Jordania. Pequeña Petra (Siq Al Barid)
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 0.75 mi
- Elevation gain
- 184 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 184 ft
- Max elevation
- 3,603 ft
- TrailRank
- 47
- Min elevation
- 3,422 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Coordinates
- 162
- Uploaded
- February 13, 2021
- Recorded
- June 2015
near Al Bayḑā, Ma’an (Jordan)
Viewed 526 times, downloaded 15 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
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Little Petra, also known as Siq al-Barid "the cold canyon", is an archaeological site in Jordan, 14 km away. north of the better known Petra and the city of Wadi Musa in the Ma'an governorate of Jordan.
Like Petra, it is a Nabataean habitat, with buildings carved into the walls of sandstone canyons. As the name implies, it is much smaller, as it consists of three wider open areas connected by a 450-meter canyon.
It is part of the Petra archaeological park, although it is accessed separately, and is included in the Petra inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Like Petra, it was probably built during the height of Nabataean influence during the 1st century. While the purposes of some buildings are unclear, archaeologists believe that the entire complex was a suburb of Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans. destined to house shops on the Silk Road. After the decline of the Nabataeans, the site was left empty for centuries, used only by Bedouin nomads. Along with neighboring Beidha, little Petra was excavated in the late 20th century by Diana Kirkbride and Brian Byrd.
In 2010, a biclinium, or dining room, was discovered in one of the caves where paintings of grapes, vines and cherubs are preserved in great detail with a varied color palette, probably in homage to the Greek god Dionysus and the consumption of wine. The 2,000-year-old Hellenistic-style ceiling frescoes have been restored. Although not the only known example of Nabataean figurative painting in situ, they are a very rare example of large-scale Hellenistic painting, considered superior to later Roman Herculaneum paintings.
It is located in an arid and mountainous region of the desert, 1,040 meters above sea level. To the east the Arab desert opens. In the west, the rugged terrain soon slopes down into the Jordan Rift Valley, with land around the Dead Sea 400 meters below sea level.
It is located on the local road that leaves from Wadi Musa and follows the edge of the mountains around Petra through the small Bedouin village of Umm Sayhoun. About 8 kilometers north of Wadi Musa, a short path to the west leads to the small unpaved parking lot.
From the Siq al-Barid car park, it opens onto the rocky façade from southwest to west. Its name, literally "cold canyon", derives from its orientation and its high walls that block out most of the available sunlight. The modern name "Little Petra" comes from its similarities with the larger site to the south, both must be visited through a narrow canyon and consist mainly of Nabataean buildings
Siq al-Barid. A narrow canyon with high beige rounded stone walls and a dusty floor.
In this open area, many of the sandstone walls have openings carved into them; they were used as dwellings. On the south wall there is a triclinium with colonnades and a portico and a projecting cantilever and which archaeologists believe was used as a temple, although they know very little about it.
Then the canyon narrows again for another 50m, leading to another smaller open area. The carved openings are more numerous here, including four large couches. Archaeologists believe that these spaces could have been used to entertain visiting merchants.
On the south side there is a small biclinium. It has some rare surviving Nabataean paintings on its back wall, and that is why it is called the "painted room."
At the west end of the canyon, a series of steps lead up to the top of the rock, from where panoramic views are available of the entire Petra region.
Archaeologists believe that little Petra was founded in the 1st century, when Nabatean culture was at its peak in the region. It was probably a suburb of the largest city in the south, perhaps where its most powerful merchants lived. The location may have been chosen due to the nearby settlement of Beidha, inhabited since the earlier Neolithic period.
Unlike Petra, in which the Nabataeans lived and buried their dead, Little Petra was designed to house caravans from Arabia and the East, reaching into Syria and Egypt. To make them stop after the crossing of Wadi Rum, the Nabataeans initially dug the small caves in the sandstone, and then built others much larger by the number of caravans that stopped there.
During the rest of the millennium and much of the next, little Petra remained unknown to all except the Bedouin nomads who sometimes camped in or around it. Europeans, who could not visit the Arab world under Islamic rule, had heard of Petra but were not sure of its existence.
