While Petra’s fame might often come second to things like the Egyptian pyramids at Giza, ancient Greece, or the Great Wall of China, you can now see that the Rose City certainly deserves its place under the Sun as one of the most precious jewels of our collective, human heritage. Petra surely has a surplus of beauty and other kinds of visual appeal, but you can now see that this is only half of the picture. Our world is filled to the brim with such wonders, bestowed upon us by countless different cultures from every corner of the planet. Some are older or more renowned than others, but all remnants of civilizations of the past have one thing in common: they tell us invaluable stories. These are stories of lives led by people who seem infinitely distant from our perspective but might have as well lived yesterday as far as the grand scheme of time is concerned. They might have had a different outlook and daily life, but the essence of humanity remains fundamentally unchanged.
*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary descriptions of Petra *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Petra, O Leeds, is the most wonderful place in the world, not for the sake of its ruins, which are quite a secondary affair, but for the colour of its rocks, all red and black and gray with streaks of green and blue, in little wriggly lines...and for the shape of its cliffs and crags and pinnacles, and for the wonderful gorge it has, always running deep in spring-water, full of oleanders, and ivy and ferns, and only just wide enough for a camel at a time, and a couple of miles long. But I have read hosts of the most beautifully written accounts of it, and they give one no idea of it at all...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here... Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be." - A letter from T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") to his childhood friend E.T. Leeds in February, 1914. When the European armies of the Third Crusade were defeated at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 CE, the region of what is today southern Jordan was overrun by Saladin's armies, and over the following five centuries knowledge of Petra's existence was lost to the people of Europe. The ancient city and center of civilization hidden in the desert became a myth, drawn largely upon Biblical accounts of the people and places in the Holy Land. However, during the Enlightenment of the early 18th century, interesting new theories emerged, and there grew a desire to rediscover the rose-red city. It was within this context that the Swiss-born explorer and orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt became the known as the first European to "discover" Petra. Disguised as an Arab, he convinced a local guide to navigate him through the innumerable dangers of the Wadi Araba desert in pursuit of the rumored tomb of Aaron and a timeless city hidden in the hills. On Saturday, August 22nd, 1812, he ascended the high hills of southern Jordan and was led down a deep ravine, which twisted and turned through until a splendid sight was revealed before him: a secret valley filled with ruins and the dark holes of rock-cut tombs. Although his disguise had brought him that far, it also prevented him from being able to fully study the ruins or make copies of what he saw there. After spending only a day exploring the valley, his guide had grown suspicious, so he was forced to move on across the Sinai Peninsula, eventually arriving at Cairo on September 4th. This expedition marked the beginnings of everything that is known about this ancient and mysterious site. Further expeditions and archaeological investigations over the following two centuries have considerably broadened knowledge about Petra's past, and the ruined Rose City is now an archaeological landscape that has been made famous as a UNESCO World Heritage site, a "new" wonder of the world, and as the repository of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Yet, despite its fame, many people do not know about the religious beliefs, artistic creativity, technological innovation, commerce, and politics of the numerous peoples that resided there. Petra: The History of the Rose City, One of the New Seven Wonders of the World looks at the history of Petra from prehistoric times to the end of the Crusades, as well as the city's "rediscovery" in the 19th century and how it has entered the world's imagination since then. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about Petra like never before.
The ancient Jordanian site of Petra is world famous, yet, not well understood. Believed by many academics to have been the creation of a nomadic Arabian people around 300 to 100 BC, it is clear that this is not the case. Petra is a massive series of edifices and chambers cut into very hard sandstone bedrock, and appears to have been shaped using lost ancient high technology. Thus, the history of this ancient place must be rewritten, and has been done in this book.
Deep in the desert of Jordan lies the hidden city of Petra, one of the greatest marvels of the ancient world. Carved from rose-red rock, Petra’s monuments, dwellings and temples were for centuries the centre of a splendid civilization. Later the city fell into ruin and its location was lost, until the Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt rediscovered it in 1812. Petra’s mysterious beauty and dramatic story have long captivated the imaginations of historians and art lovers. Recent excavations by the authors Christian Augé and Jean-Marie Dentzer provide new information about this unique city.
'A fascinating account of life as Bedouin in the late twentieth century' Mary S. Lovell 'This sparkling memoir is a refreshing antidote and a rare window into the legendary hospitality and mysterious customs of the Bedouin Arabs' Publishing News '"Where you staying?" the Bedouin asked. "Why you not stay with me tonight - in my cave?"' Thus begins Marguerite van Geldermalsen's story of how a New Zealand-born nurse came to be married to Mohammad Abdallah Othman, a Bedouin souvenir-seller from the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. It was 1978 and she and a friend were travelling through the Middle East when Marguerite met the charismatic Mohammad who convinced her that he was the man for her. She lived with him in a two thousand-year-old cave carved into the red rock of a hillside, became the resident nurse for the tribe that inhabited that historical site and learned to live like the Bedouin: cooking over fires, hauling water on donkeys and drinking sweet black tea. She learned Arabic, converted to Islam and gave birth to three children. Over the years she became as much of a curiosity as the cave-dwellers, with tourists including David Malouf and Frank McCourt encouraging her to tell this, her extraordinary story.
