- Part One -

Crossing Jordan.

Day Two - 050508 - 0530H

"6-7-8"  - This is how you start your day when you are in a group tour.  We are often reminded: "wake up call at 6am, breakfast at 7, luggage out at 8."  And since am incharge of preppin up our team (my mom, my lil bro and me), I usually wake up half an hour earlier than call time.  So after a long rest of 3 hrs and 30 mins, day two has started.  Breakfast in the hotel was always great!  Best meal of the day honestly and oh, did I tell you that they serve raw fish for breakfast?  I'll be talkin about that later.  Everything was set before 8am, I still had a enough time to kill.. so then.. Taygwer's 1st photo shoot in Jordan was taken in that hotel.  A stunning view of the desert, rock formations, canyons welcomes you when as you step out at the back of the hotel.  You can see Taygwer's Pictures here:

Our destination for the whole day two was just half an hour drive from the hotel.  We alighted in a wide space and a long rough road downward.  The guide reminded us to make sure we were wearing comfortable shoes and brought lotsa water with us.  "This is gonna be a very long walk."  And indeed it was! we walked for about half an hour down the rough gazing a spectating crowd of rock formations, left and right.  These holes carved into the rocks were used by the commoners of the ancient people who have once lived here.  "Oh nice" I thought.. looking at the cave-like structures and piles of big boulders that surround us from quite a distance.   We reached the entrance of the siq (it's google time!!) and our group asked: "Is this it? is this the entrance?" "No, this is where the roads starts to get to the entrance" he replied. 

As we entered the siq, I noticed that the atmosphere began to change.  It was hot outside as you go deeper in between the siq, the air becomes cool.  Curiously, I went closer to the side and touched the rocks.. and as I have predicted... it was as cold as a glass of water inside the fridge!  "Well, that explains it... " I thought. Then I saw small gutter-like structure engraved on the rocks.  About 6" wide and goes all the way down the siq.  The guide began a long explanation about how people who once lived here surived without a potable water source.  No body of water around.. no oasis.. at the edge of arabian desert, it would be hard to think of a way how people had survived here.  But as I look closely at the markings on the stones, the dam-like structures and the cobblestone road, which the guide claimed to be original, you can't hide the fact that it had been once a wealthy and gloroius city.

 Yes, I know that by now you have already guessed what our destination was. After a 2 1/2 hours walk through the siq, we finally arrived at the entrance to the city.  The Legendary Lost City of Petra.  As you reach the end of the siq, you will be greeted by a tall structure engraved into the stone.  They call it "The treasury"

Chances are, this place might look familiar to you, as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was shot here.    Currently one of the 7 wonders of the world, petra is a whole city engraved into stone. It is also the stronghold of the biblical city of Edom. The city of Esau.

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The Story of Edom: The Rise and Fall of a Powerful Nation

The Bible identifies Esau as the fraternal twin brother of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jacob became the father of the Israelites after God (Genesis 35:10) renamed Jacob "Israel." Thus Esau shared his mother's womb together with the founder of the nation of Israel.^[2] See Genesis 25. Although Esau was Isaac's first-born entitled to inherit Isaac's wealth and blessing, Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob (Israel) for a pot of stew. The descendants of Esau and Israel led divergent paths with Edom settling east of modern day Israel forming tribal chiefs while Jacob traveled all of Israel, his inheritance.

The Bible explains the name "Edom" with no mention of red rock. It refers to the Edomites as descendants of Esau, and the [[Book of Genesis 25:25 KJV]And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. mentions "red" a number of times in describing Esau and explaining his alternate name Edom. Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. They named him Esau."^[3] Years later, "Jacob was once simmering a stew, when Esau came home exhausted from the field. Esau said to Jacob: "Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom". (Genesis 25:29-30, KJV) ^[4]

Petra, however, is mentioned extensively in the Bible especially as it concerns the sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. The account is well-known of how Jacob tricked Esau out of his birthright then deceived his blind father into giving him the tribal blessing (Genesis 25-27). Angry after is betrayal by Jacob, Esau took his wives and children and went into a land far away from his brother. He moved to a new land in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom, (Genesis 36:6-8) and Petra is Seir.

