Petra [antikvár]

Introduction3etra has been described in a thousand different ways by its numerous visitors. Each portrayal has encountered the same difficulty in transforming into words the very special sensations aroused by this unique city.It has been said that Petra is as red as a rose and as old as time, or that it is a city that has been kept alive to honour its dead, or that the different colours of the rocks give the impression of travelling through a rainbow. Perhaps no one will ever be able to explain the way in which the visitor is rendered speechless with admiration in seeing all those rock sculptures almost as they were when first carved, being such testimonies to human skill.In 1812 Burckhardt, a Swiss explorer, became the first European to give account of Petra. His first impression was that of an immense priceless treasure jealously preserved in its rocky coffer He had heard people speaking of a mysterious city hidden among impenetrable mountains and during one of his several expeditions in the Arabian desert, in order to justify his search for that forgotten city, he disguised himself as a Muslim (he knew perfect Arabic) wishing to make a sacrifice on the tomb of the prophet Aaron, which he knew was in that area. As soon as the narrow Siq gorge opened to reveal its secret, Burckhardt had no further doubfs: it was the legendary Petra, capital of the Nabataeans, an Arab population that ruled over the Transjordan area before the Roman conquest.There is very little information concerning the Nabataeans: we only know that they were nomads and that they settled in this region of present day lordan at the end of the 7th century B.C. prospering with the trade of spices. It has also been suggested that they were a form of desert highwaymen who made their living plundering the passing caravans. In any case, this population was able to