Petra: Part 2

From the side trail we got a look at the Royal Tombs in the distance and knew that would be our next stop...

Like everywhere else in Petra, the facades were stunning and staggering in size, while the insides were quite simple. But the colored stone interiors were also beautiful...

Also typical of Petra, vendors were selling their wares...

But it was here inside one of the largest of the Tombs that was the highlight of my entire trip! We met up again with some of the "fast group" here and Therese was standing inside. She was all alone and asked if I would sing Amazing Grace with her so we could hear the acoustics. It was amazing! You could hear our voices reverberate high into the ceiling. When we were done, we were joined by another tourist who asked if we could sing another song. We sang How Great Thou Art. It was one of those times where you were alone in worship and awe of how truly great our God is!

To the left of the tombs was a trail that led to a viewpoint overlooking the Treasury. While we knew that it was marked as "difficult" we set out with a few others from our group to make the trek up the mountains...

the theater from above

The climb was steep and hot. And we were met by other tourists, Bedouin shepherds with their flocks and donkeys and children and dogs (with puppies) and, of course, entrepreneurs...

there wasn't much of a trail once we reached the top 

The blue square dot near the goats on the right hand side

is a full-sized Pepsi cooler!  

He was right. The view from his tent was SPECTACULAR!

You knew we had really climbed when we went to take a drink from our water bottles...

People have wondered for centuries how these facades were carved out of the sheer rock faces. Archaeologists and scientists think they have discovered their secret: from the top down. But how did they get to the top? There are a few theories...


1. The carvers were suspended by ropes and began to chip away at the rock. The massive amounts of rubble soon became a pile that they could stand on and clear away as the moved down.

2. Large stone steps were carved and then climbed up and carved away to form the facade. Evidence of this has recently been found at both the Treasury and the Monastery (which I am so sad we didn't have time to see).

another view of the Royal Tombs from a distance