Sebuah kota misterius yang dibangun di atas batukarang lereng gunung Hor, ditemukan. City of Petra, begitu nama kota misterius yang berkembang pada 2600 tahun lalu oleh suku Arab.
Petra terletak di Yordania barat-daya sekitar 50 mil (80 kilometer)
sebelah selatan Laut Mati,dikeliling batu karang dan pasir yang menjadi perlindung alami dari serbuan pihak luar. Batu karang yang menjulang tinggi ini seolah menjadi benteng bagi Petra.
Letak Petra yang strategis menjadi jalur bisnis utama pada masa itu. Tak heran kalau kota itu tumbuh dan berkembang pesat. Hal itu terlihat dari sisa-sisa bangunan yg kokoh tak yg lekang oleh waktu. Ribuan tahun telah berlalu, namun bentuk bangunan di kota kuno itu masih terlihat jelas. Untuk lebih 'afdol' silahkan liat foto2 ini, di mana bangunan-bangunan berpilar masih berdiri kokoh di sela 'hutan' batu karang.
Dulunya, boleh dibilang Petra merupakan kota yg maju karena menjadi jalur pusat perdagangan berbagai jenis barang, mulai dari sutera, rempah-rempah, dll. Petra menjadi jalur bisnis penting yg menghubungankan Cina, India dan sebelah selatan Arab seperti Mesir, Suriah, Yunani dan Roma.
Setelah ribuan tahun kota itu 'hilang' kini jalan mencapai Petra tidaklah mudah. Satu-satunya akses menuju kota kuno itu adalah melewati jalan sempit dan gelap sepanjang 2 km. Mungkin dulunya itu merupakan sebuah jurang. Lebarnya hanya 3-4 meter, di antara batu karang yang menjulang setinggi 100 meter.
Orang menyebut jalan itu Siq. Nah begitu berhasil melewati Siq, sampailah anda di City of Petra, kota kuno yang masih memperlihatkan sisa sisa kemegahannya di masa lalu.
Duhhh selebihnya baca teks aslinya ya..!!!
The “Treasury,” named as such in the mistaken belief that the urn
contained gold. The massive façade is sculpted out of the sheer rock
face with deeply-carved architectural elements, and dwarves everything
around it at 105 feet (35 meters) wide and 140 feet (43 meters) high,
making it the largest freestanding structure in Petra. It was carved in
the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and
epitomizes the engineering genius of these ancient people.
As you enter the valley you’re overwhelmed by outstanding architectural
achievements — hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate
carvings. Unlike the houses which were destroyed mostly by earthquakes,
about 500 tombs survived which were carved to last throughout the
afterlife.
The Nabateans believed that the soul departed from
the body and continued to live after death, so it should therefore
continue to be fed and clothed by its living descendants, which is why
there are so many tombs at Petra.
At the foot of the mountain called en-Nejr, a little farther from the
Treasury is a massive Roman-style theatre which could seat 3,000
people. It stands at the point where the valley opens out into the
plain the site of the city, placed to bring the greatest number of
tombs within view.
The amphitheatre was actually cut into the
hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Nearly
enclosing it on 3 sides are rose-colored mountain walls, divided into
groups by deep fissures, and lined with tombs cut from the rock in the
form of towers.
There are obelisks, temples, sacrificial altars, and streets lined with
rows of columns. A flight of 800 rock cut steps leads you high above,
overlooking the valley, where the impressive Ad-Deir Monastery is
located.
Also known as ad-Dayr in Arabic, the Monastery is so
huge that the doorway is taller than many houses. The façade is some
165 feet (50 meters) high and 130 feet (40 meters) wide. The door is a
staggering 30 feet (9 meters high). Its name, like most Petra
structures, does not reflect reality; it was possibly a Nabataean
temple.
According to Arab tradition, Petra is the spot where Moses struck a
rock with his staff and water came forth, and where Moses’ brother
Aaron is buried at Mount Hor, known today as Jabal Haroun or Mount
Aaron.
The Wadi Musa or “Wadi of Moses” is the Arab name for the
narrow valley at the head of which Petra is sited. A mountaintop shrine
of Moses’ sister Miriam was still shown to pilgrims at the time of
Jerome in the 4th century, but its location has not been identified
since.
The 13th century shrine built by the Mameluk Sultan Al
Nasir Mohammad to commemorate the death of Aaron, the brother of Moses,
can be seen on top of Mount Aaron in the Sharah range.
There are 2 museums within the site — Petra Archaeological Museum and
the Petra Nabataean Museum — which display finds from excavations in
the Petra region and an insight into Petra’s intriguing past.
