Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
name, according to local legend, after a woman killed 19 suitors; she was outwitted by the
20th, so she married him. The whole range turns a magnificent white-capped auburn dur-
ing sunset.
Jebel Rum
The western flank of Wadi Rum is formed by Jebel Rum (1754m) which towers over
Wadi Rum village. It is a popular destination for scramblers and climbers who tackle parts
of the ancient Thamudic Way to the summit (guide required - ask at the visitor centre).
Similar pathways, once used for hunting ibex and collecting medicinal plants, link one
massif to another throughout the area giving limitless scope for hiking, scrambling and
climbing (
Click here
)
.
MOUNTAIN
Rum Village & Village Plaza
Rum village, in the middle of Wadi Rum, houses a small community of Bedouin who
have chosen to settle, rather than continue a more traditional nomadic life. The village has
a rest house, restaurants and a couple of grocery shops. It also has the last piece of tarmac
before the desert proper.
In the former police station, a local handicrafts centre is intermittently open and is ex-
pected eventually to house a small museum. The small, squat Rum Fort has been recently
renovated.
VILLAGE
TEMPLE
Nabataean Temple
Offline map
On a small hill in Rum village, about 400m behind the Rest House (follow the telephone
poles), are the limited ruins of a 2000-year-old temple, dedicated to the deity Lat. Inside
the Rest House an information board describes the temple and its excavation. The ruins
are important because they are evidence of a permanent Nabataean settlement, built on the
earlier foundations of a temple built by the Arab tribe of Ad. The baths in a villa behind
the temple are the earliest so far discovered in Jordan. Near the temple are some
inscrip-
tions
by hunters and nomads dating back to the 2nd century BC.
Lawrence's Spring (Ain Ash-Shallalah)
A short walk from the Nabataean temple, you'll see a white water tank at the opening of
Wadi Shallalah. After the tank, a path climbs the hill to a spring named in honour of
Lawrence's evocative description of it in the
Seven Pillars of Wisdom:
SPRING
