Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
out for landmarks on the way down as it is hard to find the path back to the top of the
steps.
Back at the cistern, a tiny cleft in the rock reveals worn steps leading down a gully and
along the rock face to a point next to the
Urn Tomb
Offline map
.
The trail isn't all that
clear (and is rather dirty at the outset), but it is navigable with a bit of common sense. The
author, lacking in this quality, ended up on a Nabataean drain dangling over a vertical
drop. Of course, you can always return the way you came.
A DOZEN UNUSUAL WAYS TO ENJOY PETRA
»
»Enter Petra via the narrow Wadi Muthlim (
Click here
) instead of the Siq.
»
»Gain an eagle-eye view of the Treasury from the path above the Royal Tombs (
Click here
).
»
»Gallop across a plateau on horseback, high above the Treasury (
Click here
).
»
»Descend from the High Place of Sacrifice via the garden valley of Wadi Farasa (
Click here
)
.
»
»Take tea with one of the few remaining residents of Petra behind Al-Habis (
Click here
).
»
»Unfurl a portable feast in a triclinium, a banqueting hall for honouring the dead.
»
»Hike with a guide to Little Petra (
Click here
)
from the Monastery.
»
»Find your own secret garden beyond the Siq at Little Petra (
Click here
).
»
»Saddle up a donkey for the two-day hike to Sabra via Wadi Tibn (
Click here
).
»
»Leave Petra with the Bdoul Bedouin via the road to Umm Sayhoun.
»
»Walk between Umm Sayhoun (
Click here
) and Wadi Musa for a sublime view of Petra at sunset.
»
»Stop at the viewpoint on the scenic road to Tayyibeh for the ultimate Petra panorama (
Click here
).
UMM AL-BIYARA
He the Judaean king, Amaziah was the one who defeated ten thousand Edomites in the
Valley of the Salt and captured Sela in battle…
2 Kings 14:7
Umm al-Biyara is the flat-topped mountain (1178m) in the southwest of Petra. Legend
maintains that it was once the Edomite capital of Sela, from where the Judaean king
Amaziah (r 796-81 BC) threw 10,000 prisoners to their deaths over the precipice. There
