Magic, Marvels and Mastery of Rose Metropolis

Nabataeans, Petra’s Ancient Dwellers

Petra's Panorama

The modern Petra city is not spectacular. The houses and buildings are of the same color as the buff-yellow mountains. Hardly a few had architectural beauty. But in spite of scanty vegetation, the geographical beauty is astounding because of the looming hills.

However, the old Petra city is a unique place where natural and geological features merge with its history, archaeology and ethos. UNESCO described The Rose Metropolis, Petra as “One of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage.” The ancient name of Petra was Raqmu/Raqemu. Petra means stone in ancient Greek.

Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) with an area of 264,000 square meters within Wadi Musa is a tourist, archaeological and a World Heritage Site since 1985. It is 810 m (2,657 ft.) above sea level. The directorate of Cultural Sources has carried out about 22 archaeological excavations in Petra and Beidha. These were done by American, French, Finland Missions, Italy, Germany, and Swiss Expeditions among others. Only five percent of the city has been uncovered through excavations so far. Many mysteries still remain to be discovered.

 PDTRA (Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority) was established in 2009 to control the entire Petra region which is 755 square km in area .PDTRA is headed by a Chief Commissioner who reports directly to the Prime Minister. The site is included in the Smithsonian Magazine among ‘the 28 places you should visit before you die.’           

Location

Petra is located 240 km south of Amman, (capital of Jordan) and 120 km. north of the Red Sea town of Aqaba.

The Ancient City of Petra

The exact date of the city’s origin is unknown but it became famous as the capital of the Nabataean Empire from the first century BC when the nomadic Nabataean Arabs became prosperous traders. About 2000 years ago a desert city called Petra was founded by the Nabataeans, a group of nomadic Arabs tending cattle and therefore had to move from place to place to find pastures for their sheep, goats and camels. They lived in goatskin tents and survived in the deserts due to their acumen and advanced knowledge in hydraulics. They were the only people who could cross the Arabian desert because they knew how to tame it.  They were skilled in agriculture, harvesting rain water, damming systems and stone carving and they exploited these skills to their fullest.  Though the region was watered by a perennial stream yet it is located in a dry canyon and the arid climate created agricultural difficulties for them. But they knew the desert's secret i.e. water spots  hidden in the desert and they unearthed them. They had a thorough knowledge of every possible source of water available to them and hence harvested rainwater, flood water, ground water and natural springs. They shaped rocks into ledges to collect the initial flow of water from the mountains. They also constructed underground water holes or cisterns to collect the run-off rain water. The cisterns were lined with water-proof cement to prevent seepage. They chiseled channels/aqueducts into the sides of the mountain, trailing the water flow into cisterns and dams for later usage. 

Ancient Aqueduct 
Photo: Dr:Erwin Schwentner, wikimedia commons

Hidden underground, the water was safe in the cisterns from evaporation and from enemies who did not even know of their existence; hence could not poison the water. Those cisterns built 2000 years ago are still being used by Bedouins.

Water Holes Built by Nabataeans
Photo: Supplied

The Nabataeans made rock-cut channels and underground water pipes which carried water from permanent springs and seasonal streams. The water was supplied to the inhabitants through clay/ terracotta pipes.

A Portion of Ancient Stonemasonry to Collect Initial Water Flow From Mountains

Transformation from Pastoralists to Commercial Traders

Having solved their water problem they utilized this water to increase their wealth .Those nomadic farmers and herders soon became wealthy desert merchants by investing in Petra’s closeness to trade routes. The important trade routes that moved spices and incense from Arabia to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea    had Petra as a main stopping point for Nabataean as well as foreign traders. The route was called Spice Route because spices were the most common of all the items. The traders also carried textile, silks, perfumes like frankincense and myrrh, wood, gems, herbs, medicines, metals, ivory and other precious goods grown or manufactured in Arabia, Asia and Africa. The Nabataeans also procured asphalt from the Dead Sea and sold it to Egypt who used it for mummification, coffin-sealing and glue. The nomadic Nabataean provided those traders shelter and water along the trade routes. In those ancient times the Nabataeans charged toll tax to foreign traders passing through their territory. The Nabataeans set up military camps and forts along the Spice Route which not only served as a stopping point on their journey but also a protection from highway robbers along the way. They had built many such camps . They even became mediators of the products that were traded. Thus having known the secrets of the desert and exploiting them, they became wealthy traders monopolizing the spice trade route and the market for centuries. From originally being pastoralist people they became commercial nomads from the Arabian peninsula. 

