4 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
February 2016
Lair Hill resident travels to the ancient city of Petra, the Rose City, in Jordan
looked like gigantic red marbles.
The next morning we set out at the
gates of Petra at about 7:30 a.m. The
By Darl Kleinbach
way to the gorge is a mile walk down
the remnant of a Roman road. For
It was late November 2015. My
comparison, we could have traveled
companion and I were fortunate to
on donkeys or camels, ridden a spirited
arrive at the Shara Mountains in
Arab pony, or rode in a horse-drawn
southwest Jordan in the late afternoon.
carriage.
When viewed from afar, the rocky
These canyons were first settled in
sandstone hills we planned to explore
approximately 200 B.C. by Nabateans,
nomadic tribes
who originated
in what is now
northern Saudi
Arabia.
The
location happened
to be close to busy
trade routes and
eventually the
tribes settled down
and created a sort
of caravansary,
something like
motels, for the
travelers.
Some of the
caves in the
canyon walls
were carved into
sleeping spaces
and elaborate
dining rooms
whose benches
survive.
The
Nabateans traded
food, shelter, and
protection for
news, culture,
language, and
even science. They
"The Treasury" in Petra. (Photo courtesy of Darl Kleinbach) lost their need to
POSTCARD FROM PETRA
roam and Petra became the capital of
the larger Nabatean area of influence.
The narrow couloir which leads to
the tombs of ancient Rose City is called
the Siq. In some places it is as narrow
as 10 feet and the sides tower 120 feet
high. The colors of the walls display
the shades of the sunrise from yellow
to deep maroon.
In one place there were royal purple
with streaks of gold. The first part of
the Siq is about a mile.
On each side are dams and cisterns
to collect storm water and along the
walls are channels to direct the water
to the city when needed, one side
for drinking and on the other, for
irrigation. It was this management
of water that made the thriving
community in the canyons of the
desert possible.
The first of the major tombs, called
the Treasury, gleamed in the morning
sun as we emerged from the darker
rift in the rocks. It is a three-story
façade carved in the red rock, in
the style of a Roman temple. Only
recently archeologists have dug down
another 16 feet where they uncovered
two royal tombs.
The entire day we walked and
marveled at more and more tombs,
on one side, the huge royal tombs
and on the other side of a wide valley,
smaller tombs of lesser nobles. As the
canyon widens, there is an auditorium,
a colonnaded market street, a public
well and finally remnants of three huge
temples, built at different times.
Petra was later inhabited by Romans,
Byzantines, and even Mongols before
being abandoned to straggling
Bedouin tribes. It was rediscovered in
1812 by a Swiss explorer.
Floods had settled silt 20 to 30 feet
deep in the city. Archeologists are
still excavating. Much is still to be
discovered. Petra has been named one
of the “New Seven Wonders of the
World.” And we agree.
Darl Kleinbach, a retired marketing
rep., lives in Lair Hill. Her four-week
adventure included Tunisia and stops in
Egypt including Cairo, Luxor, and the
Valley of the Kings. Kleinbach said she
and her companion floated in the Dead
Sea. They then went on to visit Darl’s
granddaughter, who lives in Abu Dhabi.
We’ve Moved!
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