Petra, Jordan – Part VI – The Treasury (Al Khazna)

There was SO much happening here, that I will break this blog down into sections.

The Treasury 

I was overwhelmed, so I took many pictures to be able to go back and take a closer look to then take it all in!

  • Our guide told us that the Treasury seems to be an ancient calendar – 12 Corinthian columns for 12 months of the year, there are 365 little carved cubes for 365 days of the year, and something about the border above the bottom six Corinthian columns counts the 7 days of the week.
  • The square notches on either side of the Treasury was for holding scaffolding.
  • The crowning urn was legend to be a pharaoh’s treasure, and has bullet holes from Bedouins trying to shoot it down.
  • There are scattered bullet holes all over the Treasury from Bedouins shooting at it.
  • There are two statues of Amazon women!
  • The Treasury is almost 40 meters high.
  • It was probably constructed in the 1st century BC.
  • There are pictures of our first morning arrival then our stopover once again on our walk back to the The Visitor’s Centre. Our second visit was better as there were less people because of the mid-day searing heat and blazing sun, and our guide had departed so we were able to chill out, relax and take it all in.

Here, you can clearly see the square notches for scaffolding on either side of the Treasury:fullsizeoutput_a052

Close up of the urn that was believed to hold a pharaoh’s treasure. As well, you can see the little carved cubes that add up to 365 days of the year.fullsizeoutput_a053

This is a close up of the border just above the bottom 6 Corinthian columns. The symbols somehow count up to or represent the 7 days of the week. I can’t specifically remember what it was our guide told us about how the symbols indicate 7 days of the week.fullsizeoutput_a057

Close-ups of one the Amazon women on the inner left side of the square corner. The other statue mirrors this one on the opposite inner right side square corner.fullsizeoutput_a05f

Here are all the pictures of the Treasury! You can see bullet holes in the last picture.

Michael and I

Michael took pictures of me taking a picture of the Treasury with my cell phone!

Camels and the Treasury

Directly in front of the Treasury was the camel ride and photo op location.

Your two options with the camels were:

  1. Sit on one and have your picture of you on a camel in front of the Treasury.
  2. Take a ride from the Treasury up to Qasr al-Bint (the end of the road so to speak) or vice versa.  Camel rides were only allowed from Qasr al-Bint to the Treasury or the Treasury to Qasr al-Bint.

These are two of the Bedouin camels owners!  🙂

Donkeys

This little guy was thankfully kept in the shade while on a break!fullsizeoutput_a654

These two donkeys were just wandering around…IMG_4962

Fun Moments!

This is the view when standing directly front and centre of the Treasury, with your back to it.  This is what you see when you look to the right:fullsizeoutput_a67b

Then starting to look more left is a tourist centre!fullsizeoutput_a679

Then directly in front of the Treasury is the entrance, that narrow spit between the rock formations!fullsizeoutput_a67aThe entrance to the Treasury is this location of a behind the scenes picture of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.fullsizeoutput_a649

Police on horseback talking to the traditionally dressed guard at the entrance to the Treasury.fullsizeoutput_a678

Here they are riding away. I took these pictures because I love Arabian horses and this one horse was full of the expected fire and will of this magnificent breed!

The friendly guard at the entrance who keeps tourists out!

Michael and I were not as lucky as Indy, Henry Jones Sr., Sallah and Marcus to be able to enter the Treasury!

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This family from Norway (I think?) was so fun with all of them wearing bedouin head scarves! fullsizeoutput_a684

Cool rock formation next to the Treasury:IMG_5003

I think it fitting to end this blog with pictures from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, because it was 30 years ago that this movie showed me the Treasury in Jordan, this exotic location that I fell in love with!

S, <3 <3 <3

2 Comments Add yours

  1. mama says:

    O.K. now I will have to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to see what is inside😘 I am completely overwhelmed at the entire journey you have taken to arrive at this destination. It was worth it!
    I will have to do some “digging” into the “Treasury” … it’s origin etc etc… Fascinating Stephanie. Love mama 🙄looking way up😳😍

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