Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a young Swiss explorer, was the first Westerner known to view Petra in recent history. In 1812 he traveled to Wadi Araba under the assumed name of Ibrahim ibn Abdullah. At that time, Petra, a maze of ancient rock-hewn temples and tombs, was seen only by Bedouins.
These days, Petra is a popular tourist attraction in Jordan, drawing visitors from far and near. Most of the magnificent sandstone structures are facades of tombs. Some of the carved structures served as banqueting rooms and places to have memorial ceremonies for the dead. Homes and public buildings are still being excavated. Other ruins on the site are from the Roman era, more recent additions to the towering carved rock walls.
I found Petra hauntingly beautiful, a strange place that, if not for the hordes of tourists milling about, would have seemed desolate. It is a natural fortress isolated in the middle of the desert, seemingly a million miles from nowhere.
The Nabateans
Little is known of the enigmatic Nabateans. Who were their ancestors? Why did they disappear from the record of history? These mysterious people leave historians and tourists with a lot of unanswered questions. But what we do know forms a picture of an unusual society, most likely comprised of 20,000 to 30,000 residents.
Dates vary, since there is so little history about the Nabateans’ move to Petra. It is a wide spread, but it is likely that they began to inhabit Petra between the sixth and third century B.C. As they developed into a highly sophisticated society, several things set them apart from the nations around them. For one, to maintain harmony with others, they employed diplomacy instead of warfare. Also, it was acceptable for women to assume prominent roles in governmental leadership. And the Nabateans were obsessed with the afterlife; hence, such elaborate burial places.
Without a doubt, the Nabateans were polytheistic. In Petra is no shortage of niches where statues of gods would have been placed. Altars, including the elaborate High Place, indicate that pagan worship was a central part of their lives.
The success of the Nabateans was due in large part to their ability to store water. They built huge cisterns to preserve water during winter’s flash floods. I read about a stream that runs through the city. I did not see it; it was probably only a dry bed during the time we visited. Nevertheless, the Nabateans created an elaborate water containment and distribution system, strategically carving water channels out of the rock. Apparently their water engineering system was so good that they had sufficient water to not only bathe and supply households with water, but some people even cultivated vineyards and orchards. Plus, they provided water for the visitors that frequented their city.
Petra was located along an ancient trade route, the Kings Highway, and this self-governed city capitalized on its location. Petra became an essential stop for caravans of merchants and traders from places like Egypt, Syria, and India. Some of the trade goods that passed through Petra were cloth, art, incense (especially frankincense), precious metals, and exotic spices. Strabo, a Greek historian, recorded that Nabateans considered financial success so important that unprofitable merchants were fined.
Most modern visitors enter Petra through the Siq, a narrow gorge that continues to taper until the visitor rounds a bend for his first glimpse of the magnificent Al-Khazneh, better known as the Treasury. Visitors to Petra long ago would have also entered this way. It is said that the Nabateans intentionally carved the Treasury in this location to impress visitors and traders with their prosperity and progressiveness. Especially at that time, the magnificence of such a structure would have awed travelers, weary from a long trek through the hostile desert.
For several centuries, Petra was successful at maintaining its political and financial independence. But as sea trade began to replace land routes, Petra’s industry fell into decline. Also, Petra was unable to withstand the powerful Roman Empire and capitulated to its rule in 106 A.D. Little is heard of Petra again until the arrival of Burckhardt in 1812.
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