked on a bit farther, passing in front of the Royal Tombs..

… then stopped for a rest and a drink at one of the little combination coffee shop/snack bar/souvenir shops.  Sunny joined in on the fun…well…maybe too much fun….

…then we began our long trek back to visitor’s center.