Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(canyons) at dawn or melts the division between rock and sand at dusk; it is exacting on
the Bedouin who live in it and vengeful on those who ignore its dangers. For most visit-
ors, on half- or full-day trips from Aqaba or Petra, Wadi Rum offers one of the easiest and
safest glimpses of the desert afforded in the region. For the lucky few who can afford a
day or two in their itinerary to sleep over at one of the desert camps, it can be an unforget-
table way of stripping the soul back to basics.
History
With its many wells and springs, Wadi Rum has been inhabited since prehistoric times.
Petroglyphs and burial mounds appear throughout the area, indicating its importance as a
hunting and meeting point in ancient times. It was referred to by the Greeks and Romans,
who noted its vineyards (now gone), and olive and pine trees (some of which remain on
the mountaintops). Some Islamic scholars claim that this is the location of Ad (an ancient
Arab tribe), described in the Quran.
About 30,000 inscriptions decorate Wadi Rum's sandstone cliffs. They were made
firstly by tribes from Southern Arabia and later by the Nabataeans who settled in Wadi
Rum around the 4th century BC. The two tribes lived peacefully side by side, honouring
the same deities of Lat and Dushara.
The region owes its fame, however, to the indefatigable TE Lawrence, who stayed here
in 1917 during the Arab Revolt - a campaign led by King Hussein bin Ali against the Ot-
toman Turks in a bid to establish an independent Arab nation. The king's camel- and
horse-mounted troops passed through Wadi Rum on their way to conquer Aqaba and some
units (including that of Lawrence) returned to use the area as a temporary base before
moving north towards Damascus.
The discovery of a Nabataean temple (behind the Rest House) in 1933 briefly returned
the spotlight to the desert. A French team of archaeologists completed the excavations in
1997.
NAVIGATING WADI RUM
For more information on getting to/from Wadi Rum,
Click here
.
Highway to Visitor Centre
Wadi Rum is accessed from a tarmac road off the main Desert Highway, an hour's drive from Aqaba. The road is
flanked at first by fields of watermelons, but shortly after crossing the Hejaz railway line the splendid scenery be-
gins, becoming more and more spectacular as you reach the mouth of Wadi Rum. The road passes a police post and
