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Qal'at ash Shawabak is a crusader castle built to protect the borders of the Roman Empire and the trading routes to the Red Sea. Saladdin conquered the castle in the 1189. > Mussa Springs - According to Arab tradition, Mussa Springs/Petra is the spot where Moses struck a rock with his staff and water came forth, and where Moses' brother, Aaron, is buried, at Mount Hor, known today as Jabal Haroun or Mount Aaron. The Wadi Musa or "Wadi of Moses" is the Arab name for the narrow valley at the head of which Petra is sited. A mountaintop shrine of Moses' sister Miriam was still shown to pilgrims at the time of Jerome in the 4th century, but its location has not been identified since.
The ancient city of Petra is truly a magical place. I have divided the visit and photos of Petra to
highlight the different areas of Petra. No photographs can adequately convey the wonder of a
visit to the City of Petra. You have to personally experience the Petra magic.
al-Siq is the main entrance to the ancient city of Petra. The dim, narrow gorge (in some points no more than 3 meters wide) winds its way approximately one mile and ends at Petra's most elaborate ruin, Al Khazneh (The Treasury).
The Siq is a natural geological fault produced by tectonic forces and worn smooth by water erosion. The walls that enclose the Siq stand between 91-182 meters (300-600 feet) in height. The Siq was used as the grand caravan entrance into Petra. Along both walls of the fissure are a number of votive niches containing baetyli, which suggest that the Siq was sacred to the Nabatean people. In 1998, a group of statues were uncovered when digging was conducted to lower the road.
As the Outer Siq opens out, the Street of Facades becomes visible. Whole streets, 4 rows, one above the other, of Assyrian type monuments with double bands of crow-step decoration run along the cliff face. It isn't known whether these served as houses or tombs but they appear to be of an early date.
Beyond the Street of Facades lies the Theater, which was constructed in the early 1st century AD by Nabataeans and enlarged and improved by the Romans shortly after their annexation of the Kingdom in 106 AD. This they did by ruthlessly gouging away a street of houses or tombs in order to extend the rear of the auditorium, which could then accommodate 3000 people.
The first thing to be seen in the city center is the remains of the Nymphaeum, standing in the shade of a tree. Very little is left, but one can imagine from similar monuments elsewhere (the Nymphaeum in Jerash, for example) what this public fountain, with plays of water to delight both the ear and the eye, would have looked like. It was situated at the confluence of two watercourses, dedicated to the water nymphs and was probably one of the improvements made to the city after the Roman annexation.
