noj rotsap: Foto Friday-Petra

Halfway through the trip, we were able to travel to Jordan, the country directly across the Jordan river. It is basically the only muslim nation that is very friendly to tourists. Largely because the king of Jordan married an American (you will see a picture of the king in a moment). At any rate, Jordan is home to Petra, one of the wonders of the ancient world (due to a recent revote). It was a city carved into the sandstone. It is most famous for being the home of the Holy Grail in Indian Jones. The cave itself only goes back about fifteen feet or so. We did not get our heads chopped off, thankfully. Enjoy the natural sandstone colors as well as the complexity of these caves carved thousands of years ago.

Note: some Christians (i.e. Left Behind) believe Christians will flee to Petra when the anti-christ comes. I just thought it was really neat-o.

We know very little about the people who lived here.

To get to the city, we had to walk through about a half mile of canyon. It never got bigger than about ten yards, and was very dark. The walls were giant. (some of the pictures are out of sequence).

If the weather is this nice, I wouldn't mind hiding out here. (But i don't think I'd like the tourists).

This is the most famous of the excavations. There are still some areas being dug, but this is the one Indy went into. Most of the big famous ones are burial sites, but I believe this one is a treasury of sorts.

Right before you walk into the huge open area, you pass through this really narrow, really dark part of the canyon. The brightness of the light is blinding as you begin to see the big treasury.

The small caves were living units. The big ones sarcophagi.

This is what the sandstone looks like on the inside. Notice how precixe the angles are and how smooth the rock is.

The inside of the treasury

More sandstone

Nice tomb.

I just now noticed that guy in the picture. I hope he isn' using the restroom. At any rate, these structures were giant. They liked bigness (maybe early Americans?). Even their camels are big SUV camels. just kidding.

We didn't have tiem to run down and see this area, the newest excavation. Guess I'll have to go back sometime.

THis is an ancient pipe. One of the earliest we know of. They brought rainwater in through this covered pipeline.

Like all good ancient sites, Petra had plenty of tourist traps. I love the titles of these boutiques. Not sure what the Titanic . . . or cofee, has to do with Petra but there you go.