After a good walk through the Siq, you get a glimpse of the Treasury Building as you come to the end of the wall between the rocks. You are greeted with a view that was in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Film. This, I guess, would be one of he most famous of all the carvings in Petra.
Over 45 meters tall, the Treasury was carved out of the red and yellow sandstone in a top-down fashion, and was built as a royal tomb. The reason it is called ‘the Treasury’ is that people believed there was a treasure, a very large one, hidden in it and it has been raided for this reason a good number of times, but with no luck.
The purpose of the Treasury remains a mystery — it was probably a temple, a tomb, a royal residence or just about anything else! Its façade has two levels, decorated with columns, classical roof lines and sculptures. Atop the façade is an eagle, a Nabataean and Greek male deity symbol.
The central figure on the upper level may be the fertility goddess of Petra, El-Uzza, associated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.
A colossal doorway dominates the outer court and leads to an inner chamber of 12 square metres.
For more information about Petra
- 2014-03-27 – Eilat – Timna Park – Petra
- 2014-03-28 – Petra – Petra to Amman
- Petra – Siq
- Petra – Sunset
- Petra – Cart hooked up to pole.
- Petra – Landscape
- Petra – One of the New Seven Wonders of the World
- Petra – Roman Influence
- Petra – Taybet Zaman Petra Resort
- Petra – The Treasury
- Petra – Tombs in the Ancient City
- Petra – Transport in and out of Ancient Petra