• Category Archives jordan
  • The Siq

    The Siq is the canyon that leads to Petra.

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    This is the entrance to the narrow canyon.

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    This tunnel was originally built over 2000 years ago to control flooding. It is 88m long.

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    The carved blocky things are called Djinn blocks, because the Bedouin people believed djinn lived in them.

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    They were actually carved centuries before that and were probably some kind of memorial to the dead.

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    This was the water supply to the city, carved into the canyon walls. But it wasn’t for drinking water.

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    It is covered in some places to keep debris out.

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    This is the drinking water channel. It was concealed and out of reach so that people could not poison it.

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    This is pretty much all that remains of a carving in the canyon of a merchant and camels. Lots of the canyon was decorated originally, but it didn’t keep very well.

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    The canyon was very pretty.

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  • Sacrificial Height

    An even better view than the best view in Petra was found at the Sacrificial Hight Place.

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    You can see the modern city at the back over the canyon walls.

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    And you can see all of the ancient tombs carved into the walls.

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    And the Roman ruins on the other side.

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  • Best View

    We climbed to the top of the world to get the best view.

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    We were really excited.

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    We were a bit confused when we got here.

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    Because this sign says the best view is to the left.

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    But clearly the best view must be over here.

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    We went left first, and determined that it had the best view of the best view point. To the right was the best view, but you couldn’t see much due to the fog.

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  • Awesome Mosaic

    This church was in Petra but built much later than most of the carvings.

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    This was the best mosaic because it had ice cream.

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    Or maybe this was ice cream?

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    They’re all ice cream, because ice cream is awesome.

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    Even weird beaked fish know ice cream is awesome.

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    ICE CREAM!!!

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  • Other Homes for Rich Dead People

    Petra is mostly old tombs.

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    Some of them don’t look that great anymore but you wouldn’t either after thousands of years.

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    The ones that are deeply recessed into the walls held up better than the ones near the front.

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    Most of them were carved into the walls, which is why they survived the earthquakes. So most of the damage is erosion.

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    But the very top of this one was built out of stone.

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    This tomb was on the way to the canyon and much more exposed. It is also missing the steps and instead has pyramids on the top.

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    You can see the steps here a bit better. Moreover you can see the cool rock that they carved into.

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    The stone is really pretty and colourful.

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    Especially the swirly bits.

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    Lots and lots of swirly bits.

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    On the inside it was carved with a texture like this.

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    Many of the tombs have stairways at the top for the dead to take to the afterlife. Of course if you could get there with stairs I don’t know why you would have to be dead first, and if you don’t need stairs what’s the point in carving stairs halfway?

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    This one was really deeply recessed with a tiny door to nowhere.

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    The less rich people had to cram simpler tombs into whatever bit of canyon was left.

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    It looks really crowded, but how much space do dead people need?

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    The even poorer people had caves that were barely decorated. And they are full of camels. Probably not back then though.

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    This is the inside of one of the tiny tombs with holes for the bodies.

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    All the tombs in the canyon made a very pretty view.

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