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World Heritage A privilege to get clicked in front of the ancient city

While many would have seen the heritage site as part of a package tour, one person had had the opportunity to have a closer look at the wonderland of the past. Manager Operations of Indo-Jordan Chemicals Corporation P.R. Rao who hails from Visakhapatnam had the chance to look at the heritage site in leisure, thanks to his posting in Jordan. “Unlike the package tours, wherein the operators bundle the tourists for a quick glance, I had the option of going around the ancient city at my will. The primeval architecture not only held me spellbound but in one word I would describe it as ‘fabulous’. It was a lifetime experience for me,” said he.

Mr. Rao adds that no site in Jordan captures the visitor’s imagination and takes his breath away as dramatically as Petra. “The amount of labour and time involved in carving the rock edifices in the coloured soft stone is mind boggling.”

In Greek, Petra means rock and the entire city or complex was chiselled out of huge rocks or mountains. The ancient site of Petra is located south-west of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan about 255 km. away from the capital city of Amman.

The antique city is located on the slopes of Mount Hor, in a valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Close to the site is the city of Wadi Mousa where people believe that Prophet Moses drew up water from the rocks.

Though the actual beginning of the civilisation of Petra still remains to be a mystery, historians say that the city was built by the Nabateans sometime in the sixth century BC. For many years, Petra was in the flourishing trade route between Egypt and the East and the Nabateans took control of the route. They also maintained a good trade with the Romans. In 106 AD, the Romans took control of Petra. Two severe earthquakes in 363 AD and 747 AD caused severe damage to the city and Petra was cut off from the west for over 1,000 years. The Arab Beduin tribes who lived amidst the stones guarded the secrets of Petra.

It was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. On December 6, 1985 Petra was designated as World Heritage Site and on July 7, 2007 it was named as one of the New Open World Corporation’s New Seven Wonders of the World.

Though damaged severely by two earthquakes and time taking its toll, the remnants still indicate the existence of temples, tombs, treasuries and amphitheatres.

A craftsman at work with the coloured sand

“A trip to Petra would be incomplete without collecting its best known souvenir.

The souvenirs are bottles filled with coloured sand depicting the ancient scenes of the city.

The craft of arranging coloured sand in a bottle is unique and is done on the spot by the craftsmen,” says Mr. Rao.

Many movies were shot at the site. A few to name are Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Passion in the Desert and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

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