This book contains information about a rich historical site in Jordan. This ancient site was crafted using the cliffs of sandstone in the south of the country. The word "Petra" is of Greek origin and means "rock", which perfectly suits a city carved into the cliffs of Jordan. The Rediscovered City of Stone: Just a few hours south of the country's capital, Amman, the area was officially founded by the Arab tribe of nomads. This occurred centuries before Christ was born. This tribe was well known for their impeccable engineering, agriculture, trading, and of course, stone-carving skills. Much is still unknown about this ancient culture, but we know for sure that they were incredibly talented artists and engineers. At this city, a people called the Nabataeans created tombs, temples, halls and houses, aqueducts, and prestigious altars. They created a civilization that existed right in the midst of the Near East, an ancient area for trading and commerce since the routes for transporting spice and traveling trails all existed within the city of Petra. In its hay day, Petra housed about 20,000 people, called the Nabataeans. These ancient humans were known for coming up with a way to create a waterway system to fuel their city, perhaps the most impressive fact about this is that it was right in the middle of the desert. The lost city was discovered again in the 1800s, and more information as to how the ancient inhabitants lived are still being unearthed. We are now coming to discover exactly how this impressive city appeared thousands of years back. Scroll to the top of the page and click Add To Cart to read more about this extraordinary chapter of history
Until now, no study has been made of the construction techniques of the Nabataean freestanding buildings and the rock-cut monuments of Petra, Jordan (built from the 1st cent. BC to the 2nd cent. AD). Their technical features were documented by fieldwork,and this evidence was then analysed to determine precisely when and why these features appeared or evolved. This leads to explaining how the Nabataeans developed their architecture, and what types of construction techniques they used to bring Petra's architecture to its peak. The historical and geographical context for the architecture of Petra is presented, with a summary of previous scholarship on the site. The focus moves to the building materials used by the Nabataeans which are found toinfluence the construction techniques they developed. This is followed by a detailed discussion of quarrying and the rock-cut techniques. The procedures for dressing ashlar blocks and the facades of the rock-cut monuments are analysed to determine the tools used by the builders, as well as the lifting devices necessary for construction of the freestanding buildings. The technical aspects of the construction of walls, columns, floors, the anti-seismic and stabilising techniques developed by theNabataeans are considered. Finally, the construction of roofs is examined in detail. The results of the study reveal the sources of the building techniques used at Petra and why they were further developed there.THREE REVIEWS OF HOW PETRA WAS BUILT:J. J. Coulton, Formerly Reader in Classical Archaeology, University of Oxford. "Using his practical experience as an architect as well as extensive and detailed fieldwork, Dr Rababeh has provided an illuminating analysis of Nabataean buildings, showing how they drew on, and modified, previous Levantine and Hellenistic methods to suit local materials and local requirements." Judith McKenzie, author of The Architecture of Petra: "Other books cover the architectural styles of the monuments of Petra. Shaher er-Rababeh's is the first to focus on the subject of how they were built, both the rock-cut tombs and the freestanding buildings. He methodically presents the results of months of first-hand examination of the evidence. Each aspect of building construction is analysed making wide-ranging use of recent scholarship on ancient building techniques. Just as the Nabataeans made their desert environment habitable with complex water-collection systems, they refined local, Egyptian, Greek and Roman construction techniques to suit the city's rose red sandstone and other available building materials. Rababeh shows the Nabataean construction techniques were just as distinctive in their details as the style of their architecture - which they created from classical Alexandrian andNear Eastern elements. He makes interesting discoveries. The stone cut awaywhen the tombs were carved was used to erect the city's freestanding buildings.Rababeh shows how Petra has the earliest extensive examples of timber used tostrengthen stone masonry buildings, as later seen on the Ka'ba at Mekka."Ehud Netzer, author of Nabataeische Architektur: "This comprehensive study of the building systems in the Nabataean world is a pioneering work. It deals with all aspects from wall foundations to roof tiles; simple constructions and monumental ones; freestanding buildings and monuments cut into the rock. Shaher's new book widens our knowledge of the enchanted world of Nabataean architecture."
- An updated text by one of the greatest expert of history of Petra and a rich, comprehensive apparatus of images (photos, plans and maps) that help a reader to know one of the most important, fascinating ancient city of our civilization The ancient city of Petra, in what is now southwest Jordan, has long been a pilgrimage for adventurous travelers. Built over 2,000 years ago, the Rose City (it is famously carved from red sandstone) holds a unique place in the world of archeological wonders. This beautifully photographed book, a revised and expanded edition, is for tourists and armchair travelers alike. With an updated text and over 350 photographs, maps, drawings, and plans, the author discusses every aspect of Petra, illuminating both the history and splendor of this astonishing site.
