Lost rose city
Visiting Petra in Jordan brought back memories of watching Indiana Jones and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, especially when I heard the echoes of horse hooves in the darkened passages of Petra’s famous 1.2km gorge known as the Siq, bringing shivers of excitement down my spine as I walked down this mysterious passage. As I visited pretty late in the day and the sun’s rays were hitting the rocks from different angles, it was fascinating to see the red, pink, orange and golden hues in the different shapes and forms of rocks that make up Petra. The half built, half carved ancient city of Petra sits on the south of Amman on the edge of Wadi Araba’s mountainous desert, and is surrounded by rose coloured mountains, hence the magnificent rose colours seen in the rocks of what’s left of this city. Built with a combination of Ancient Eastern and Hellenistic architectural traditions, this city was established as early as 312 BCE as the capital of the Nabataeans, before it was annexed into the Roman Empire. Because of its strategic location, Petra was the centre of caravan trade for Chinese silks, Indian spices and Arabian incense. With a fortress like formation with towering rocks and as the centre of commercial routes passing through to Gaza, Damascus, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, this was a successful and prosperous city until the Romans took over later in history. Being a desert city, water was vital to the Nabataeans and the ability to harness the water from the frequent flash floods enabled the Nabataeans to control and make use of this valuable resource. The extensive water system built by the Nabataeans can be seen in the Siq which gets as narrow as 2m wide at its most narrow point and up to 7m at other points. There are remnants of channels, tunnels, and even elaborate cisterns and reservoirs beyond the gorge.
Visiting Petra in Jordan brought back memories of watching Indiana Jones and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, especially when I heard the echoes of horse hooves in the darkened passages of Petra’s famous 1.2km gorge known as the Siq, bringing shivers of excitement down my spine as I walked down this mysterious passage. As I visited pretty late in the day and the sun’s rays were hitting the rocks from different angles, it was fascinating to see the red, pink, orange and golden hues in the different shapes and forms of rocks that make up Petra. The half built, half carved ancient city of Petra sits on the south of Amman on the edge of Wadi Araba’s mountainous desert, and is surrounded by rose coloured mountains, hence the magnificent rose colours seen in the rocks of what’s left of this city. Built with a combination of Ancient Eastern and Hellenistic architectural traditions, this city was established as early as 312 BCE as the capital of the Nabataeans, before it was annexed into the Roman Empire. Because of its strategic location, Petra was the centre of caravan trade for Chinese silks, Indian spices and Arabian incense. With a fortress like formation with towering rocks and as the centre of commercial routes passing through to Gaza, Damascus, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, this was a successful and prosperous city until the Romans took over later in history. Being a desert city, water was vital to the Nabataeans and the ability to harness the water from the frequent flash floods enabled the Nabataeans to control and make use of this valuable resource. The extensive water system built by the Nabataeans can be seen in the Siq which gets as narrow as 2m wide at its most narrow point and up to 7m at other points. There are remnants of channels, tunnels, and even elaborate cisterns and reservoirs beyond the gorge.
No comments:
Post a Comment