ASIAN ALPINE E-NEWS
Issue No 80. January 2021
Treasures of Jordan
Aqaba, Shoubak, Little Petra, Petra and Wadi Rum by Peter Rowland

1Treasures of Jordan.
Aqaba, Shoubak, Little Petra,
Petra and Wadi Rum.

Peter Rowland.

Treasures ofJordan.
Aqaba, Shoubak, Little Petra,
Petra and Wadi Rum.

Peter Rowland.

AqabaAl-Sharif Bin Ali Mosque, Aqaba.
Sharif Hussein Bin Mahammed Abd Al Nauin Al Aoun was born in
Istanbul during the exile of his father in 1853, and to where he washimself exiled in 1893 for his ideas of independance. He returned toJordan in 1908 as Prince of the Holy Mecca.
He led the renaissance of the Raba under the leadership of his foursons, and later declared the Great Arab Revolt on 10th June 1916. He
was again exiled, this time to British controlled Cyprus, for his beliefs,
on 17th June 1925. He lived in Cyprus with his son Zaid until he wasparalysed by a stroke at age 79 in 1930, and was subsequently reinvitedby Emir Abdullah to live in Amman.
He passed away on 3rd June 1931 in Amman and was buried in theAl-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on the Haram esh-Sharif or "Temple
Mount", in a walled enclosure decorated with white marble andcarpets.
This mosque was built in 1975 during the reign of King Hussein andrenovated in 2011.

The City of Islamic Ayla (Aqaba).
Ayla is the old name of the Red Sea port of Jordan, called today Aqaba.
These are the remains of an early Islamic city, built by the Rashidi Caliph
Utman ibn Afan between 644 and 656 AD. It was inhabited during theImmayad period (644-750) and the Abbasid period (750-1116). The
Crusaders conquered the city in 1116, without a ight, which indicatesthat the city might have been abandoned, probably after a severe
earthquake in 1068.
The city remains were rediscovered in 1986.
The city holds special signiicance in Islamic history as well as later
periods. Excavations have revealed markets. gates and commercialstores, as well as evidence to indicate that people lived inside andoutside the city walls. Artifacts found indicate commercial contact withEthiopa, as well as parts of the indian ocean and the Far East; however,most sea trade was conducted with the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt,and overland trade with Iraq and Syria.

The Congregation Mosque (650-1100 AD), from the Syrian Gate.

Congregational Mosque, Ayla City, looking towards the Syrian Gate.

Looking north west towards the Egyptian Gate.

The Egyptian Gate area.

The Egyptian Gate.

Ayla City fortiications, looking south west.

Ayla city area (A), looking south towards the Sea Gate..

Ayla city area (A).

The Late Roman Church, Aqaba.
This mud brick building was built between 293 and 303 AD and isorientated to the east. Archaeologists, after studying pottery inds fromits foundation, believe this is an early church, and possibly the oldest
church in the world., older than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, both built inthe late 320s
There are signs that it was destroyed in the late 4th century AD after anearthquake that hit the region in 363 AD, which looded the area withsand.
The south-eastern end of the building was eventually destroyed due tothe construction of the city wall on the south. Parts of this wall are stillvisible across the main road beside this monument.

Description:
The building had the shape of a large three sided basilica, with anarthax*, and orientated on an east-west axis. It measured 85 ft (26 m)
by 53 ft (16 m), was built of mud-brick over stone foundations, withprobably vaulted nave and aisles, and arched doorways. Remains of astaircase suggest that it had a second storey. The nave ended in achancel area followed by a rectangular apse.
In 1998 the archaeologists discovered walls up to 15 ft (4.5 m) high,the foundations of a chancel screen, a collection box with coins,fragments of glass-made oil lamps, and a cemetery with 24 skeletons
immediately adjacent to the church.
The church initially accommodated 60 worshippers, and wasexpanded after the Diocletianic Persecution to accommodate up to100.
*Narthax: An antechamber, porch, or distinct area at the westernentrance of some early Christian churches, separated of by a railing.

Photograph of excavated site, 1998.

Aqaba Roman Church, 2020.

Agaba Roman Church, 2020.

Aqaba Roman Church, 2020.

Aqaba Resort

The Crusader Castle Montreal, Shoubak.
Shoubak was irst settled by the Edomites who had their capital in
Busaira in the neighbouring Tailah Governate. It was then settled bythe Nabateans.
The Montreal Crusader Castle, built in 1115 AD, had high strategic
importance due to its high elevation, 4,363ft (1330m) above sea level.
Its importance reached its peak after Baldwin I of Jerusalem took
control of it, cutting the connection between Egypt and Syria.
During the Arab Revolt, T.E.Lawrence entered Shoubak in February
1918, commenting, “We went over the ridge and down to the base of
the shapely cone, whose mural crown was the ring wall of the old castleof Montreal, very noble against the night sky”. Upon departure hewrote, “...we skated timorously down the rapid path to the open plain
across which still stretched the Roman road with its groups of fallen
milestones, inscribed by famous emperors.”

Montreal Crusader Castle, Shouback.

Little Petra.
Little Petra, also known as Siq al-Barid (The Cold Canyon) is located 8km north of Petra and is a Nabataean site. It is located in an arid,
mountainous desert region 3,410ft (1,040m) above sea level. To theeast the Arabian Desert opens up. To the west the rugged terrain soon
descends into the Jordan Rift Valley, with lands around the Dead Sea as
low as 1,300 ft (400m) below sea level.
Like Petra, it was probably built during the height of Nabataean
inluence. While the purpose of some of the buildings is unclear it isthought the whole complex was a suburb of Petra and meant to house
visiting traders on the Silk Road. After the decline of the Nabataeans, itfell vacant and was used for centuries only by Bedouin nomads.
In this area there were three detected periods of occupation: theNatiian period 11, 000 BC, a pre-pottery Neolithic period, 7,000 BC andthe Nabataean period.

