Painted Petra History…

Hello wandering travelers! This post is going to take us to the Middle East.

I visited this site a few years ago – it was like walking into archeology film, not unlike the main title that most people know, “Indiana Jones – The Last Crusade”.

It was late August in the Middle East when I visited, which means no amounts of white is going to stop this Alaskan girl from sweating her butt off. However, thankfully it did help cover it 🤣.

My favorite thing about visiting Petra was, obviously the archaeological, and the markets! The markets for fresh food, spices and the antique markets. These markets are made up of the knickknacks that have been found in the sand around the ruins of Petra.

Walking through the temples of Nabatean you can see the beautiful colors of history painted right into the walls with the pink, greys, yellow and brown colors that tint the sandstone that make up the majestic enclosures of the Rose City.

This history of Petra is a long and now a famous archaeological site in Jordan’s southwestern desert. Dating to around 300 B.C., it was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. Accessed via a narrow canyon called Al Siq, it contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the “Rose City.” Perhaps its most famous structure is 45m-high Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek-style facade, and known as The Treasury.

Walking down the long canyon (referenced in Indiana Jones as the “crescent moon”) that leads from the open desert down to the hidden city. You could see along the walls of the canyon where the water portos were carved out to stream fresh rain water down to collection wells near the city. I couldn’t help but feel so small in standing in the arena where thousands of millennia have passed and for many centuries only the guardians of the city even knew of it’s existence.

These were a people who knew how to live and flourish in the desert where it seems like life itself shouldn’t be possible with the lack of natural provisions, and yet…they continued on.

If you are considering a trip to Jordan I would HIGHLY suggest doing it. I was only in Petra for a few short days but it was totally worth it! Make this part of your bucket list.

Traveling Photographer Out!…