Travelogue
Travelling The Chinese Stretch Of The Silk Road Jordan: an unexpected link to the silk routes Jordan is not normally considered to be part of the silk routes, but I found an unexpected link to a branch that came down through Syria and on to Egypt. Although the main silk route is considered to be from China to Europe, there were many side branches of varying importance. I discovered evidence of trading links to the silk routes at the amazing Nabataean site of Petra and then, on a later trip to Naples (Southern Italy), that traders from Petra had lived in the nearby Roman town of Puteoli (now Pozzuoli) from at least 53/52 BCE and were still there in CE 5/6. A statue of one of their gods; Dusares, looking just like ones in Jordan, impressed me at the Naples museum. The Nabataeans were originally a nomadic group from the area that is now Saudi Arabia. The society evolved into a kingdom around the third century BCE that eventually controlled most of what is now Jordan but was incorporated into the Roman empire about 106 CE. The biblical Herod’s first wife was a Nabataean. They were well renowned for their trading skills, especially in spices and silks. Petra was the centre of their caravan trade with a large caravanserai just outside the city similar to those on the silk routes. From here they could trade in all directions: Gaza to the west; Bosra and Damascus to the north; to Aqaba and Leuce on the Red Sea; and across the desert to the Persian Gulf.
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Above: Whadi Rhum, Aqaba, Jordan
The site was progressively abandoned from about 550 CE due to the area being earthquake prone. The site is truly stunning, well worthy of its UNESCO World Heritage site status. It was reached after a hot, mile long walk along a path paved with limestone (probably in the 1st century BCE) and surrounded by tombs and sacred sites. This led into a picturesque sandstone gorge followed by a tunnel which opens up to reveal the “Treasury” temple in all its majesty. The rest of the site contains further impressive sandstone Nabataean buildings and Roman architecture, including a well preserved amphitheatre. Some of you might recognise the site from an Indiana Jones film. A 2014 National Geographic article speculated that the buildings were orientated so that the sun would highlight the features of the temple structures at the solstices, particularly inside the building called “the monastery”. One of the secrets of the Nabataeans success may have been their development of sophisticated methods of irrigation, as we also found in the civilisations along the silk routes. Jordan is one of the driest countries on earth and there were no springs inside Petra. The Nabataeans therefore developed water harvesting, flood control and water storage systems, probably later using knowledge from ancient Rome. The water was brought either from springs some distance away or from storm water captured in rock hollows and transported along aqueducts or pipes. One of these is dated to the