As the nomadic traders became wealthy in this way they built a spectacular city of Petra full of fertile crops, lush gardens and public pools .During its pinnacle, the Nabataean Empire included regions of modern-day Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Syria and north-western Saudi Arabia. Petra rose to pre-eminence also because of its geographical features. Besides controlling the main commercial routes, it lay within the enclosure of towering rocks thus making the whole place fortress-like and safe from enemy invasion.

Master Builders

As the people of Petra became rich they spent their wealth to showcase their craftsmanship. They carved tombs, monuments and houses into the rose-red sandstone cliffs/rocks, covered them with decorative stucco and painted them with bright colors. They not only carved buildings, but winding roads, stairways and water channels were also carved along the natural bends and cambers, the rise and dip of the rocks and canyons.

The Nabataeans carved sophisticated tombs out of the mountain sides and buried their dead in them. The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury) is an epitome of their carving prowess.

The Treasury/Al-Khazneh

 Beside the Treasury a narrow path leads to a maze of archaeological marvels: tombs, gardens, temples, colonnaded roads etc.  The Nabataeans also had a flair for music and drama as can be seen in the Roman-theater-like structure. They carved it out from the rocks long before the Romans annexed Petra. The theater is shaped like a semi-circle and it has marble-covered seats for up to 8,500 people. There is a colonnaded street and it is straight unlike the snaky, steep roads elsewhere in the ancient city due to natural hills and valleys.

The Theater
Photo: David Bjorgen, wikimedia commons

The Obelisk Tomb
Photo: Supplied

There is a huge garden pool among those bygone, architectural wonders. Though Petra received only 6 inches of rainfall per year yet the existence of a public garden pool showed how efficiently they managed water.

The Snaky Road due to Geographical Features

The Straight Road
Photo: Supplied

Foreign traders passed through Petra and the city soon became a global hub of the ancient world. The Nabataeans traded items from India, Thailand, China, Korea and Southern Arabia. The Nabataeans knew about elephants through their trade with India. Hence the Great Temple’s 120 towering columns are topped with elephant heads carved in stone. In 500 AD the Petra Church was built which is eye catching with massive columns, colorful mosaics made with stone, glass, red clay tiles and even gold-plated tiles. The magnificent temple of the winged lion and the beautifully-carved monastery (Ad-Deir/El–Deir) are other everlasting creations of Nabataeans.  All those wonders were constructed within a span of 400 years.   

The Monastery
Photo: David Bjorgen, wikimedia commons

Elephant Head on the Great Temple's Columns
Photo: David Bjorgen, wikimedia commons

The Temple of the Winged Lion
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, wikimedia commons

Decline of Petra

The Roman Empire was first a client of Petra’s Nabataean merchants. In 106 AD, Romans annexed Petra and called it Arabia Petraea. Petra became a Roman province under a Roman governor. The takeover was peaceful and the Romans left an indelible mark on the architecture of Petra .They ruled Petra for 300 years and then changed their trade routes to the north. Petra started losing its importance in trading circuits.

Towards late 300 AD, Roman rule over Petra collapsed. A large earthquake in 363 AD destroyed much of the city. Moreover, the prosperity of the Nabataeans also declined because of changes in trade routes. New sea routes emerged and land routes were no longer used. Traders started doing business by  sea. Many of the items were brought to Arabia by sea and when they reached Gaza they were sent to Rome again by sea. Then in early 600 AD Muslim Arabs arrived in Petra and Petra came under Islamic rule. By the middle of the 7^th century Petra seemed to be largely abandoned and the local Bedouins took over the area. In AD 1812, a Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered Petra. In 1993 AD Petra became a national park, a protected archaeological site.  Now this site of Petra is inhabited by Bedouins.

On our return journey to the hotel at late afternoon, we stopped to watch a tribal performance in the courtyard of Petra Archaeological Park.

 

                    

Video: Supplied

Photographs: Bulbul Sur

Tags: Nabataeans, Spice Route, Water Harvesting, Ancient Petra