Oct 17 More Petra

Today Paul and Tara went back to Petra to see some items not seen yesterday, including the Monastery.  Mary choose not to go, as it would involve lots of steps and donkey riding.

We walked in the same way as yesterday.  Along the way to the Treasury our guide showed us a couple of sites we did not see the day before.

The Snake Tomb, just off the path.

An Aslah triclinium (bench seating on three sides) cave.

Views from Ashlah.

And the stone board for a game called Manqalah (Mancala in the US) that uses stones for playing pieces.

More photos walking through the Siq (gorge) on the way to the treasury.

Birds nesting in the rocks

Water channels along the walk in the Siq.

Treasury

There are tombs under the Treasury the treasury was carved on top of.  They left an entrance for two of them.  One in the middle was covered by the stairs.

We took a break in the Moon triclinium cave, waiting for Ahmed, our donkey guide, to be ready for us.

We walked along a path through the valley...

that took us to an overview of the theater,

and a view of the royal tombs,

and some colorful tombs.

We met the donkeys, but walked mostly along a path to the Roman soldiers tomb.  

Along the way we saw more tombs and scenery,

Ahmed's caves where he grow up (most of the cave dwellers left when the government provided them homes nearby),

Facades of homes of the rich,

and finally the Roman soldiers tomb.

Nearby was another triclinium cave with very colorful columns.  

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Video of colorful cave
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On the way down to the Basin...

we had good views of the Great Temple.

Stones salvaged from the Great Temple

we say a winged lion relief from the winged lion temple we had seen yesterday. 

Winged Lion Relief

We had lunch at the Basin, splitting a falafel sandwich.  Then off to the Monastery (1000 steps over 0.8 of a mile).   We had another view of the Qasr al-Bint Temple from above...

 

and we passed by the Lion Temple.

Temple of the Winged Lion

The steps could be uneven and taller than normal.  For this we rode the donkeys. 

The scenery was still pretty in this area...

and the trail took us right through some souvenir stands. 

First view of The Monastery.

The Monastery was originally used for the meetings of religious associations.  The Arabic name "Ad Deir" (the Monastery) was given to the place by native Bedouins because of the crosses inscribed on the interior back wall during its Christian use in Byzantine times. The monument's façade of 154 feet (47 meters) width and 157 feet (48 meters) height, and the large hall behind it were carved out of the mountain around the mid-1st century AD.

Note the cliff sides in front of the monastery. The mountain was carved back from the original slope until a vertical face became high enough to carve the Monastery.

Saw some "wildlife" at the monastery.

We then took a back way from the monastery ...

to a road where we were picked up by a car. Yesterday Ahmed indicated the back way was 30 minutes of easy path.  It was 90 minutes of a medium to hard path, lots of stairs up and down on the path.  After the initial long up, the path was relatively the same level, but with lots of relatively short staircases up and down.  And then a long stairs down and up near the end.  And a lot of it was riding on the donkeys.  We tended to walk downstairs, as I think it is harder on the donkeys and more prone to accidents than going upstairs.

All in all it was a wonderful two days exploring Petra.  What a marvelous place to visit. 

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More Petra
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Driving through the town of Wadi Musa (Petra).  Interesting names for some eateries.