Adventures with Julia

Climbing into the mountains north of Beirut

Lots of villages along the way, even as we climb up to tree line.

A cliffside monastery we spotted over the side of the road.

October 13, 2018

By 9am, we started our drive up into the mountains north of Beirut, to visit the Cedars of Lebanon.  I had heard so much about them from my parents, who visited Lebanon in the late 60’s, that I wanted to see them for myself.  As we drove along the coast, Dave told us Lebanon has 225 km of shoreline on the Mediterranean and that the highest point in the country is in northern Mt Lebanon at 3086 m.  The mountains receive ample snow to keep several ski resorts busy during the winter.

Along the way, Dave talked more about the political history of the country.  Mark and I were eager to learn what happened from the perspective of an educated Lebanese.  Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 to push out the Palestinian refugees who had relocated there.  They were supporting the Lebanese Christians who wanted to move the Palestinians far from Lebanon and the Israeli border.  The Palestinians, not being allowed to have part of Israel, wanted to take over Lebanon with the help of the Arab world and make it their home.  If that is the case, it is no wonder that the Lebanese Christians wanted to oust the Palestinians from Lebanon.  Meanwhile, the PLO was a major player in support of the Palestinians. The story becomes more complicated with the introduction of each new element.

Hezbollah, both a political and a militant Shi’ite Muslim group was founded in 1982 to defend the occupied territory in the south, following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in the First Lebanon War.  Israel’s success in expelling militant Palestinian groups from southern Lebanon allowed Hezbollah to gain a stronger foothold in Lebanese politics. Trained by Iranian forces, the group became highly organized both politically and militarily.  Once Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah assumed greater power in the south.  The group initially stated that its primary goal was to liberate Lebanese soil and, as long as it did that, it had the support of the majority of Lebanese people.  When it continued, with encouragement from Iran, to fight for Palestinians, the total defeat of Israel and to assist Assad in Syria, it lost the support of about half the population of Lebanon, including Dave.

A portrait of Khahil Gibran, who died at 48, by a friend of his.

Enough about politics.  We were high on a narrow mountain road headed for the home and gallery of Khalil Gibran (1883-1931).  It took me awhile to remember that I had heard of Gibran many years ago as the author of the book “The Prophet”.   It is a famous book, although I cannot remember what was in it.  His home contained a great deal of his paintings as well as his tomb.  I found the cave-like, converted monastery rather strange.  As Mark said, it was “rambling and piecemeal”.   Neither of us was drawn to any of his art, although he did have a good command of the human anatomy.  Dave’s comment was that it was “very pale”.  It sure was.  And eerie as well.  We did not stay long, but his Epitaph is memorable:

Looking at a ski station above tree line.  The young trees are cedars that have been planted.  The larger ones are about 30 years old.

At 6,490 feet above sea level, we finally reached the cedar trees, most of which have been planted during the last 30-40 years.  They need to be carefully watered, fertilized and cared for during the first 10 years after being planted.  After that they will survive and grow on their own as long as they are planted between 1000 and 2000 meters in elevation, receive ample water, sun, snow and humidity during the year.  With good weather conditions, they will grow 7 centimeters per year.

Tourist shops next to the Cedar Forest.  A large, well shaped cedar over shadows the vendor kiosks.

There is a small grove of old growth trees that have survived thousands of years of deforestation by everyone starting with Egyptian Pharaohs in 2500 BC. We stopped at the tourist area beside the forest and took a walk through it on a well-marked trail.  The sky was delightfully blue, clear, cool and fresh and the huge old trees were very photogenic.  We lingered a good while taking them in and thinking about other old forests we have seen like the redwoods in Marin’s Muir Woods and the Bristle Cone Pines in the White Mountains.  In one of the shops we bought a sandwich to share, while we chatted with the shopkeeper.

On the path through the cedars, we see trees that have not yet bent over to form a flat top.  In this photo are samples of both young and mature trees.

My favorite tree in the grove–large and multi trunked.

This forest is not as dramatic as our west coast Sequoia forests such as Muir Woods, but it was still good to see it.

From this lofty elevation we winded our way down a very steep narrow road to the Kadisha Valley where monks came to live after 636 AD to escape persecution from the Arab conquests.  We saw several old hermitages, some of which are still in use.

Driving along the steep, narrow and scary road.  At least it was paved.

Dave and Mark contemplate this hermitage chapel in a cave.

