Petra- (Take 1- The Treasury)

"A rose-red city, half as old as time." John William Burgon

People!...Petra is so incredible, this is deserving of 2 full posts, which are gonna be picture heavy. I have wanted to come here for as long as I can remember, and yet once I got here I realized that I just had no clue about the scope of the place! 

This once forgotten city is spectacular in every aspect. Before you start to walk through the amazing slot canyon (the siq) towards the treasury (The building facade that you will recognize from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, for those of you who don't know) you walk past a series of tombs called Djinn blocks. A djinn is a desert spirit, and these blocks are actaully the oldest tombs in the area. 

Walking a bit further on, other more elaborate tombs are to be seen. 

And then you enter the siq. It's a supremely beautiful area, and even when crowded with tourists it's strangely quiet.... with the exception of the horses, carriages and donkeys that ride by. The sound of their hooves is echoed against the walls, as this whole road way was at one point paved. In some areas they have restored the stone a bit, though the actual road is burried now quite a ways under the sand. 

Looking up, you can see how narrow the canyon is in places. 

Incredibly, in order to both conserve water as well as to save the area from flash floods, and bring water into the heart of Petra, a deep water channel was dug along the entire left side of the siq. Along the right hand side was another series of clay pipes to carry water into the city as well. Although they have been eroded by time, these both used to be covered so that they brought clean water through. In some areas, you can still see the sections of pipe as they once were. And people... we're talking this was done about 2200 years ago!

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see that parts of the siq were once decorated. There are the feet and the bottom of legs of a man on the left, who once led several camels- carved into the rock behind him. You can see some of their feet, legs, and the bottom of their bellies! 

The siq twists and turns in beautiful ways, back and forth. 

Until finally you round a corner, and then..... You start to see it. 

The treasury. 

Coming out of the canyon, I was encountered with one of the most breathtaking buildings of all time. Carved directly into the side of the rose-red rock, stand this beautiful site:

The detail as you look more closely at it is just incredible- especailly considering it's age. Although no one can say precisely when it was built, it is guessed to be around the 200 BC!! 

Look at the carving on that stone!!

Another thing that I had no idea about before getting to the area, the whole of the facade looks as though it's right there at ground level. However..... hundred of years of sand and dirt washing into the area have actaully raised the entire floor of the siq and this opening by around 6 METERS (That's close to 20 feet!)

As you get right up to the facade, you can see that there are large grates over the ground (Behind the blocks that the group is sitting on in the far right below). If you look down and into these grates, amazingly you see that there is an entire other level below, with 3 more doors into the building!!!! Although there is some excavation going on, they haven't yet determined if they will be able to eventually excavate the entire area to get down to the original base of the area. 

I really couldn't stop snapping photos here. It's such a beautiful building, with such an air of mystery and intrigue about it. I completely fell in love with it! 

Much to my overwhelming joy, I just happened to be there on one night of the week that they were also offering candlight tours of the siq and treasury!!!! *Squeel*  

Well after dark, you can go in and walk the kilometer plus down to the treasury, with candles lining either side of the siq the whole way. Although there was some chatter, they ask that you remain quiet during this procession, which gave the whole thing a very magical air to it....and then.... you get around that corner to that place where you first see the facade...

I was completely awestruck. It was such an incredible sight to behold. Hundreds and hundreds of candles were placed in front of the treasury, lighting it wondrously. The picture directly below was taken at the end- No one was allowed to use flash until then, when one of the Bedouins made a count-down for flash, and everyone went at once, lighting the facade a bit more. 

In this picture though, you can see the small group of Bedouins who sat in the middle of the candles. Once everyone was through the siq, they asked everyone to sit and be silent. (I'd say that there were only about 200-300 people, which left the area fairly wide open honestly. I was the only person from my group who wanted to go. Fools!! It was spectacular!!! How can you miss a life experience like this?!?) 

From the center of the Bedouins, a man began to sing, and another started playing one of their traditional instruments, a rebab. The sound filled the area beautifully, and felt exactly right there. 

Shortly after this first song played, from further down the road- towards the Street of Facades (Next post, but towards the main city area)- came a lone flute from the darkness. No one could see where the music was coming from, but it echoed off the walls around us and was completely haunting. Slowly, the music was clearly coming towards us all, and eventually another Bedouin walked out from the darkness and into the circle of light. Continuing to play for several more minutes, the beautiful melody continued as he walked in and out of the candles, finally letting the notes drift into the night as he joined with the others in their circle. 

This was truly one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. 

I am so very blessed.