In the late 1950s, the English archaeologist Diana Kirkbride completed her excavations in Petra itself with excavations in the Beidha area, which included Little Petra, which is not described as a separate site at the time. These excavations continued until 1983, two years before UNESCO registered the Petra area, including Beidha and Little Petra, as a world heritage site.
Like Petra, it is a Nabataean habitat, with buildings carved into the walls of sandstone canyons. As the name implies, it is much smaller, as it consists of three wider open areas connected by a 450-meter canyon.
It is part of the Petra archaeological park, although it is accessed separately, and is included in the Petra inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Like Petra, it was probably built during the height of Nabataean influence during the 1st century. While the purposes of some buildings are unclear, archaeologists believe that the entire complex was a suburb of Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans. destined to house shops on the Silk Road. After the decline of the Nabataeans, the site was left empty for centuries, used only by Bedouin nomads. Along with neighboring Beidha, little Petra was excavated in the late 20th century by Diana Kirkbride and Brian Byrd.
In 2010, a biclinium, or dining room, was discovered in one of the caves where paintings of grapes, vines and cherubs are preserved in great detail with a varied color palette, probably in homage to the Greek god Dionysus and the consumption of wine. The 2,000-year-old Hellenistic-style ceiling frescoes have been restored. Although not the only known example of Nabataean figurative painting in situ, they are a very rare example of large-scale Hellenistic painting, considered superior to later Roman Herculaneum paintings.
It is located in an arid and mountainous region of the desert, 1,040 meters above sea level. To the east the Arab desert opens. In the west, the rugged terrain soon slopes down into the Jordan Rift Valley, with land around the Dead Sea 400 meters below sea level.
It is located on the local road that leaves from Wadi Musa and follows the edge of the mountains around Petra through the small Bedouin village of Umm Sayhoun. About 8 kilometers north of Wadi Musa, a short path to the west leads to the small unpaved parking lot.
From the Siq al-Barid car park, it opens onto the rocky façade from southwest to west. Its name, literally "cold canyon", derives from its orientation and its high walls that block out most of the available sunlight. The modern name "Little Petra" comes from its similarities with the larger site to the south, both must be visited through a narrow canyon and consist mainly of Nabataean buildings
Siq al-Barid. A narrow canyon with high beige rounded stone walls and a dusty floor.
In this open area, many of the sandstone walls have openings carved into them; they were used as dwellings. On the south wall there is a triclinium with colonnades and a portico and a projecting cantilever and which archaeologists believe was used as a temple, although they know very little about it.
Then the canyon narrows again for another 50m, leading to another smaller open area. The carved openings are more numerous here, including four large couches. Archaeologists believe that these spaces could have been used to entertain visiting merchants.
On the south side there is a small biclinium. It has some rare surviving Nabataean paintings on its back wall, and that is why it is called the "painted room."
At the west end of the canyon, a series of steps lead up to the top of the rock, from where panoramic views are available of the entire Petra region.
Archaeologists believe that little Petra was founded in the 1st century, when Nabatean culture was at its peak in the region. It was probably a suburb of the largest city in the south, perhaps where its most powerful merchants lived. The location may have been chosen due to the nearby settlement of Beidha, inhabited since the earlier Neolithic period.
Unlike Petra, in which the Nabataeans lived and buried their dead, Little Petra was designed to house caravans from Arabia and the East, reaching into Syria and Egypt. To make them stop after the crossing of Wadi Rum, the Nabataeans initially dug the small caves in the sandstone, and then built others much larger by the number of caravans that stopped there.
During the rest of the millennium and much of the next, little Petra remained unknown to all except the Bedouin nomads who sometimes camped in or around it. Europeans, who could not visit the Arab world under Islamic rule, had heard of Petra but were not sure of its existence.
In the late 1950s, the English archaeologist Diana Kirkbride completed her excavations in Petra itself with excavations in the Beidha area, which included Little Petra, which is not described as a separate site at the time. These excavations continued until 1983, two years before UNESCO registered the Petra area, including Beidha and Little Petra, as a world heritage site.
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3,479 ft
Panorama
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