Monastery of St Anthony of Kozhia

We visited the Monastery of St Anthony of Kozhia where we saw the first Arab printing press, dated from 1610.  It printed in Arabic as well as Syrac. Syrac is a derivative of Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, if I understand it correctly.  The last vestiges of the Aramit people, who were among the first tribes to believe in Jesus, were ousted from Iraq in 2011. They moved to Scandinavian countries according to Dave.

Along the road we saw a man selling ripe persimmons and I bought a couple. The man did not want to take my dollar bill because it was too much to pay for the fruit I was buying, but Dave insisted he take it and help someone else less fortunate.  He said he would.

A farmer peddling his persimmons. Called “Cacky” in Lebanese.

Back at the hotel at the end of the day, Mark and I cleaned up and walked to a nearby restaurant called Al Sultan Brahim for its fresh fish.  Dave had told us to get baby barracuda and red mullet. The head waiter suggested we also get octopus and squid for appetizers.  We got it all and enjoyed every bite.  I selected 3 small barracuda and Mark chose 6 red mullet.  My favorite dish was the squid.  It was gently sauted in a buttery wine sauce and was perfectly hot and tender. After dinner we wandered through a pedestrian area and enjoyed watching the young people.

October 14, 2018

The morning of October 14, we drove 19 miles North again to experience the Jeita Grotto, which consists of two separate galleries.  First, we took a cable car uphill a couple hundred feet to the entrance of the upper grotto.  There, our cameras were taken, and we began a long walk through the grotto. The several rooms were all large and one was huge in vertical height and breadth.  Stalactites and Stalagmites were everywhere and well lit.  There were forms of curtains, columns, draperies, mushrooms and other imaginable shapes.  We saw one of the world’s largest stalactites, 8.2 meters long.  The whole grotto was impressive.  If only I could have used my camera.

After exiting the upper grotto, we walked down a road to the lower grotto, where we got into an electrically powered boat for a 400m. floating tour. Although nice, it was anticlimactic compared with the upper grotto.  Soon we were back in the SUV and on our way to Byblos.

The port at Byblos was once a major player in the Mediterranean.

A couple of the many stores in Bybs

Byblos is a Greek word meaning “book”.  The town, slightly north of Beirut, became a commercial hub in 1200 BC and is a rich archeological site as well as a major tourist town on the Mediterranean.  It is full of old souks, bars and restaurants. During the middle ages it was a Crusader fortress and has long been a fisherman’s port.

Lebanese is not a language. It is a dialect.  These signs are readable to someone who speaks Lebanese.  Dave read them to us and they made sense…..at the time.

The Phoenician alphabet of 22 characters and eventually evolved into the Greek, Latin and Arabic languages.

The Phoenician alphabet was exported from here in 800 BC.  I do not know who or how it was created.  It was composed of 22 characters that evolved into the Greek language and later into Latin and Arabic.  As we wandered around the town, we encountered several bridal parties all having their photos taken near the St John Markus Church.

A bride prepping for her photo shoot.

The 4th generation owner in his fossil shop, started in 1954 by his ancestor, Mikhael  Abi Saad.

Stepping into a fossil shop, we encountered the owner and learned about the discovery of fossils in the area.   According to his story, there were torrential rains 100M years ago that caused an increase in plankton, which captured the oxygen, released toxins and asphyxiated all living organisms.  The dead fish accumulated on the sea bed.  When the Lebanese mountains rose up 40M years ago following the displacement of tectonic plates, fossils became exposed around Byblos.  Today, more than 800 species of fish, crustacean, plants and turtles can be found in the nearby hills.   He had some very interesting fossils including an octopus and sting rays.

At an outdoor bar, we had a long discussion with the bar owner about scotches, while I drank a beer.  Mark tasted a few scotches.  It was a most pleasant couple of hours.

The bar man who specialized is scotches

After leaving Byblos, Dave took us to see Harissa, a large statue of Our lady of Lebanon, which stands 550 m. above sea level.  To get there we rode a cable car up the mountainside to the base of the statue. The statue is made of bronze and painted white.

The cable car ride to the top of the local hill

Byblos on the Mediterranean as seen from the cable car.

Unfortunately, she was undergoing some work and was encased in scaffolding.  In the Koran, Mary is considered the mother of the prophet Issa, another name for Jesus. In Lebanon, Muslims and Christians celebrate all holiday for both religions.

Our Lady of Lebanon being repainted.

