Petra, Jordan

Petra, Jordan – פטרה

Petra is not really in Israel, but since it is included in many tourist packages to Israel’e southern seaport of Eilat in the Israeli Negev, I felt I could include Petra in your itinerary. Several years ago, just after the signing of the Peace Treaty with Jordan, I visited there with two of my children and created this 8 mm film. The guide was my good friend Shimon Dan.

Since Kosher food is not available, even in Amman, the capital, we took frozen Kosher meals with us. Recently religious Jews have encountered difficulties entering Jordan with Tefillin (Phylacteries).

It always amazed me how the Nabataeans invested so much effort in tombs, while the mound (tel) and ruins of the  ancient city of Petra are minimal.

Getting around the site is easy. Either walk or you can relax in a donkey cart ride.

The giant red mountains and vast mausoleums of a departed race have nothing in common with modern civilization, and ask nothing of it except to be appreciated at their true value – as one of the greatest wonders ever wrought by Nature and Man.

Although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares you for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed.

Petra, the world wonder, is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

Let me know if you enjoyed your visit!