Where: Petra, located outside the town of Wadi Mousa in southern Jordan.

When: April 2006

What: The Siq at Petra
Petra, popularized by the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, was lost for seven centuries to modern Western civilization, its existence a guarded secret known only to the local Bedouins until 1812, when John Lewis Burckhardt tricked his Bedouin guides into leading him there. The young Swiss convert to Islam heard locals speaking of a “lost city” and disguised himself as a pilgrim seeking to make a sacrifice at the tomb of Aaron. The ruse worked and he ‘discovered’ Petra.

The Siq is the main entrance into Petra, the rose-red ancient city first established around the 6th century BC by the nomadic Nabataean tribe, who chose it as their capital due to is defensible position in a valley surrounded by sandstone hills. Expert hydraulic engineers, The Nabataeans lined the walls with channels to carry drinking water into the city. To the right of the woman in the panorama stands one of three tombs

Entrance to Siq

The Siq, Petra

Inside, the Siq twist and turns, narrowing to a width of five meters with walls soaring as high as 200 meters (650 ft.) on either side, before finally rewarding the traveler with a glimpse of Petra.

http://www.uricogan.com/trip/trip_pages/siq.html

The Victorian traveler and poet Dean Burgon gave Petra a description which holds to this day -"Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose-red city half as old as time."

- View more of Uri Cogan’s panoramas.
- Read more about Petra
Email Uri Cogan: uri[at]uricogan[dot]com
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