Happy Ides of March! Today we crossed the border into Jordan and traveled to Petra. This is the place where they filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. We saw the Treasury building which is the central picture in the Indiana Jones film. We saw the Nefesh Tomb (also called obelisk tomb) which was a family tomb for a rich family. It was built in 100 B.C. We walked past the tomb and into the deep canyon that is the entrance to the city. It was built by the Nabatean people, Bedouin nomads who decided to settle down in 100 B.C. They built a hidden city in this deep deserted stream bed that used to be completely submerged in Antiquity. We snaked around a long downward trail past wild fig trees growing on the side and an Aqueduct that was the source of water for the people in the city. The city flourished from 100 B.C. until it was captured by the Romans in about 70A.D. After that, most of the people fled or were assimilated. By the third century, the city was lost to the desert and no outsiders knew where it was. The Byzantine Muslims who remained after they had been conquered again still knew where the city was as they would hold a twice a year pilgrimage to a tomb believed to be that of Moses’ brother Aaron, at the temple on top of the mountain near the city. Petra was discovered in the late 1800’s by a French/Englishman who moved to the area, colored his skin, converted to Muslim and learned Arabic. After talking to the locals for a few years, he learned about the city and the pilgrimage. He started walking to the site, was stopped because he had blue eyes but was allowed to pass when he told them he was going to the holy site for a pilgrimage. After he found the city, he announced it to the world and we can thank this man for allowing us to view the city remains.