Petra was the great city of the Nabateans from approximately 200 BCE.  It is one of the places where you feel like you are living 20 centuries ago because of the raw power of the place.  You can imagine the hidden city with its mysterious temples carved into the living rock.  You can imagine defending the narrow ravine against an attack.  We don’t know much about the Nabateans, but we can feel some of the same awe they felt when they entered their canyon city.

This is a bit out of chronological order in the blog because we visited Petra on February 28.

Our guide Mohammed explains Petra before we enter.	The narrow entrance to the canyon city.  In some places it is only as wide as two people—a marvelous defensive fortification provided by nature.
The last gap and Roman paving stones added after Romans occupied the city.	The “Treasury”—the first structure you see when you pass the gap.  It is like the facade of a Greek temple carved directly into the living rock.

	Detail shows how exquisite the carving is and how well preserved this location is.  The stone is sandstone and in other places, the delicate shapes have been eroded by wind and water in a very short time.
If you don’t want to walk, you can go by camel, donkey, or donkey cart.	Because Bedouins were the last occupants and were evicted to create an archaelogical site, they are permitted to sell items and offer the tourists rides.
Looking back at the last gap before the canyon  opens up into the city.	Inside, behind the facades most of the interiors have been defaced.  The rooms were mostly used as temples or tombs.  But, the natural sandstone provides a beautiful mural of colors.
A coliseum to seat several thousand was cut into the rock.  The Nabateans were traders and travelers and they would have seen coliseums in other cities.  They borrowed the idea or this coliseum may have been built after the Romans merged Petra into their empire.
	A Roman road added to the city.  It would be the “cado” though it does not go north/south.
Detail of carved elephant on a capital of the column
	Most of our group took the back way out by donkey.  This Bedouin fought his colleagues to get this opportunity for tips.   Jeryl and Forest enjoyed the ride.
Aviva F never met a donkey she didn’t like.	Aviva M did not kiss this donkey good-by.
The southern desert of Jordan.	Bedouin can eke out a living in very hard places.