Very close to the statue was St Paul’s Greek Melkite Catholic Church.  It was a pretty church that was also where Dave celebrated his wedding.  He is happily married and has two daughters, both of whom received full ride scholarships to universities in the US.  They both live and work in the US and probably will stay there.  Dave hopes to visit them someday.

St Paul’s Greek Melkite Catholic Church just a couple blocks away from Our Lady of Lebanon.

That ended the touring part of the day.  We headed south and east into the hills to get to our country hotel for the next 2 nights.  It was a restored palace called Mir Amin Palace.  The place was a bit on the tired side and not what we had gotten used to on this trip.  Nevertheless, we slept well and spent little time in the hotel.  We had dinner and breakfast the next morning on the hotel terrace.  The air was a bit crisp at 2000 feet elevation, but quite acceptable.  The staff spoke very little English and we had a hard time ordering.  Regardless of what we asked for we received the Lebanese version of breakfast—cheese, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, yogurt with olive oil, hot beans, coffee, orange juice and toast.  Oh well.  We made do.

Mir Amin Palace Terrace

A typical Lebanese breakfast.

October 11, 2018

Mohannad picked us up at 9am and we drove north to Amman.  We passed through the all white city in an hour and continued driving north to the town of Jerash, a provincial town that flourished during the Roman Empire. For centuries it was hidden under the sand and has come to light again during the last 70 years of excavation and restoration.   It is considered to be one of the best-preserved Roman towns in the world, which is why Mohannad brought us to the ruins.   A local guide, Dougan, walked us through the town.  It was quite impressive in size.

Hadrian’s Gate (130 AD)

Even before we passed through any of the gates, we could see standing Corinthian columns all over the site, providing the name “city of a thousand columns.”  There were three standing large gates.  One at each end and a third one build by Hadrian in 130 AD, just outside the town walls.

The Oval Plaza where large gatherings were held in Roman times.

The most interesting features to me were three colonnaded streets, the Oval Plaza near the entrance and the two theaters.  The Oval Plaza, with Greek and Roman features, was built between the 1^st century BC and the 1^st century AD.  It reminded me of the plaza in front of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It must have been a grand place and could have held thousands of people.

The main colonnaded street even had sidewalks.

The intersection of Crdo Maximuson the left and a side street.  There were four towers, one of which is delineated in the center of the image and another, which is in shadow on the left.  marked the intersection during Roman times.

The streets still had all the original stones, complete with ruts from chariot wheels, as well as many tall columns along both sides of each street.  The main North-South street, called Cardo Maximus, was lined with stone shops on both sides.  Included here is the intersection of the Cardo Maximus with a side street.

The north theater originally for CIty Council meetings and later enlarged as the city grew in size and power.

There was a theatre at each end of the town.  One was built for city council meetings and later enlarged with an upper level for performances.   The other was much larger and could hold several thousand.

The south Theater

Also notable was a temple to the Greek goddess, Artemis that was started in 135 AD but never finished.  Only 12 columns out of a planned 32 were erected.  Over the centuries it was put to several uses including a fort by crusaders in the 12th century.

The unfinished Temple of Artemis (ca 135 AD)

THe Church of St Theodore (494-496)

The Church of St Theodore (494-496 AD) was a three-aisled basilica constructed with many stone blocks taken from earlier Roman structures.  It was destroyed by an earthquake in 749 AD.

All the structures were made of local limestone with a few columns made of granite.  Although the day was warm, it was not unbearable and now and then a cooling breeze kissed us.  I had fun with this pano shot of a cluster of columns above the Oval Plaza.

We stopped at the Jerash gift shop and saw instruments for sale that were like the one Mark tried to play in the desert.  It is called a Rababa and is a traditional Bedouin violin.  The single string is made of horse hair and the covering is made of sheep leather.

On the way back to Amman, we asked some questions of Mohannad.  Why are all the buildings white?  Because, he said, since 1975, there is a law that they must be white.  It is cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.   Anyway, the King likes it that way.

Why is the call to prayer so much softer and quieter than in other Islamic countries?  One person with a good voice has been selected to sing the call every day from a central mosque in Amman.  His voice is broadcast simultaneously to every mosque in the country, so there are not a number of different calls overlapping.  Also, because there are many Christians in Jordan, the call is kept short and soft.  It is the most pleasant call to prayer we have heard anywhere.