The Edomites became well-known as enemies of the ancient Hebrews, along with the Amalekites, the Moabites (people inhabiting the area around present day Madaba and Mt. Nebo) and the Ammonites (people inhabiting the area of today's Amman, the modern capital of Jordan)

Approximately 2500 years ago, the Prophet Obadiah prophesied that "there will be no survivors of the House of Esau." The Book of Obadiah is among the last books of the Christian Bible's Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh.

In Obadiah 1, the prophet foretells the total conquest of Edom (or Esau) by Jacob (that is, Israel) in specific detail, and foretells that at that time "there will be no survivors of the House of Esau."

These events were actually fulfilled approximately 200 years before Christ, when Israel conquered the Edomites and governed them as a separate district under the Kingdom of Israel.

A series of events were set in motion, including the conquest of the entire region by the Roman Empire around 63 BC, leading to the apparent demise of the Edomites in 70 AD. Remarkably, the last remaining Edomites rallied to the defense of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and were killed by the Romans together with the Jewish soldiers still stationed there.  Thus.. the fall of the Edomites in Petra.

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Many years after the fall of Perta, a nomadic tribe called the Nabateans discovered petra and began to settle there.  They perfected the water-conservation system that the Edomites have started.  The long gutter-like structure I found at the siq was actually the part of the irrigation system of the Nabateans in Petra.   It's really fascinating to see the whole city carved into the rocks.  Tombs, houses and even their colosseum.  You will also notice that the color of the rocks are light red, thus gaining the name "The Rose City".

It was almost high noon when we reached the city itself.  Most of our group were already exhausted, 2 1/2 hours of walk to rediscover the lost city and there it is! The pristine beauty of ancient architecture that stood against time.. unwhithering, secluded, so mysterious, walls of rose-colored stone, and bedouin stores... wait! stores?! what are stores doing here?!  this is supposed to be the lost city, untouched over time! merchandise?! tourists!  everywhere?! THIS IS MAYHEM!! MADNESS!! MADNESS!!!??? THIS IS SPARTAAAAAAA!!!!

I almost lost my mind back there... sorry...  I got shocked and got carried away with all the stores I've seen poping out every corner like 7/11s.  And tourist, man!  it seemed like the whole world was there! it didn't seem like a lost city to me, it was more like a Shopping mall or a mountain resort.  The place was so busy that contrary to what you see in the pictures, it ain't like that in reality.  But since I was there, I would never let this opportunity pass by, I headed towards the heart of the city.10 of us stayed behind under the shelter of the bedouin stores, having their refreshments.  7 of us pressed on... and then there were 3... as I get to the heart of the City, I was alone.  All of my group chose to stay behind, having pepsi and buyng souveniers.   I wanted to explore the city more, the collesum, the tombs of the Kings and I scaled the cliffs to reach  them, and took pictures of the panoramic view of Petra.  Little did I know that there was something wrong with my phone at that time... all my shots weren't saved in the MMStick.  So much of the pictures i've taken in petra gone.  Luckily, I have captured a lot of it in my mini-DV cam.  Ofcourse, apart from my group, there are still people everywhere.. and merchandise.. everywhere I go... well.. business is good .  Petra ain't supposed to be a popular destination, all thanks to the insufficient programs of the department of toursim in Jordan; but still, it get's really crowded in some places.  I'll be posting more pictures of petra in my album as soon as I get the copies from my mom's fones.

Exhausted by the heat and the distance, I gasped for air as I reach one of the higher parts of the rocks, to see a panoramic view of the city.  I felt a somewhat sense of fulfillment, for pushing myself further.  It was exhausting, but I finally found a place where there are no other people around.. time to reflect about what the stories that took place in this city centuries ago.  I was a lil distracted though, while I was contemplating, something had caught my eye; with me, from quite a distance, I saw a couple dating.. oh my bad, there where two couples dating.  Man! I thought getting there was really an acheivement, only to find that it was just a dating place for the locals, treating it like luneta.   How lucky must have they been.. to have a place like this, one of the 7 wonders of the world, of rich history and archeological value, as their dating place. 

Well... it was past one, I was starving, exhausted and thirsty, and I still have to walk a quarter mile back to the bus.  I started heading back.  I caught up with the others along the way.   We headed for the bus, to move to a local restaurant, and finally head for Ahman, the Capital of Jordan.

--- XOX ---

I found this in the net. so I guess it would give us a very good 360 view of the treasury.

(next entry: Ahman Jordan and Crossing the border)