Athortuk, royal architect, he was sitting, pensive, lost in that maze of rock, his gaze at the wonder of Kazneh sculpted rock, admiring its elegance, perfection, the perfect cut every one of its lines carved on the mountain . That morning walk; surrounded by the reddish dust of the streets of their city, Petra, I had sat well to clear many problems as it was coming. Bullies in his head a thousand ideas to make an imprint on the future of this great city, temples, monasteries, houses…. needed to translate the papyri and to stop putting them into reality.

There, sitting at the entrance of the gorge, he looked preoccupied and looked magnificent portico which had left its previous king, Areta IV, who died 30 years earlier. Hopefully, it would have been able to live those glory years of the Nabataean kingdom. I wish I could feel what they felt those architects, able to translate so much emotion and grandeur in a mountain. But now, their King, Malice II, and did not continue with this immense task. Petra had started to lose all the splendor it had enjoyed during the previous reign, between 9 BC and 40 AD, as previously, when in the year 93 BC Jewish armies were defeated by Alexander Iannaeus Obod I. Its expansion into Damascus allowed the Greeks gave enough ideas to start building those natural wonders. Wealth seized the province, which became an important center of trade in eastern spices, and all this helped to develop the arts among the Nabataeans.

Curiously, he was sitting there, like nearly every day, when a soldier approached him: «Athortuk,» he called. «The king, the great Malice II, calls you into his presence.» The architect he looked tired, and without saying anything, took its papyruses, got up and went to the palace. Compared to their King, received the news that almost ended (or so he thought) with their dreams.

«Athortuk,» he told King. «Forget all this while drawing plane. Syrian troops are already near the city. Not stand much more and we will soon be a new Roman province, dominated by the legacy of the Syrian emperor Trajan. » After the meeting, the architect wept like a child in their chambers … so much greatness lost, so many broken dreams …
Shortly Athortuk could imagine a few years ago that the Roman legation could bring to his kingdom as much cultural wealth. Petraea, converted to Roman province of Arabia, known at this time largely as a construction explosion. The presence of Roman citizens in the streets, it was possible to try to make an image of the city to the great Roman city. Housing shaped grotto, carved in stone a few years earlier, took steps to more temples and monasteries. Temples with frontages of over 30 meters tall columns and caryatids roman type, without losing its general Greek, which were carved directly into the rock from top to bottom, as was done in other temples such as Abu Simbel, in Egypt.

And so, Athortuk saw his dreams come true, and Petra became famous throughout the world, forever.

Short History of Jordan:
Muslim power in the 636, Jordan was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century. From the 1st World War, became a British protectorate until 1946, which created the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. In 1948 it annexed the territory of West Bank and changed its name to the present, Jordan. In 1976, King Hussein gave back the territories of West Bank in favor of an eventual Palestinian state.

Curiosity:
The famed Treasure of Petra is just the porch. Inside you there is nothing. Everything that appears in the film Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, after crossing the columns of the entrance, a scene that was staged in the film studios.

Petra is one of the great wonders in the world!

Others themes:
Visiting Jerusalem is a unique experience
The most famous monument in Damascus
Adventures by the Red Sea