Triclinium - Temple 847

Triclinium - Temple 847

Roman Temple style - Tomb 846

Biclinium 849

Rock-cut stairs leading to a second storey.

Petra - The Rock- Cut City.
Petra stands at an elevation of 2,953 ft (900m) in the midst of a vast
plateau stretching east from the Dead Sea and the Wadi al-Arabah, thedeep crevise through which the River Jordan once lowed into the Gulfof Aqaba. The site is reached by using the modern road known as the“Desert Way”, or the more suggestive “Kings Road”, which follows theoriginal course of the ancient road.
The city was once situated at the crossroads beween the mostimportant caravan trade routes. Petra built its fortune on the control ofthese routes and the monopoly Nabataean traders commanded over
the transport of luxury goods passing through the area. The incenseand myrrh from south western Arabia, the spices, fabrics and preciousstones arriving from India and China and also the bitumen produced in
the Dead Sea. The Nabataean traders not only handled theorganisation of the transport, exploiting the formidable capacity of thedromedaries, but they held customs rights, as much as 25% of thevalue, over the goods in transit.
The city of Petra lies in the canyon carved out by the so-called “River ofMoses”, which gave the modern village of Wadi Musa its name.

Approaching the Siq, Petra.

Rock-cut tombs before entering the Siq.

The Djin Blocks.

The Obelisk Tomb and the Bab al-Siq triclinium.

Un-named rock-cut features.

Water Tunnel constructed to bring fresh water to the Siq.

Water Channels, running the length of the Siq, taking fresh water into Petra.

Rock-cut tombs and niches within the Siq.

Rock relief of a merchant leading three camels.

The Niche Monument.

The Siq.

Facade of the Pharaoh’s Treasury emerging from behind the rocks of the Siq.

Al-Khazneh Firaun - The Pharaoh’s Treasury.

The upper loor of the Treasury facade.

The Treasury portico relief detail.

The Treasury portico.

Rock-cut tomb still to be excavated.

Camel and Pony Park.

The Streets of Facades.

The Theatre. Built between 4 and 20 AD during the reign of King Aretas IV.

The Theatre with an overlay showing how it would have looked.

The Colonnaded Street.

The Colonnaded Street with overlay showing how it would have looked.

The Great Temple.

The Great Temple with overlay showing how it would have looked.

The Arched Gate.

The Arched Gate with overlay showing how it would have looked.

Arched Gate detail.

Qasr al Bint Firaun - The Castle of the Pharaoh’s Daughter.

The Temple of the Winged Lions.

The temple of the Winged Lions with overlay showing how it would have looked.

Panoramic view of the Royal Tombs.

The Royal Tombs along the western face of al-Khubtah.

The Byzantine Basilica.

Mosaic pavement of the Byzantine church’s northern nave depicting animal igures.
Known as the “Master of the Chiaroscuro Mosaic”.

View of the eastern end of the valley from the Blue Temple.

Old tomb badly eroded showing wonderful colours of the sandstone from which is was cut.

The Palace Tomb.

The Palace Tomb with overlay showing how it would have looked.

The Corinthian Tomb.

The Corinthian Tomb with overlay showing how it would have looked.

The Silk Tomb, so called because of the multicloured veins in the sandstone.

The Tomb of the 17 Graves (Left) and Tombs No. 822-825.

Sandstone Abstracts.

The Tomb of Uneishu, upper level right.

Uninished tomb.

Goat Herder.

David Roberts Lithographs.
David Roberts was born in 1796 at Stock Bridge, near Edinburgh, to an
extremeley humble family. He spent his childhood in total but digniied
poverty, which did nothing to prevent him from showing early artisticgifts.
Gifted with equal determination and talents, he succeeded inovercoming his humble beginnings, and quickly became one of themost acclaimed artists of the period. He developed as an excellent
landscape artist, and after travelling repeatedly in Europe, he set out toEgypt in 1838. In the following years, as well as his time in Egypt, hetoured the Sinai Peninsula, Petra, Jerusalem, Palestine, the coasts ofLebanon and Baalbec.
The lithographs included here were produced from sketches he madeduring his 5 day visit to Petra.

The Treasury

Sight to the southThe Eastern end of the valley.

The TheatreThe Eastern end of the valley.

Wadi Rum - The Desert of the Bedouin.
The desert of Wadi Rum, known as the “Valley of the Moon”, lies insouthern Jordan. Of very ancient origins, it owes its description andfame to the constant action of atmospheric agents , that in the courseof thousands of years have shaped this landscape, giving it a lunar
character. This is an amazing landscape of sandstone rocks, which risesuddenly in the midst of stretches of sand, lobster coloured dunes,
walls of rock scoured by the wind, pinnacles of stone, and deeply
carved valleys, ancient dried up river beds.
The overall desert area of Jordan occupies approximately 80% of theland surface of the country. There is a diference between the northernand southern areas. The northern desert is made up of volcanic basalt,that is basically a greyish colour. The southern desert, where Wadi Rum
is located, is composed of sandstone and granite.

First World War train.

Troop Carrier.

The "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" rock formation.
“It is the wind, the clever surrealist sculptor still at work, which has carved the walls of rock”.
Written by a Bedouin poet.

Wadi Rum is home to the Zalabia BedouinDesert Landscape.

This book is a record of our visit to Jordan during February 2020.
Peter and Rose Rowland
Carol Lawton.

Note: The images showing Petra Monuments with overlays taken from:“Petra - The Rock-Cut City with reconstructions”.
The David Roberts lithographs taken from:“Petra by David Roberts 1839”.

Photographs by: Peter Rowland. 2020