Excavations
have revealed that the Nabateans had the ability to control the water
supply that led to the rise of the desert city, in effect creating an
artificial oasis. The area is known to have flash floods and
archaeological evidence shows the Nabateans controlled them by the use
of dams, cisterns and water conduits. Water could be stored water this
way even during prolonged periods of drought, and the city prospered
from its sale.
This road, built from the period when the Romans invaded Petra in 106
AD, runs across the valley floor, and was once lined with temples,
palaces, shops, and houses.
HISTORY OF PETRA
So
far, no method has been found to determine when the history of Petra
began. But evidence suggests Petra — from the Latin word “petrae”
meaning rock — was first established around the 6th century BC by the
Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the
foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.
This
part of the country was traditionally assigned to the Horites, likely
cave-dwellers, the predecessors of the Edomites. The habits of the
original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying
the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves.
The town grew up around its Colonnaded Street in the first century AD
and by the mid-first century had witnessed rapid urbanization.
Following the flow of the Wadi Musa, the city-center was laid out on
either sides of the Colonnaded Street on an elongated plan between the
theater in the east and the Qasr al-Bint in the west.
Among the
most remarkable of all Nabataean achievements is the hydraulic
engineering systems they developed including water conservation systems
and the dams that were constructed to divert the rush of swollen winter
waters that create flash floods.
In 131 AD Hadrian, the Roman emperor, visited the site and named it after himself, Hadriane Petra.
Despite several attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman
emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of
their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean rule
until around 100AD, when the Romans took over.
It was still
inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman empire
moved its focus to Constantinople. The Byzantine community recycled
many standing structures and rock-cut monuments, while also
constructing their own buildings, including churches — such as the
recently excavated Petra Church with the extraordinary mosaics. Among
the rock-cut monuments they reused is the great tomb or the Ad-Dayr
(known as The Monastery), which was modified into a church.
In 363
an earthquake destroyed many buildings, and crippled the vital water
management system. A devastating earthquake had a severe impact on the
city in 551 AD, which all but brought the city to ruin. With the rise
of Islam, Petra became a backwater community.
The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century but soon
withdrew. After the Arabic occupation, it lost its importance little by
little, the trade routes changed that went through Petra, and after
that it just lapsed into silence.The long-hidden city remained unknown to the Western world until 1812,
when it was rediscovered by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt,
disguised as an Arab sheik. Gaining the trust of the local tribesmen,
he learned of the secret gorge which led to the “City of Rock,” and was
determined to see it.
Petra remained accessible only to Europeans accompanied by local guides with armed escorts until after World War I.
Petra
was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 when it was
described as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s
cultural heritage,” and classed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the
World on July 7 2007.***
Membicarakan kota yang hilang selalu menarik perhatian. Salah satunya kota yang megah ini.Petra menarik perhatian dunia pada awal abad ke-19. Wisatawan Eropa mulai banyak berkunjung kesana setelah penjelajah Swiss bernama Burckhardt memperkenalkan dan membuat banyak artikel dan pamflet tentang kota ini. Konon sebelum diketemukan lagi oleh Burckhardt, kota ini sudah tidak dikunjungi orang selama 500 tahun. Perjalanan kesana harus dengan cara naik ke punggung unta hingga tiba di kaki Petra, dan biasanya pengunjung langsung mengaguminya dan bertanya-tanya tentang masa lalunya, bagaimana cara membangunnya, siapa penduduknya, dan hal-hal lain seputar itu. Petra berlokasi di Tanah Suci Arab, namun ornamen Kristen dan Yahudi membuat daya tarik keunikannya menjadi lebih besar. Beberapa penulis mengidentifikasi Petra adalah Edom kuno, yang mengutuk Perjanjian Lama karena dilarang Musa dan Bani Israel. Banyak pengunjung melihat konfirmasi kuat dari kata-kata nabi Yeremia: "Edom akan menjadi sunyi sepi: setiap orang akan terkejut." Disisi lain ditemukan bahwa kota ini penuh teka-teki masa lalu dan juga keindahan pemandangan alam yang cukup menarik. Dikelilingi oleh batu-batu karang yang menjulang tinggi yang membuatnya abadi, Petra tidak hanya dimiliki keuntungan dari sebuah benteng, tapi mengendalikan rute perdagangan utama, mengubahnya menjadi pusat perdagangan penting untuk sutra, rempah-rempah dan rute yang menghubungkan Cina, India dan Arab selatan dengan Mesir, Suriah, Yunani dan Roma.
