Petra: Jordan’s Historic City of Rose-Colored Stone, Part 2 of 2

Petra was later abandoned following a large earthquake in AD 363, and changes in trade routes were made. The city thus became lost in obscurity to the Western world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. Jews have considered the mountain near Petra, now known in Arabic as Jebel Harun or Aaron’s Mountain, as the biblical Mount Hor. The shrine of the Prophet Aaron is located at the highest point in Petra at an altitude of 1,350 meters.

Petra’s largest free-standing building, known as the Great Temple, stood on solid ground twice the size of a football field. A theatre with 600 seats and a paved courtyard was built within the Great Temple complex, with a vaulted room underneath. A climb up 850 steps of the carved mountain leads to the impressive Monastery, or Al Deir.

The Petra Archaeological Park was inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list of World Heritage Sites in 1985. It was later selected as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007 by 100 million people. In 1994, some 800 monuments in Petra were identified and listed by UNESCO, although recent surveys showed that the actual number is far greater. Established in 1989, the Petra National Trust is a non-governmental organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the history, archaeology, cultural heritage, and natural environment of Petra and its region.

The best time of the year to visit Petra is in spring or autumn, when the temperatures are pleasant and warm. Unfortunately, Petra is threatened by global warming. Jordan has the second-lowest annual water supply per capita in the world, at 88 cubic meters in 2019, well below the 500 cubic meters that are designated as absolute scarcity. We pray that all people swiftly adopt the planet-protecting vegan lifestyle to safeguard this beautiful world and its rich human historical sites.