The Power of Petra

Wall Street Journal ^ | APRIL 11, 2009 | JAMIE JAMES

[nickcarraway]

No city ever made a more dramatic entrance. Petra, the capital of the ancient Nabataeans, in present-day Jordan, is accessible only by a chasm called the Siq, nearly a mile long. Its sandstone walls, gorgeously marbled in every vivid and delicate shade of red, pink and rose, occasionally veined in cobalt blue, rise more than 600 feet high. All monumental architecture, from the pyramids of Giza to the Empire State Building, acquires some of its power to inspire awe by making the visitor feel small; walking through the Siq leaves one feeling antlike.

The chasm abruptly terminates in a small sandy clearing at the foot of the magnificent Hellenistic façade of al-Khazneh, the Treasury, carved into the face of a crimson cliffside. The celebrated icon of Petra, reproduced on a thousand travel posters and in sun-purpled photographs in every shop and café in Jordan, the Treasury easily overcomes its familiarity when seen in person, lifting the gaze and the spirits of everyone who makes the journey to see it. From this spectacular entrance, Petra spreads for miles. Almost all that remains of the city -- great temples and markets, ornamented tombs, lavish public baths, a theater -- was excavated and ornately carved from rose-colored rock 2,000 years ago.

The site possessed every possible advantage. The Siq narrows at some points to just two or three yards across, which meant that an army on camelback had to enter Petra single file, making the city effectively impregnable. In a land surrounded by sterile desert, Petra was watered by a perennial stream. The Nabataeans were masters of water management who devised an ingenious system of dams, canals and aqueducts (long before the Romans arrived) that created an artificial oasis in the midst of the eastern Negev.

[ApplegateRanch]

EVERYONE shouyld go there!

No they shouldn't! Too damned many tourists spoil the trap.

Candy wrappers flutting along the ground; squalling brats too young and cranky to appreciate what they're seeing; know it all loudmouths who are 80% wrong about every pronouncement they make; the inevitable taggers and other vandals carving their marks for an uncaring posterity; hawkers, beggars, and pickpockets preying on the hordes have already ruined too many iconic places...even Everest...to want to unleash them upon Petra.