http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345 <em>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985). Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul. </em><br/><br/><em>Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.</em><br/><br/><em>Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs. </em><br/><br/><em>The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries.</em><br/><br/><em>In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists. While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.</em><br/><br/><em>By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.</em><br/><br/><em>Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.</em><br/><em> </em> en-us (C) Nora Photos nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:16:45 GMT Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:25:25 GMT Jordan Middle East Travel and Places http://www.noraphotos.com/img/s11/v29/p25244939-10.jpg http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345 120 119 http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e48F7A09

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Although particularly associated with the Romans, aqueducts were devised much earlier in Greece and the Near East and Indian subcontinent, where peoples such as the Egyptians and Harappans built sophisticated irrigation systems. Roman-style aqueducts were used as early as the 7th century BCE, when the Assyrians built an 80 km long limestone aqueduct, 10 m high and 300 m wide, to carry water across a valley to their capital city, Nineveh.
The Nabataeans carved massive aqueducts in the sandstone walls of the Siq, supplying the City of Petra with tones of water during the driest months of the year. They are believed to be some of the earliest aqueducts in the world.

Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, a UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling. The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Nabataean Aqueducts carved in the sandstone walls of the Siq. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e48F7A09 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:21:50 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1EF4B407

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouin Child. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1EF4B407 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:21:59 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e166721E5

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e166721E5 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:01 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e181350B

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e181350B Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:02 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eE6F3BB4

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eE6F3BB4 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:04 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e17542C08

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e17542C08 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:13 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e2CEA25D

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e2CEA25D Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:14 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eD0494D1

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eD0494D1 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:15 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e9D32F93

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e9D32F93 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:15 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1A1418E7

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1A1418E7 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:17 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e6E7BD96

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e6E7BD96 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:25 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e97F089F

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.
In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.
Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e97F089F Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:27 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eF1BC8

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Urn Tomb. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eF1BC8 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:34 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eC9C5AD9

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Urn Tomb. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eC9C5AD9 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:44 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e18554CD8

]]>Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Geological Rock Formations. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e18554CD8 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:22:59 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1E81217A

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1E81217A Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:23:32 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e478142F

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedul Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e478142F Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:23:40 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eAE9FC7D

]]>
The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985). Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.

Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs. The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.

While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Bedouins. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/eAE9FC7D Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:23:41 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e19EA5E1F

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Arabian Bedouin Horse. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e19EA5E1F Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:23:48 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e14AA0A74

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Arabian Bedouin Horse. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e14AA0A74 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:24:03 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e109CAA80

]]>The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra, (UNESCO Heritage Site since 1985).
Bedouin culture is the root and origin of all the countries of the Arabian Peninsula (with the exception of Israel) and pre-dates Islam. The five tribes of Bedouin in Petra are named the Bedul.

Ethnohistoric study secures the presence of the Bedul to the Valley of Petra to at least the beginning of the 19th century. Numbering only about 1,000 people, the Bedul, nevertheless, represent a distinct case of an indigenous people encountering the benefits as well as the threats of rapid modernization.
Traditional Bedul Habitation in and around Petra included black tents of woven goat hair, numerous masonry structures in natural rockshelters, and the occupation of empty Nabataean tombs.

The latter has received the most attention in recent years due to its visibility to the tourist trade. However, habitation in tombs within Petra itself is but one form of a diverse and extensive settlement pattern likely employed for centuries. In light of this, the direct impact from Bedul habitation upon the archaeological resources is relatively low when compared to the impacts of development and planned increases in the numbers of tourists.
While international interest in Petra, exemplified by tourism, increased throughout the 20th century, the Bedul continued their traditional activities of goat pastoralism and rainfall farming of wheat and barley. Even in the late 1980s, most of the farming was done without mechanization, the fields tilled with ards, and even harvested by hand. Dairy products are well represented by goat milk taken daily for the manufacture of a "yoghurt," known as laban, typically processed into a highly storable dried form.

By the late 1960s, a formal development plan for Petra National Park was funded by USAID, and U. S. National Park Service was enlisted to advise on the future of Petra. Relocation of the Bedul away from the most significant Nabataean monuments was advised at that time, but a government-built settlement was not constructed until 1985. Now named Umm Siehoun, the village was a mixed blessing for the Bedul, bringing access to better education and health care, but decreasing their access to traditional pastoral and agricultural lands and the cash economy of tourism. Thus, many resisted the move and continued to live in caves, rockshelters, and black tents in 1988, adhering to the traditional life.

