The explorer who found Petra in disguise lost his satchel
A scavenger hunt in the Royal Tombs, Petra, Jordan
Made by Mused
The journal falls open.
Sheikh Ibrahim has spilled his satchel already! The Nabataeans carved these tomb fronts into the sandstone about two thousand years ago. Something that always knows north fell on the path he walked in by.
A rope on the rose rock.
The page turns to the great rock wall, where the Corinthian Tomb and the huge Palace Tomb rise storey upon storey. His rope was dropped closer to the cliff, near one of the small cave tombs at its foot.
A lamp for the dark rooms.
Step inside a tomb where the ceiling ripples like painted silk. Burckhardt would have wanted some light in here, and he left it in one of the deep carved recesses in these walls.
Thirsty work in the sun.
Even a disguised sheikh needs a drink, and the sun on this open ground is fierce. The cliffs ahead are full of dark doorways cut into the rock, but his water was left among the stalls on the other side of the path.
The pages turn to watercolor.
The journal blurs into a painting, just as later artists saw this valley. A rolled up guide to the whole place was left by the striped tent, on the side facing the tall tomb fronts.
The goat has wandered in.
One last page, and a bleat echoes off the stone walls. The goat that was meant for Aaron's mountain has wandered off into one of the bright halls next door to nibble in the cool.
Sheikh Ibrahim has his satchel and his goat back, and the old journal closes with a happy sigh. Burckhardt was the first European in modern times to describe Petra, and travelers have followed his footsteps ever since.
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