Why is the country so easy going? The kingdom is neutral in a sea of discord and has a peace treaty with Israel.  The current king, Abdula II, is half British, pro-western, and follows his father’s popular policies closely.  There is free education and healthcare for everyone.  There is freedom of religion and no restrictions on women.  The population is mostly progressive Sunni and have a live and let live attitude.  Everyone we met was friendly and relaxed with us.

Back in the city, we stopped at the Citadel.  It was rather unimpressive compared to Jenash, but did offer a good views of the city.   The fortifications included an Entrance Hall which was interesting.

A view of the white city where all buildings are required to be white since 1976.

View looking South.  Includes a large Roman theater at the edge of the Citadel.

The Entrance Hall at the Citadel in Amman (ca 730 AD)

Inside the Entrance Hall.

Mark at the Citadel with the huge Jordanian Flag above a government building.

Back at the hotel, we changed and walked to the pedestrian street called The Boulevard.  We had quite a time finding the street, as our directions were sketchy.  We ended up following our intuition and asking several people directions.

We finally find The Boulevard and look along the whole street for the Jubran Restaurant.

When we got to it, there was no mistake.  It was a pretty street with fountains, flowers and sails decorating the walkway.

The atmosphere was festive and fun.  Determined to have a Jordanian meal, we finally found the Jubran Restaurant on the 7^thfloor of a glass high rise in the middle of the district.  Our meal was reasonably good, but not great.  The best part was the hot puffy bread.

People began to arrive as we were ready to leave.  It is clearly a night time crowd that is too late for us.

When we finished dinner and emerged back on the Boulevard the crowd had quadrupled in size.  We hung out for a few minutes, then headed to our hotel.  I did not want to walk so we took a taxi and got fleeced.  We did not check to make sure the meter was on and he demanded $15 for a ride that should have cost no more than $5.  Shame on us for not paying attention.

October 12, 2018

Mohannad picked us up at 6:30am for our flight to Beirut.  On the way to the airport, he stopped at a falafel shop and bought a box of freshly made, very hot falafels as well as two falafel sandwiches, all for us.  It was very nice of him and so we dutifully ate the sandwiches even though it was too early for our stomachs.  I must admit that, in spite of the early hour, they were the best falafels I have ever eaten.   Fresh, hot, and tasty.   Mohannad bid us good bye at the airport where we met the agent who walked us through the departure process.  Soon we were on Middle East Airlines headed for Beirut, Lebanon.

October 10, 2018

We arrived in Jordan late afternoon, October 6, after flying from Mahe to Dubai and then on to Amman.  Had a few anxious moments when Mark’s bag did not show up on the carousel.  Turns out customs had taken his bag and were waiting for him to report it missing.  They had him open it for their inspection.  A pair of binoculars was the offending culprit and soon we were free to go with all bags accounted for.  Our driver, Mohannad, and guide, Sabatini, were waiting for us and we immediately began our four hour  drive south to Wadi Rum.

Sabatini started talking right away about camels.  He quizzed us to see how much we knew, very little for sure, and taught us a few things.  They have a 25 year life span, can go 7 days without water and 14 days without food.  They weigh 500 to 1,000 kg and can carry an amount equal to their weight.  They have a 12 month gestation and the baby weighs between 50 and 70 kg at birth.  They cannot have twins.  When I asked why he was asking us so much about camels, he said it was because we were booked to ride camels early the next morning.  So we corrected him.  We have ridden enough camels and do not intend to ride any more.  Suddenly, there was no more camel talk and we learned we could sleep an extra hour in the morning.

Sabatini told us that the population of Jordan is 10 million and that there are 4 million in the capital city of Amman.  There are currently 1.3 million Syrian refugees residing near the Syrian border.  Many of them work in Jordan.  There were also 300 thousand Iragi refugees, who have mostly been assimilated or returned to Iraq.  There are also 800 thousand Egyptian laborers in Jordan.  They are all hard working people.  Other stats he rattled off include:  7% of the population is Christian and the rest are Muslim; only 5% are active Bedouin.  Most Bedouin have been assimilated; the country has 26 miles of shoreline on the Red Sea, at the Gulf of Aquba.  The annual growth rate is 4.5% and 42% of the population is under the age of 15.  There are 4,000 primary and secondary schools and 50 universities.    Jordan’s largest income producers are phosphorous, potash and tourism.

