What an amazing day this has been! The weather was perfect, a beautiful day. Our guide Maha gathered us into the visitor information centre to explain the history of Petra, the ancient capital of the Nabateans. It is located on the edge of the Arabah rift valley about 80kms SSE of the Dead Sea. Petra is not mentioned in the Bible but has been commonly identified with OT Sela, a major fortified city in Edom. A school of thought beleive 2 Kings 14:7 speak of Petra under the names of Sela and Jocktheel. The ruins of Petra were discovered in 1812. To the Nabateans Petra was a holy site only and contained no residents; they were located in the adjacent town of Wadi Musa. The Romans took control of Petra in the second century AD, evidenced by the typical Cardo and temples.
After Maha's informative session we headed off on our journey into the Siq, or canyon bounded by very high walls either side, spectacular! The city was truly a secret city! We experienced the WOW factor of the renouned "Treasury" building appearing before our eyes as it emerged in all its splendour with each step we took. It is the most famous of the multitude of tombs in Petra. Wendy and John were treated to a horse and cart ride into the heart of Petra where we later joined them for lunch. Maha as always added the human touch to ancient life where she rubbed two small sandstone rocks together to make some makeup to beautify one of our ladies! (much cheaper than Revlon!).
Small children heckled us to buy postcards, and older bedouin gypsys hawked silver bangles. Transport was constantly offered to us in the form of camels and donkeys or horse and cart (no suspension!). After a beautiful lunch most people walked back the 2kms to the main entrance while Jim and Mal trekked up to the Ad-Deir monastery, a 2 hour walk. The day was exhausting but what we saw was amazing and beautiful. It caused us to reflect on the OT record of the Exodus and the wilderness wandering of the Israelites who most likely experienced this very region, and those who died in the wilderness may very well have been buried in locations such as Petra. Our day finished with a worship and prayer time followed by a tasty buffet meal and a special presentation to Maha of 4 water colour paintings of characters encountered in the 2015 trip. The paintings will be a treasure and we're created by Cynthia. Today we were blessed again by being in the land of the Bible and with wonderful fellowship in the Lord.
Paul Mercer joins the guard at the entrance to Petra
Us at The Treasury
The Royal tombs
Our lovely guide - Maha. We bid her farewell tomorrow.
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ReplyDeleteGreetings from Australia! This is Teresa, Margaret's friend and colleague.
ReplyDeleteReading your posts daily and loving the pictures and description of the sites. Amazing!
May all of you have a powerful encounter with Jesus in all you do. Praying for God's protection and safety.
God bless and enjoy your trip to the fullest!
Teresa