Petra Eighth Wonder of the World
Jordan's Rose Red City is shortlisted for the new Seven Wonders of t
Nov 17, 2006
Of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World only one, the Pyramids at Giza, remains standing today. That’s what prompted academic Bernard Weber to launch an initiative to find the New Seven Wonders of the World at the start of the millennium.
Many sites were nominated but these have now been whittled down to a final shortlist of twenty one including Jordan’s remarkable ‘Lost City’ of Petra.
Already described as the eighth wonder of the ancient world, Petra is Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It’s a unique city carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled there more than 2000 years ago. They made Petra an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.
Set deep inside a narrow desert gorge, from the main entrance visitors walk into the chasm or siq ripped in the rock during a prehistoric earthquake. Petra’s most famous monument, the Treasury, appears dramatically at its end. Most people have seen photographs or posters of this building but nothing prepares them for that first moment when it comes into view.
This was the building used in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But don’t expect to go inside and find a series of huge caverns, an ancient knight in armour or the Holy Grail. That part was a movie set. But the reality is equally fascinating. Just contemplating the amount of effort and skill that went into carving out the interior, never mind the ornate façade, is mind boggling.
And this is only the first of Petra’s secrets. The city is spread over a vast distance and includes various walks and climbs, hundreds of rock cut tombs, temple facades, funerary halls, rock reliefs and high above, on Jabal Harun, the tomb of Aaron, brother of Moses. Small boys will approach and ask if you would like to take a ‘taxi’ to the higher areas. By ‘taxi’ they mean a donkey and you may be tempted to laugh at them and walk on. Half way up the steep steps leading to the Monastery you may well regret that.
To vote for Petra as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World click here.
