Petra. It looks a lot like Moab, Utah. And in fact this region is called Moab.

Amazing, entrancing, Petra. In the deserts of the south of Jordan lie the ruins of the ancient Nabatean stronghold. Petra was built in the first century BC. The Romans tried at various times to conquer the city, but the highly defensible nature of the city, along with the highly wealthy nature of its inhabitants kept repeated attacks at bay. In 62 BC, apparently bothered by the repeated Roman attacks on their lucrative trading empire, the Nabateans bribed the Romans to halt their siege, pack up and go home. Sort of like the well heeled merchant reaching into his pocket and giving the persistent panhandler a dollar to go away. "Go away, Kid, you bother me."

It has an entry scheme that can't be beat. You walk down a desert wash for a few kilometers, then you enter a deep, narrow slot canyon called the Siq. This goes on for another few clicks and as your senses are growing accustomed to the smooth Georgia O'Keefe-esque organic curves of sandstone, light and stratification, the first hard, crisp angular lines of Al-Khazneh, the treasury, come as quite a surprise.

This first monument, the Treasury* is well protected in a deep canyon called the Wadi al Jarra, so its carved facade is quite well preserved.




The Siq.









This is the inside of the Treasury. Something of a letdown after the opulence of the facade, but interesting for its colorful sandstone.



*Not really a treasury at all, the Bedoiuns, who had no notion of classical history, ascribed the creation of this place to Pharoah, The Lord of Black Magic. In their legend he supposedly stopped here while chasing the Israelites after Exodus. Burdened by all of his treasure. He created the Treasury in an instant to hold his fortune out of the reach of human hands.