Thursday, June 28, 2012

Petra: The Red Rock City

This is an example of a civilization that lives within its environment that I think is extremely interesting, so I thought I would share with everyone. Petra is located in the country of Jordan, and there is really great information at the American Museum of Natural History. The Cliffs of Stone section talks about how the whole civilization is carved into the stone of these cliffs, which allowed them to live in nature. They also had a very complex water system chiseled into the walls in this remote spot. Their civilization was able to flourish into a sprawling trading center, and one of the major stops on the silk road. The city existed at the same time as ancient Rome, and was eventually bloodlessly taken over. 
-Alyssa Posklensky
The main facade that the city is most well known for

The carvings in the wall are "pipes" for water to flow into the city
The homes of the people carved into rock

What it is supposed to have looked like in the "heyday"

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