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part 1
This selection of photos conveys a first impression of ancient Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans. It gives an idea of the wealth of archaeological treasures that can be encountered while walking in the valley basin, through gorges, and over rocks and ridges.
The trail to the center of Petra leads first through the Bab as-Siq. Right at the beginning one can see the mysterious Block Tombs. The Aslah Triclinium with the oldest dated inscription of Petra, although easily accessible, is rarely visited.
Obelisk Tomb and Bab as-Siq Triclinium. The two very different rock-cut structures were built at the same time (40 - 70 AD) and functionally coordinated. In the foreground, pit graves on a rock.
The Siq (shaft), the main pathway to Petra, winds over 1.2 km through a cleft in the sandstone massif which in some places is only 3 m wide and up to 70 m deep. On both sides of the path you can see the remains of Nabataean water channels.
Row of votive niches, some with inscriptions, known as Sabinos Alexandros Station. Along the Siq are many other testimonies of the Nabataean religion, including betyls and small incense altars.
The most famous tomb in Petra. Bedouins called it "Khazneh al-Fira'un" (Pharaoh's Treasury, short: al-Khazneh), because they believed that a fleeing Egyptian pharaoh hid a treasure in the urn on the top.
The 25 m wide and 39 m high al-Khazneh was completely hewn out of the rock probably in the 3rd or 4th decade of our era. The main figure is identified, i.a. by the Basileion on the gable below her as the goddess Isis.
Shortly before the theater, smaller tomb facades were chiseled out of the rock in several rows one above the other probably in the 1st century AD. Most of them are Pylon Tombs with single or double crenellations.
The theater was built in the early 1st century AD and was expanded after the Roman annexation of the Nabataean Kingdom in 106 A.D., slicing trough some older tomb facades. Its auditorium could seat up to 8.000 spectators.
Many facades in Petra were part of larger burial complexes, which could include courtyards, colonnades, banquet rooms, cisterns and basins. Some of these can be seen in the Urn Tomb, which was converted into a church in the 5th century.
Overlooking the ancient city center, the so-called "Royal Tombs," carved out of the Jabal al-Khubtha rock massif. The elaborately designed, 49 m wide Palace Tomb is one of the largest monuments in Petra.
Niche with three betyls. A betyl (Semitic: bait-el = house of God) is an aniconical God symbol, usually in the form of a vertical rectangular plate or stele. It can also be a negative form in a niche. Often there are several betyls in a niche next to each other, on top of each other or grouped together. "The betyl is not a representation of the God, neither an image of the God, nor an idol. As a medium of the presence of the God, however, it can also experience cultic veneration. This in turn means that in the act of worship, one could offer sacrifices and gifts to the betyl." (R. Wenning, 2007. Transl. UiU)