Bedul hospitality and their knowledge of traditional values of past populations could be well used for the promotion and welfare of tourism.

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places A Bedul Bedouin singing a traditional flute. Petra by Night. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e109CAA80 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:24:14 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1C87E66E

]]>Beyond Umm Sayhun, a short distance north of Petra, the road runs between wild and beautiful outcrops of rock, the colour of pale honey.

It is called al-Beidha in Arabic, 'the white one'. It is still used today by the Amareen Bedouin whose territory this is.

Inside, a vast space was chiselled out of the rock in order to store the water that was vital for this major agricultural area, the bread-basket of the northern suburbs. Al-Beidha was also one of the main commercial areas of Petra, the entry and exit point for the trade routes to the north and north-west.
Here the caravans from the Negev, Gaza and Askalon, from Jerusalem and the Phoenician coast would arrive and settle for a while to engage in trade, their camels and donkeys quartered in the broad acres near the cistern. The merchants probably stayed in the cool seclusion of the Siq al-Barid, the cold gorge, whose entrance is at the end of a narrowing of the valley.

Just before the entrance is a façade of luminous simplicity, at the top of a short flight of steps. It does not seem to have been or a tomb for al-Beidha was designed more for the living than for the dead. Perhaps it was the office of the collector of tolls of the trading caravans that lodged here. Like all the monuments of Siq al-Barid, this façade is thought to have been carved in the first half of the first century AD, when the whole quarter was developed during a period of Petra's expansion.

Inhabiting this leafy and flowered world are a variety of birds, some in flight, others resting on branches, a cherub-like figure of Eros with his bow and arrow, and a flute-playing Pan.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Little Petra or ‘Al-Beidha’ – ‘The White One’. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1C87E66E Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:24:26 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e6D21437

]]>
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria.

Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550-1292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. On the authority of Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews iv. 7, 1~ 4, 7) Eusebius and Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94) assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing Petra and associated with Mount Seir.

Petra, a vast city carved into the sheer rock face, was turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice, frankincense and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. According to the Old Testament, a battle took place from the heights of the tallest mountain in Petra, Umm al Biyara. Another cliff top, said to be the burial site of Aaron (Haroun in Arabic), the brother of Moses, has been a holy place for Christian monks and now Muslims.
Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over. It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman Empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter.

The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra, ‘The Lost City’, to the local bedouins until the early 19th century, when it was rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

The Bedul Bedouin inhabit the region around Petra which achieved a "World Heritage" status by UNESCO in 1985.

Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. The rose-red colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling.

The Al-Khazneh (The Treasury), a massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it, is found at the end of the Siq. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places The deep gorges of Wadi Araba'. Petra Archaeological Park. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e6D21437 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:25:19 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e8C9F086

]]>Wadi Rum also known as The Valley of the Moon is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in south Jordan at 60 km to the east of Aqaba. Wadi Rum has been inhabited by many human cultures since prehistoric times (8000 BC), with many cultures–including the Nabateans leaving their mark in the form of rock paintings, graffiti, and temples.

David Lean filmed much of this ‘Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O’Toole ,1962) film on location in Wadi Rum desert.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Wadi Rum Desert - The Valley of the Moon. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e8C9F086 Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:25:20 GMT http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1C8D5D0B

]]>Wadi Rum also known as The Valley of the Moon is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in south Jordan at 60 km to the east of Aqaba. Wadi Rum has been inhabited by many human cultures since prehistoric times (8000 BC), with many cultures–including the Nabateans leaving their mark in the form of rock paintings, graffiti, and temples.

David Lean filmed much of this ‘Lawrence of Arabia (Peter O’Toole ,1962) film on location in Wadi Rum desert.

In October, 1917, Lawrence, as part of a general effort to divert Turkish military resources away from the British invasion of North Africa, led a small force of Syrians and Arabians in defending Petra against a much larger combined force of Turks and Germans. The Bedouin women living in the vicinity of Petra and under the leadership of Sheik Khallil's wife were recruited to fight in the defense of the city. The defenders were able to completely devastate the Turkish/German forces.

T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote: "...so you will never know what Petra is like, unless you come out here. Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be."

]]> nora@noraphotos.com (Nora Photos) Jordan Middle East Travel and Places Wadi Rum Desert - The Valley of the Moon. Jordan 2010 © Nora de Angelli / www.noraphotos.com http://www.noraphotos.com/p238663345/e1C8D5D0B Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:25:25 GMT