Angela
Elite member
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Anyone remember Raiders of the Lost Ark: the Temple of Doom? Well, that used Petra as the setting.
Petra today:
I've never been, unfortunately, but apparently it's all desert. No gardens anywhere. They did exist at one time, however.
See:
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.744119
"Recent excavations at Petra have revealed a startlingly advanced irrigation system and water storage system that enabled the desert city's people to survive – and to maintain a magnificent garden featuring fountains, ponds and a huge swimming pool. The engineering feats and other luxuries attest to the ancient Nabatean capital's former splendor and wealth some 2,000 years ago."
" Now archaeologists are discovering the Nabataean capital, situated in the southwestern deserts of Jordan, once was adorned with an exquisite, artificially irrigated garden. It featured paths likely shaded by vines, trees and date palms, and grasses, which were cultivated next to a huge, 44-meter wide swimming pool.
The Nabataeans’ ability to tame nature, and conspicuous consumption of a precious resource, water, was pure propaganda. It was a means to display wealth and power, which they could do thanks to the ingenious hydraulic system they invented, which allowed the people not only to reserve enough water for their own needs, but to water the lavish garden with fountains and an open-air pool. It had previously been unthinkable that water, a scarce resource in the desert wastes, would have been used for anything but necessity.
The intricate system of channels, ceramic pipelines, underground cisterns and water tanks, which also filtered the water, allowed the people of Petra to cultivate crops, harvest fruit, produce wine and olive oil as well as build a lavish garden with a monumental open air pool in the middle of the desert.
Caravans from the Gulf, loaded with precious cargoes of spices, had to cross the vast wastes of the Arabian Desert, trekking for weeks before finally arriving at the narrow canyon that was the welcoming entrance to Petra. Petra meant food and lodging and, above all, cool, refreshing water.
Naturally, the citizens of Petra did not provide these comforts free of charge. The Roman historian Pliny reports that – beside the payments for fodder and lodging - gifts had to be given to the guards, the gatekeepers, the priests, and the king’s servants (Natural History, Book XII). But the exorbitant prices that spices and perfumes could fetch in the prosperous cities of Europe kept the caravans coming, filling up the treasuries of Petra."
I wonder if our J2 British soldier/gladiator came from here.
Petra today:
I've never been, unfortunately, but apparently it's all desert. No gardens anywhere. They did exist at one time, however.
See:
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/archaeology/1.744119
"Recent excavations at Petra have revealed a startlingly advanced irrigation system and water storage system that enabled the desert city's people to survive – and to maintain a magnificent garden featuring fountains, ponds and a huge swimming pool. The engineering feats and other luxuries attest to the ancient Nabatean capital's former splendor and wealth some 2,000 years ago."
" Now archaeologists are discovering the Nabataean capital, situated in the southwestern deserts of Jordan, once was adorned with an exquisite, artificially irrigated garden. It featured paths likely shaded by vines, trees and date palms, and grasses, which were cultivated next to a huge, 44-meter wide swimming pool.
The Nabataeans’ ability to tame nature, and conspicuous consumption of a precious resource, water, was pure propaganda. It was a means to display wealth and power, which they could do thanks to the ingenious hydraulic system they invented, which allowed the people not only to reserve enough water for their own needs, but to water the lavish garden with fountains and an open-air pool. It had previously been unthinkable that water, a scarce resource in the desert wastes, would have been used for anything but necessity.
The intricate system of channels, ceramic pipelines, underground cisterns and water tanks, which also filtered the water, allowed the people of Petra to cultivate crops, harvest fruit, produce wine and olive oil as well as build a lavish garden with a monumental open air pool in the middle of the desert.
Caravans from the Gulf, loaded with precious cargoes of spices, had to cross the vast wastes of the Arabian Desert, trekking for weeks before finally arriving at the narrow canyon that was the welcoming entrance to Petra. Petra meant food and lodging and, above all, cool, refreshing water.
Naturally, the citizens of Petra did not provide these comforts free of charge. The Roman historian Pliny reports that – beside the payments for fodder and lodging - gifts had to be given to the guards, the gatekeepers, the priests, and the king’s servants (Natural History, Book XII). But the exorbitant prices that spices and perfumes could fetch in the prosperous cities of Europe kept the caravans coming, filling up the treasuries of Petra."
I wonder if our J2 British soldier/gladiator came from here.