Petra means rock in Greek. Well we stayed in the rockiest hotel I have ever been in. It was right out of Middle Ages/Middle East. Today was our anticipated visit to Petra. We began at Wadi Musa, which means the valley of Moses. Tradition has it that Moses passed through this valley. But who really knows? Petra was a city of the Nabataeans. The Nabataeans are not mentioned in the Bible however, another name for them was the Idumaeans. Now Herod the Great was Idumaean so it could be that Herod came from this nation. Herod built the great Temple in Jerusalem.
Our walk through the steeply cut rock ends in a beautiful view of the famous Al-Khazneh tomb which was an important scene in the Indiana Jones movie "The Last Crusade." After walking further into the wadi we began to climb a very long set of stairs that took us out of the Wadi and onto a rock high above the ruins. Here is the remains of a pagan high place where sacrifices were make to the gods. The altar is still there with holes in the rock where the blood would drain out. This would be the same thing that is talked about so much in the Old Testament when a King would nor tear down the height places.
We then walked to the far end of the ruins where donkeys were waiting for us to ride up to the exit of Petra. It was a wild ride up a very long hill to get out of the wadi, but it sure beat walking.
We travelled through the high lands of Jordan until we got to Mt. Nebo. From Mt. Nebo you can see all of the Biblical Lands called the plains of Moab where Israel camped before they crossed the Jordan. This is also where Moses died. It is a very long way from the plains of Moab to Mt. Nebo. I wonder what Moses was thinking as he travelled to the top of this mountain knowing that his work on earth was done and he was about to die? We hiked to the top of Mt. Nebo and we all had a chance to reflect on our calling in life. Moses climbed Mt. Sinai four times and came down each time. But he climbed Mt. Nebo once, and never came down.
The sun set on Mt. Nebo and we found a place to stay for the night on the Dead Sea. So much to reflect on, so much to learn.
Location:65,,Jordan
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