El-Khazneh

It is that most perfect of the monuments, khazneh of faraoun, whose sculptured columns and cornices are pure chystalline beauty lines……where-upon the golden sun looks from above, and nature has painted that sand rock ruddy with iron rust. "Doughty, C. M".

The hard, dramatic colors of the Siq do not prepare you for the glowing richness of the Khazneh; a façade approximately 28 meters wide and 40 meters long. It stands alone, uncluttered by other façades establishing a positive statement that you have arrived in a city of great opulence and importance, the true glory and the glory of the people who carved it with this wonderful art is apparent.

El-Khazneh is situated in an important position and was a key element in the town planning of the Nabataaen kings. There has been controversy as to whether el-Khazneh was a temple or a tomb. Its magnificence and size and the presence of an outer court, inner chamber and sanctuary beyond, seem to indicate that it was a temple. El Khazneh "Treasury" gets its name from the legend that pirates have hidden their treasure there, in a giant stone urn which stands in the center of the second level, or from urn being filled with ancient pharoanic treasures.

El Khazneh consists of two floors: the lower one has a gate leading to the major hall with a small room on each side. The façade has six columns, each lateral pair is inserted in the wall, and between them some carved statues appear, on a base, representing the horsemen, sons of the god Zeus; one of them is raiding his horse westward and the other eastward, and they represent the dispatching of the dead souls to the other life.

The six columns bear a decorated pediment. The upper floor consists of three parts: in between two blocks of rock, the middle part is a round building supporting the urn. The two rocky towers have similar decoration consisting of two small columns inserted in the rock. Between them there are some carved statues representing the scorpion, symbolizing the Nabataaen gods, the two small columns are surmounted with pediment decoration.

In the recesses beside the two rock blocks there is a statue of a female warrior showing her arms. The front of the two small columns with the statue of Isis in between Al Khazneh bears the fingerprints of the architectural art of Alexandria during the Hellenistic period, the presence of the Egyptian goddess Isis which is also clearly visible on the pottery juglets indicates that too.

Spend some time in Wadi el Jarra after the walk through the Siq and around el Khazneh to observe the skilled locals (Bedouins) during bottles filling with brightly colored sands from the surrounding areas by which time and place are documented. Take some pictures too, because the art is unique and beautiful.