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that we see on view, but if you let your imagination, or a good guide book, aid you the vibrant ancient streets return to their former glories.

From the official entrance to the site, a dusty trail leads gently downwards along the Wadi Musa (The Valley of Moses). Situated in small rock outcrops to the left and right of the path are some small Nabataean tombs, carved into the dry rock. Beyond these, walls of sandstone rise steeply on the left, and a narrow cleft reveals the entrance to the Siq, the principal route into Petra itself. Siq, means cleft or channel and the entrance to the site is very narrow in some places, making this name very appropriate for this ancient geological fault line. The Nabataeans were expert hydraulic engineers. The walls of the Siq are lined with channels (originally fitted with chamfered clay pipes of efficient design) to carry drinking water to the city, while a dam to the right of the entrance diverted an adjoining stream through a tunnel to prevent it flooding the Siq. Flash flooding in this area has always been a problem in these mountainous valleys and in the 1960s, much of the anti flooding work that the Nabataeans had built was re-established to make the region safe once more. As you enter the Siq you will begin to appreciate the natural beauty of the site which Im sure was one of the factors that drew the original inhabitants to settle here. The natural ore in the Sandstone rocks presents an vast array of colours, the natural iron gives a red tint to much of it and other ores such as copper and sulphur add yellows and blues, greens and browns that make for a marbled effect through out the canyon.

Once inside, the Siq narrows to little more than five metres in width, while the walls tower up hundreds of metres on either side. The floor, originally paved, is now largely covered with soft sand, although evidence of Nabataean paving slabs can still be seen in some places along side more modern reconstruction. The Siq twists and turns, the high walls all but shutting out the early morning sunlight, until abruptly, through a cleft in the rock, the first glimpse of the city of Petra can be seen. Carved out of pale reddish sandstone, ornate pillars supporting a portico surmounted by a central urn and two flanking blocks jut out from the cliff face ahead. The best known of the monuments at Petra, the Khazneh is also the first to greet the visitor arriving via the Siq. The facade, carved out from the sandstone cliff wall, is 40m high,

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