The "Lost City" of Petra

I was here for 3 nights in Dec 2010, very nice place. Dead quiet when I was there, and good temperature. So many different types of spectacle to see - they even have an amphitheatre. On the second day, I walked up this hill called Umm Al Biyara near the main sights.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/abfcd797eb53.jpg[/atsimg]

It's mental. This utterly terrifying staircase cut out of the side of the mountain, most of it entirely unprotected with several hundred metre drops at the edge. Takes about an hour to walk up. Ruins from 7000BC at the top! Amazing views.

It's quite easy to get there from Eilat if you're visiting Israel.

reply to post by yampa


Fantastic...

Coming down the staircase would be what worries me.....

F&S for a great thread on a great topic. My son was just over there about three weeks ago and he went on a tour of Petra. He sent some really great pics home for us to see and I gotta tell ya, that's an unbelievable place. I think it's listed as one of the 40 places to see before you die, and I believe it. Thanks for posting this thread for all to see, great pics!

reply to post by novastrike81


because petra would have been a lush green and vegitative landscape, with more than needed food sources, material sources etc...

jordan,syria,iraq,kuwait and iran was known as mesopotemia, divided into regions or kingdoms. also the region where petra is i think was once known as mitanna that included a portion of saudi. this area of near east is thought to be the location of the garden of eden due to its abundance of plant food, soil composition, temperture and humidity and sustainable food chain etc. most european plant foods/vegetables and meat including horse,sheep,goat,milk and dog orginate from the near east including the oldest known writing system.

egypt was never a desert all its life and its future will make it lush once more! because most of these countries lie near the equator and the axis of the earth wobbles to a new(but predictable) axis position every 26000 years, meaning equatorial deserts migrate episodically.

Beautiful...thanks for sharing!

Nice thread.

I am going to Petra in 3 weeks with someone I met in England who is originally from Jordan. Really cant wait and reading this has made me want to go even more.

Someone once told me that there is the largest super-node in the world under Amman. Anyone know anything about this?

reply to post by SuperTripps


Rome was build by the Trojans.

don't you think that if those Nabateans build it, that they would give it an arabic name? Why call it Petra?

Originally posted by Hellas
reply to post by SuperTripps

 

Rome was build by the Trojans.

don't you think that if those Nabateans build it, that they would give it an arabic name? Why call it Petra?

I'm trying to relate this to the ALL ROADS lead to ROME post and also all we know about these BUILDERS and their secret religion

the architecture looks like someone IN THE LOOP built it... I agree

Originally posted by SuperTripps

Originally posted by Hellas
reply to post by SuperTripps

 

Rome was build by the Trojans.

don't you think that if those Nabateans build it, that they would give it an arabic name? Why call it Petra?

I'm trying to relate this to the ALL ROADS lead to ROME post and also all we know about these BUILDERS and their secret religion

the architecture looks like someone IN THE LOOP built it... I agree

Petra is the rough pronounciation of the Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ which means 'rock'

reply to post by SuperTripps


The Nabataeans religion wasn't a secret. They borrowed gods from Rome and other nearby cities and gave it their flavor. I watched the documentary on it describing their religion. I'll look for it; it's part of the Anciant Almenac series. Unless someone else finds it and wants to embed it.

reply to post by novastrike81


This is fascinating. I could never imagine looking at rock of that size and then thinking it would be a great idea to carve an area into it, instead of just building one the easier way somewhere else. I will venture to say that the person whose decision it was did not chip in and help with all the work it took.

Petra is the rough pronounciation of the Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ which means 'rock'

edit on 26/8/11 by Hanslune because: Add rock for you non-Arabic speakers

That's a really rough pronunciation- Batra and Petra are quite different

Great post, I have always been intrigued by Petra.
I did not know that so much of it has not yet been uncovered.

Originally posted by Hellas

Petra is the rough pronounciation of the Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ which means 'rock'

edit on 26/8/11 by Hanslune because: Add rock for you non-Arabic speakers

That's a really rough pronunciation- Batra and Petra are quite different

Howdy

Native speakers of Arabic have difficulty with the P and B sounds, example Pepsi is often pronounced bepsi to english speaking ears and vice versa. I will presume they had this same difficulty when they told Burkhardt the name of the place and Burton states that Burkhardt was a poor Arabic speaker. It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir.

If anybody has netflix, there is a really interesting A&E documentary on petra available on streaming, it covers all the stuff in the op and a whole lot more. I think it was part of the ancient mysteries series. Just figured I would throw that out there.

Petra reminds me of Lalibela

some think templars built this. cross symbolism, etc all over it

and yes, carved into rock

whc.unesco.org...

Originally posted by SuperTripps
Petra reminds me of Lalibela

some think templars built this. cross symbolism, etc all over it

and yes, carved into rock

whc.unesco.org...

Howdy ST

The Templar came into existence six+ centuries after the establishment of the Petra. The Nabataeans converted to Christianity around 360 AD I believe.

reply to post by Hanslune


hi there- yes I know. did you know templars also had ties to a gnostic religion and supposedly when christianity was being formed there were gnostic forces out there too.

do you really think the templars just came out of nowhere and magically created the order based on nothing and no prehistory? i don't

all roads lead to rome has a good overview of this stuff as well

i think it becomes obvious as you do more and more research..there seems to be a very strong trend of an ancient builder/sacred geometry cult out there and it bonded romans, jews, and anglos in more modern times.

i think people think too linearly and assume everyone back then who built it also funded it, lived there, etc

think outside the box IMO!

they carved a treasury in rock. was this a major bank along a major trade route?

OP, thank you for sharing the links & photos, S & F well-earned. Petra is truly a stunning feast for the eyes! Someday I hope I will be able to see this magnificent city in person.

Originally posted by SuperTripps
reply to post by Hanslune

 

They carved a treasury in rock. was this a major bank along a major trade route?

It wasn't a treasury that is just a name, it's real function is unknown but it may have been a tomb.

The Templars started off as a charity there later power was not a function of what they were set up to do in the Holy lands during the Crusades.