The Rose Red City of Petra (Day 2)

Another early start saw us shivering through the Siq at 7am. It was promising to be a better day than yesterday but the mist and clouds of the cold night were still low over the mountains and the sun had not yet broken through.
Our first encounter of the day was with a delightful child named Hanan who tried very hard to sell us a rock from her tray. We only escaped by giving her a koala keyring. Thank goodness we brought so many of them! They are just as popular here as in Japan.

We walked straight along the Cardo Maximus, retracing our steps of yesterday, heading for the Monastery - Al Deir.
At the end of the Cardo can be seen Qasr al Bint, the Castle of Pharaoh's Daughter, one of the few freestanding buildings remaining in Petra. This temple is dedicated to the Goddess Al'Uzza, one of the major Nabataean goddesses.

I found some interesting facts on Al'Uzza when I did some research
on the net on my return home - see below.

DAUGHTERS OF ALLAH

Originally, Al-'Uzza, Allat and Manat were the three daughters of Allah,
worshipped before the rise of Islam.

Al-’Uzza is also supposed to have come from Sinai and to have been the goddess of the planet Venus.
Allat, the ancient moon goddess of North Arabia, was introduced from Syria. She corresponds to the ancient moon deity of South Arabia, Almaqah, or Sin as he was called. Mount Sinai (the feminine form of Sin) was one of the centres of worship of this northern moon goddess.
As the moon and the evening star are associated in the heavens, so too were Allat and Al-’Uzza associated together in religious belief. Does this give rise to the crescent and star conjoined on the flags of Arab countries today?
As for Manat, her original home seems to have been in Hejaz and she was the Goddess of Fortune or Fate.

These three pagan deities are the inspiration for the title of the infamous Salman Rushdie book
“The Satanic Verses” referring to the deleted passages from the 53rd Sura of the Koran.

The climb to the Monastery involves some 800 steps cut into the living rock and is even higher than that of the Place of High Sacrifice.
A great many tourists climb onto the backs of the sad, uncomplaining little donkeys (see left). These little creatures were being raced down the steps to catch the next unfit tourist wanting a lift to the top. Lazy creatures! We walked!
It was a very steep and arduous climb, however and we paused halfway up to chat to a group of traders (right) who were brewing an early cup of tea whilst getting their merchandise ready for the day.
Al Deir is the largest of Petra's monuments, at 45m wide and 50m high. It's so impressive when you turn the corner from the exhausting climb and see it spread before you. It was built in 1AD as a temple but from 4AD it was used as a Christian Byzantine monastery - thereby the name "The Monastery".
Climbing beyond Al Deir, I sat on a rock overlooking the valley with views to Jebel Haroun beyond. Sometimes you just have to take time to sit and meditate!
(see above right)
Hearing the Islamic midday call to prayer, I leant further over the edge and spotted this lone worshipper further down, facing Mecca (left).
Which reminded us both that it was also time to eat. Out came the picnic boxes and we enjoyed another picnic lunch of - you guessed it - boiled eggs, cheese,pitta bread and oranges.
Descending from the Monastery, we walked to the Byzantine Church in the valley only discovered by an American in 1993. Here also were discovered a cache of papyrus rolls in one of the rooms of the church. Written in Greek, these 6th century documents deal with real estate, contracts, marriages, inheritances, etc. and gave a real insight into the day to day lives of these people.
The tombs pictured on the left are some of the oldest tombs, as is shown by the Assyrian architecture and decoration. They are not as large as the so-called Royal Tombs, which were our next stop. These are a series of large tombs lined along a cliff facing into the valley.
The Urn Tomb, which competes in size with the Treasury and Al Deir, is shown on the right. A large courtyard in front of it adds to its grandeur.
The Palace Tomb (below left) appears to be an imitation of a Roman Palace. Thus, it must have been carved at a later date than the other tombs.
The Silk Tomb (photo right) has been badly damaged by the elements and much of the facade has eroded but the inside of the shows how it got its name.
The colours on the walls resemble a silken fabric, with glowing colours washing into each other. Purples, reds, oranges and pinks shift slowly across the walls and ceiling.

We pondered the beliefs of the people who were driven to build such magnificent tombs. They must have had a strong belief in the afterlife. Their own day to day dwelling places have long since vanished yet these temples and tombs remain to tantalise us.
Across the valley from the Royal Tombs, the Amphitheatre can be seen. Built originally by the Nabataeans, it was enlarged by the Romans to seat 7,000. Again, this is all carved out of the rock, seat by seat.

And somehow, another day had passed. It was 4.30pm and almost dark. We walked up the Siq in darkness, thankful that Guy had brought his headlight. Last to leave, we were chastised by the guards at the gate, who were waiting to lock up. We apologised and went for a much-needed cuppa.

Before returning to our hotel, we needed to get some money at an ATM so we caught a taxi driven by a very friendly guy called Fawaz. He invited us to his house for tea which we accepted but first we explained our need of cash. Fawaz drove us to an ATM and promised to return in an hour to collect us and take us to his home.

ATM BLUES (One to Watch Out For!!)

We tried to get some money out of the ATM - to no avail. After all our cards had been rejected with the message "Insufficient Funds Available" we were starting to panic. Had some internet shyster ripped off our hard-earned savings? We searched for another ATM but this too had the same message - "Insufficient Funds Available".
It was Saturday night and we were due to leave for Wadi Rum the next morning at 6am - where there were no ATMs.
Retiring to an internet cafe to check our emails and our internet banking, we found the solution to our problems. Our bank was offline. Of course! Back in Australia, it would be early Sunday morning when most internet banking accounts are closed for a few hours for routine maintenance.

Such a relief - but no solution to our problem. We decided to cash in a little of our US dollar stash at the internet cafe. Whilst we were doing this, who should we run into but Ivor and Ana, our Croatian friends from Amman and Madaba, now newly arrived in Petra. We laughed and promised to look out for them in Wadi Rum

Fawaz arrived to collect us and took us to his house for tea and to meet his three boisterous children and his sister and brother-in-law. It seems his wife was away visiting her family in a nearby town.
We were given tea and home-made cookies by the sister and had a chat with Fawaz and his brother-in-law.
Poor sister had to tend to the children and stay in the kitchen.
Fawaz was a very interesting man who had been in the Jordanian Army for many years. In his early 40s he was now earning a living as a taxi driver and tour operator. He was disappointed to find we were leaving Petra the following day but I promised to give him a plug on the internet - so here goes:

FAWAZ

Fawaz is ex Jordanian Army,
speaks excellent English and has his own taxi. He is available to take tourists around Wadi Musa and surrounding areas
at very good rates.

Fawaz Ahmmad El Hasanat
Tel 032155091
Mobile 0330 6692
Petra, Jordan
Wadi Musa.

Back at our hotel, we had dinner and organised a minibus (JD3 each) to take us to Wadi Rum the following day, where we would be met by a Bedouin named Madallah. He will take us on a tour which includes sleeping in a Bedoun tent in the desert (and food) for JD22 each. He will also arrange for us to catch the bus to Aqaba from the Wadi Rum village the following day.