About half way to Wadi Rum, we stopped at a large tourist place selling what I call “useless dustables”.  There was a huge amount of Christian objects from rosaries to rugs with pictures of the last supper; jewelry, pottery, brass trinkets, soaps and much more.  When Mark asked why there was so much stuff for Christians and very little for Muslims, the salesman said 95% of tourists who come through the store are Christians.  Only a few Muslims come through.  While there, Sabatini suggest we eat something.  We settled on cheese sandwiches.  I was not too sure about eating raw food in Jordan at the moment and decline the cucumbers and tomatoes.

We arrived at Wadi Rum, a national reserve, about 8:30pm.  It was dark and we could see very little of the desert camp, Sun City Camp, where we were to stay, as there were only a few dim lights along the uneven boardwalk laid on the sand, that lead to the back of the camp and our martian dome.  Sabatini helped us onto the dome platform, about 4 feet above the sand, and into the rigid structure.  It was very basic, but it had a good bed, a full bathroom and best of all, AC.  The desert was quite warm, even at night.

charcoal baked bedouin bread

Hand mixing bread with milk and yogurt

The finished mash with oil in the middle, called Tharid.

We thought we were in for the night until Sabatini told us to grab a flash light and come with him.  Back down the boardwalk, we got into a funky pick up truck and headed, off track, deeper into the dark desert to do some star gazing.  Eventually, we saw a camp fire and stopped near it.  Several young men were seated around the fire chatting, while a round of bread baked in the ash and coals.  Sabatini told us these were bedouin boys and they were making a traditional dish called Tharid.  While the bread cooked, we walked away from the fire to look up at the night sky.  After the bread was picked out of the coals and pronounced done, one boy dusted it off with his dirty hands and gave us a piece from the middle of the loaf.  We enjoyed the hot bread with no bad effects.  Then he tore the rest of the bread into tiny pieces in a large pot, poured milk and yogurt over the bread, and mixed it into a mash with his hands.  Most unsavory.  Finally, he poured the mash onto a large platter, smoothed it out, made a hole in the middle and poured oil in the hole.  Voila!  The group of them dived into the mess with gusto, scooping it up with their own dirty hands.   After a few polite comments, we withdrew and went back to our dome, the night sky not all that interesting.

Next morning, we opened the dome door to find ourselves surrounded by martian domes, sandstone hills and desert.  The camel ride we skipped, passed by us.  After a breakfast in a large dome, we were off on a 3 hour ride through the desert on the back of a pick up truck.

We made several stops to: climb a sand dune, visit two natural stone bridges, see ancient petroglyphs and share tea with a Bedouin and his son.  The Bedouin played his homemade instrument for us.  It looked a bit like a one string violin.  Mark gave it a try and found it interesting.

Back at camp, we had lunch and moved to our air conditioned touring vehicle, which Mohannad had already packed, and were off to Petra.  Only 1.5 hours north, we reached Little Petra by mid afternoon.

Inside the Caravansary at Little Petra

Apparently, it had been a caravansary for camel trains passing through Petra along trading routes.   The traders would stable their hundreds of animals at the caravansary and go into Petra to shop, trade and visit religious sites.  There were no accommodations in Petra, especially not for camels.  There were the facades of a few well carved buildings inside the large open area, accessed through a narrow sandstone passageway.

From there we drove on to the Movenpeck Hotel across the street from the entrance to Petra and relaxed for the evening.  Sabatini left us and we acquired a new guide, Issam for our walk through Petra.

October 8, 2018  Petra

Map of Petra

We met Issam at 7:30 and began our long, hot walk through Petra in the heart of the Shara Mountains.  As we very slowly walked through the Siq, the 1.2 km sandstone gorge that gently slopes down toward the ancient city of Petra until it opens on to the famous Treasury, Issam told us the history of the place and the people who founded Petra and lived there from 700 BC until 109 AD, the Nabataeans.

On either side of the passage were niches where statues of gods were placed.  However, our attention was drawn by the channels we could see on both walls of the Siq.

A water channel along the Siq

A sample of the ceramic tiles in the water system

Water channels ran along each side and held clay pipes that carried fresh water to the city from springs, and cisterns and reservoirs that collected rainwater.  To prevent leakage, the Nabataeans developed a waterproof cement to line the walls of the cisterns and reservoirs.  They were master hydraulic engineers and developed a sophisticated water supply system that allowed them to flourish in the middle of the desert regardless of the season.  Terraced gardens were cultivated inside the city for beauty and erosion control.  Livestock and irrigated crops received ample water and hillsides were protected from erosion.

