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 A.
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The Siq
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Is a canyon
between two mountains, 1.2 km. long and was the main entrance
to Petra, starts with a dam built by the Nabataeans to stop
water from flooding in, and has an arch as a doorway, two
water channels run on the sides, one with ceramic pipes and
the other carved in the rocks, the channels used to get water
into the city frm Musa spring in the town of Wadi Musa. The
Siq used to be paved with stones, some of the original pavement
still exist, lots of relief sculptures can be seen on the
sides that represented mostly the main goddess Lat and her
son Dushara, some of these sculptures have inscriptions telling
the name of the person who ordered them, and who they were
dedicated to, one of the sculptures representing the Lat and
Dushara face you on your way out, they are a good example
of simplicity in the early Nabataean sculpture.
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 A.
Maani |
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 A.
Maani |
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In the middle of the Siq there is a caravan of five camels and
five men carved with the water channel going behind them, the
feet of one of the men and his camel are well preserved. This
beautiful and colorful canyon suddenly opens up in the end to
show you the treasury, one of the most wonderful facades of
Petra. You can see the Siq candle lit if you go Petra
at night. |
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 A.
Maani |
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The Treasury
(Al Khazna)
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Is the
first grand monument you see when you enter Petra, 43 m. high
was carved in the mountain in the first century a.d. to replace
an older composition of three tombs, it is a good example
of Hellenistic influence. The facade was originally colored,
the columns with the statues were white with a red background
and the ornamentation had a green and blue backgrounds. The
interior of the Khazna (Treasury) is very simple to compare
with the work done on the facade, it is basically a main big
room that leads to three small ones, one on each side, and
two other rooms on the sides with a nice round openings to
let the light in. It used to have wooden doors, next to the
main door you can see a tray carved into the stone that could
have been used for sacrifices, with a channel for blood to
go out. The crack inside the Treasury was resulted by an earthquake.
It had its name from the times when the Bedouins used to think
it contained gold in the decorative urn on the top, you can
clearly see the traces of bullets that ruined the urn as well
as all realistic human figures carved on the facade. You can
enjoy a nice view of this beautiful facade from the Khubtha
mountain and from Danqur al Khazna, coming from the Madras.
You can see the Treasury candle lit if you go Petra
at night.
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 A.
Maani |
| More
pictures of the Treasury |
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