Royal Nabatean tombs in Petra in Jordan
It is one of the great Wonders of the World, of those places that if you can afford it, you must visit at least once in your life.
I'm talking about Petra, historical enclave of Jordan that I had the opportunity to visit, and that you are still surprised by what you can imagine seeing photos of its famous corners, especially the treasure.
You have to know that it is possible hire a guided tour in Spanish through the city of Petra with several options depending on what you feel like doing in this magical city.
But if you're going to meet him at your leisure, during the Petra visit you will have many doubts and you will be anxious to know the secrets of its history.
View of the Treasury of Petra from the Siq Gorge
Therefore, I'll tell you next 10 curiosities and historical facts about Petra.
Petra, why lost city
1.- Petra It is known as the lost City because although its history dates back to the time of the Nabateans, in the seventh century BC, in the Middle Ages it was already completely abandoned and it was not «Discovered»By Westerners until the early nineteenth century.
Specifically, it was the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt who in 1812 got the local inhabitants to take him to know that lost City that was talked about.
Enthusiast of Arab culture, before he converted to the Muslim religion and changed his name to that ofIbrahim Ibn Abd Allah, which allowed him to gain the confidence necessary to be led to Petra.
Buggy at the Siq gorge in Petra in Jordan
2.- The main reason that Petra became the lost City It is its special location in a valley surrounded by high rocky mountains whose entrance is the deep gorge known as the Siq.
With a length of a kilometer and a half, the gorge has a minimum width of just over two meters in one of its sections.
That is why it became a totally hidden and impregnable enclave.
Nabatean altar in the Siq gorge of Petra in Jordan
Who are the Nabateans?
3.- Petra reached its maximum development when it was occupied by the Nabatean civilization. But, who were the nabateans?
It was an Arab town that reached its maximum splendor between the 4th centuries BC. and I d.C., which spread over the lands of Palestine dedicated to trade.
Sample of this commercial spirit is found in the sculptural reliefs that you can see in the aforementioned Siq, which represent life-size camel caravans.
Sculptural reliefs in the Siq gorge of Petra in Jordan
4.- Three were the functions that the Petra city.
On the one hand, it was considered as the city for tomorrow. With a pagan religion with numerous gods, the city of Petra is plagued with Nabatean tombs, spaces excavated in the rock where the dead rested.
You will see them very simple, simple access holes to a cave, but also splendid, and the most famous of them, the image that you surely have in the retina, known as the Petra's treasure.
On the other hand, Petra was a defensive enclave where the Nabateans were hiding to defend themselves against the attacks of other peoples.
Nabatean tombs in Petra in Jordan
And on the other, Petra was a great Commercial City, an essential stage in the caravan routes that traded with products from India.
5.- Some of the keys of petra boom was the availability of water, always scarce in these lands of middle East.
Because of its location between rocky mountains, and thanks to the construction of complex canal networks, in Petra they had enough water for their population.
But, on the other hand, the layout of the great gorge in history favored significant flooding by torrents of water.
Petra's treasure in Jordan
In the last of the known, a few decades ago, some tourists died, which caused some walls to be built to contain the arrival of water, which you can see during your tour ofthe Siq.
Likewise, at the entrance of the Siq you will see a tunnel that also fulfills the function of diverting the waters.
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The Romans in Petra
6.- Petra was conquered by the romansspecifically by the general Pompey in the year 63 B.C., and although initially the Nabatos had some autonomy, after the death of the last Nabatean king in the year 106, it became a city controlled by the emperor Trajan.
Route of the columns in Petra in Jordan
Later it was losing its strength as a commercial city by deviating traditional routes with the appearance of new sea routes.
You can see archaeological remains of the Roman presence now especially in the Way of the Columns and in the Petra Theater.
In the Byzantine era, in the fourth century, Petra joined the Eastern Roman Empire, already under Christianity, which led to the construction of some churches.
Roman theater in Petra in Jordan
7.- In the year 363 there was an important earthquake, which caused that good part of the buildings of the city were destroyed.
And since Petra no longer had the commercial importance of that time, they were rebuilt and little by little the city was abandoned.
In the later Middle Ages, there was a time when Petra it was occupied by crossed knights, until 1187 when they were defeated by Saladinor.
Since then, Petra It was practically abandoned until the Swiss explorer rediscovered it in 1812.