Petra was the perfect location to take advantage of flourishing trade  during the last centuries BC and early AD.  The main trade routes were the Frankincense Route from the south and the Spice Route from the east.  Both routes passed through Nabataean territory and converged in Petra before moving west to Egypt, northwest to Europe or north through the Levant.  To pass through Nabataean territory was expensive as they extracted a tax on each camel passing through.  The only reason it made sense was that the trade in spices was lucrative for the traders. In Petra, the goods could be traded, repackaged and redistributed.  The Nabataeans, masterful merchants, grew rich on both trade and taxes.

Samples of Myrrh and Frankincense

The key to all this wealth and power that culminated in Petra, was the rise in demand for incense.  The Nabataeans were nomadic traders long before they came to Petra.  They roamed the deserts of Arabia transferring items from one place to another to earn their living.  With the rise of the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman empires, demand for incense proliferated.  It was used for burials, embalming and burning at temples, sacrifices and rituals by all three civilizations.  Much of the incense–that is frankincense and Myrrh–came from Arabia, what is now Oman and Yemen.  Originally Nabataeans were the middlemen in the transport of incense, but by 100 BC, they became the primary transporters of south Arabian incense. Incense was valued as much as gold.  It makes total sense to me that the wise men were probably traders carrying incense for trade, would have had it in their caravan and could have given a bit of it to Mary and Joseph as an aid to keep evil away.  But I side track.

The first mention of the Nabataeans was in the 7th century BC when they were listed as enemies of the King of Assyria.  The next reference is of a military campaign by one of Alexander the Great’s general’s trying, in the 3rd century BC, to conquer an area controlled by the Nabataeans.  The campaign failed.  The reference suggested that the Nabataeans had already established themselves in the region.  It is believed that they may have begun to settle in Petra as far back as the 6th century BC.  Petra peaked between 100 BC and 100 AD as a modern, cosmopolitan and organized trade center.  In 106 AD, the last Nabataean king died and the kingdom was absorbed by the Roman Empire.  The city remained an important trade caravan stop for another two centuries.  The Romans built a theater, a colonaded road, a Roman Soldier Tomb and other structures.  Even the Treasury has Corinthian columns.  In 324 AD, Petra became part of the Byzantine Empire.  Some of the population converted to Christianity and Petra became the seat of a bishop.  Many important structures were converted to churches and at least one Byzantine church was built from the ground up.

In 363 AD a major earthquake struck and many free-standing structures crumbled.  Worst of all, the water system was damaged.  Despite these setbacks, the Byzantines remained in the city into the 6th century when another earthquake brought more devastation.  After that, the city’s population declined.

In addition to the history, Issam told us Petra is a Greek word which means “rock”.  , Siq means “huge crack” and the word Nabata means “to get water out of the ground”.  Frankincense and myrrh were mixed together to create an incense that people believed would keep evil away.

For many centuries, Petra was lost to the world.  The first westerner to re-discover the site was a Swiss explorer named Johan Burckhardt, who heard about it on his travels and finally found it in 1812.  His sketches drew the attention of others.  And here we are.

Finally, after the slow walk through the Siq, we turned a corner and got our first glimpse of The Treasury.  It is just as grand as the photos you may have seen depict.  What is different and much greater, is the size of the city complex that surround the facade and the number of other structures (over 850 tombs alone) still standing and available to be explored.  It is not all visible from the area in front of the Treasury, but there is enough to know you are only at the beginning.  The Treasury, carved out of a single block of stone, is 39.5 meters high, 29 meters wide, and was carved from the top down.  Although a Bedouin legend has it that a pharaoh hid gold in the urn at the top, many people shot holes in the urn to no avail.   Archeologists believe it is the mausoleum of King Aretas IV (9 BC – 40 AD).  The facade is decorated with funerary designs and symbols related to death and the afterlife.  The corinthian style columns are examples of Hellenistic influence along with a frieze of winged griffins.  In the center is the goddess Isis.

We wondered around the area awhile and took several photos.  As the morning wore on, the crowds increased.  It was obvious that many people see the Treasury and leave.  We, however, were ready to move on and see more of Petra.

The Theatre built into the rock wall

Continuing our down hill walk to the city center, we stopped at the Roman Theatre, which seated 6,000 spectators and is the only theatre in the world that is carved  into the rock.

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