I went back to Petra early in the morning on 10 April, and this time I headed up to the high place of sacrifice, where in ancient times sacrifices were made on the slightly raised stone you can see in the photo. It was a stiff climb of around 40 minutes.
The view from the top was magnificent.
One of the local Bedouin pointed out the tomb of Aaron on Jabal Haroun (Mt Aaron). It is the white building far away on the top to the mountain.
At the high place of sacrifice I met Don and Najla, who were on holiday from Abu Dhabi. I spent most of the rest of the morning with them, going to various monuments that I had not visited yesterday.
I visited the Urn Tomb, which had a magnificent façade and a beautiful ceiling.
Outside, I sat and had lunch, and spotted a couple of items I wanted to buy. I was clearly not very good at haggling, but I came away with what I wanted.
Petra was an outstanding site, and the Arab Nabataean kingdom was obviously one of the leading kingdoms in this area. The rock was very beautiful and it reminded me of the description of Petra as 'the Rose red city half as old as time'. I loved the way that the site is not over-protective and allows people to do pretty free walking even in dangerous places. That meant that there was a sense of discovering the place for yourself, rather than simply being a tourist shunted around to see the sites. Another special thing about Petra is its mystique as it was 'lost' to history from the 13th and only rediscovered in the 19th century, hidden as it was down the siq.
On the other hand, the emphasis on tombs as the central monuments in Petra seemed a bit grim - especially after the wonderful variety of buildings in Jerash. Coming straight after my Risen with Christ, with its focus on resurrection to eternal life, Petra for me had quite a strong sense of death. I felt grateful to have a strong hope in eternal life rather than a focus on immortalising the dead through the erection of monuments for them.
After lunch I headed back up the siq and returned to my hotel, so that I could get to the bus that was going back to Amman that evening. For a while it looked as if I would not be able to get a seat as the bus was overbooked, but at the last minute I managed to get on, and another bus was quickly organized for the others who needed to go to Amman. On the journey I sat next to a very nice Muslim man, Ashraf, who was working 3 weeks on one week off in Wadi Mousa, while his wife and young son were living in Amman, 3 hours away. Ashraf’s brother was a sheikh (like an ordained minister) at a mosque, but he asked me for my prayers that he would be able to get a job in Amman, so that he could be with his family more. I promised him that I would pray for him when I go on retreat at Mt Athos (my next stop after Israel). I asked him to pray for me when he got his job in Amman. He said that he would pray for me anyway, and remember me the next time he goes to Mecca (which he does every two years.) As we talked we shared matters of faith, and it was a special thing to share with one another in a friendly and respectful manner about matters of faith.
I stayed again in Amman with my friends Rick and Anne and their children, and enjoyed their hospitality a great deal, going to their evangelical church with them the next day. Here Rick and Anne are sitting with two of the church leaders.
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