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The High Place is
located at the very top of a mountain. If you want to see it,
you will have to climb up there. |
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The main steps to
the high place start just before the amphitheater. The picture
on the right is looking down onto the tent beside the stairs.
People are starting up the stairs for the assent to the High
Place. Everyone seems to have a different count but the general
consensus is that it is over eight hundred. If you are adventurous
you can always take a donkey ride, but watch those corners! Below:
Your destination 700 steps up the mountain! |
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As you climb the
steps take some time to look around. Near the bottom of the stairs
there appears to be some exposure platforms. Farther up the stairs,
one can trace where the ancient stairs and processional path
must have gone. As you walk imagine what it must have been like
to have been in an ancient procession with colorful priests,
musical instruments, and animals bearing the wood to burn the
offering. One thing is for sure, incense was probably part of
the ancient form of worship. |
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Left: Obelisk near the mountain top.
As you reach the top of the mountain you will
come to what is known as Attuf Ridge. On this ridge are two obelisks,
such as are found in India.
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They are carved
out of solid rock and are over 6 meters high. They have been
noted as Nabataean as one of them still has the typical Nabataean
style of haching (etching) on the side that is protected from
the prevailing winds. The picture on the right is taken from
higher up looking down at the two obelisks. Notice how the mountain
has been cleared away and a flat surface surrounds the obelisks. |
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As you reach the
top of the mountain you will come to what is known as Attuf Ridge.
On this ridge are two obelisks, such as are found in India. They
are carved out of solid rock and are over 6 meters high. They
have been noted as Nabataean as one of them still has the typical
Nabataean style of haching (etching) on the side that is protected
from the prevailing winds. The picture on the right is taken
from higher up looking down at the two obelisks. Notice how the
mountain has been cleared away and a flat surface surrounds the
obelisks. |
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The Crusader Fort
On the north side of the Attuf Ridge is a
huge pile of stones and the remains of an ancient wall. This
is all that remains of an crusader castle. Often, as I have climbed
through these ruins to continue up to the high place, I have
wondered where the crusaders got all their stones from.
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Most certainly they
came from the Attuf Ridge where the Nabataeans carved away the
mountain side to make the Obelisks. But one does wonder what
the Nabataeans used the stones for. What temple or structure
stood on this site, and afforded the crusaders so many wonderful
stones to build their fortress with? |
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Some people find
the high place disappointing, while others find it delighting.
A lot depends on how much you know about ancient worship. This
high place has a large pool where rain water was collected and
available for the priests. In front of the alter was a large
open court (14.4 X 6.4 meters) with a strange ridge in the middle
where something must have stood. Against the cliff are two alters.
(Seen on the left. Yes, it does rain in Petra!) |
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The alter on the
far side may have been used for blood. As animals were sacrificed
the blood was drained onto this altar. It appears to have run
around the outside of the altar and then down the mountain. |
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The main alter was for the burnt sacrifice.
It contains several small steps and a niche where the fire could
have been used. However, there are no evidences of fire at their
altar or the other altars around Petra. Built into the two altars
are wash basins.
Were there ever human sacrifices at Petra?
There is no hard evidence but there is a Nabataean inscription
at Meda'in Saleh which reads "abd-Wadd,
priest of Eadd, and his son Salim, and Zayd-Wadd, have consecrated
the young man Salim to be immolated to Dhu Gabat.
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Their double happiness.
The god Al Uzza is also known to have received the sacrifice
of boys and girls. In particular, the pagan philosopher Porphyrius
states that once a year a boy's throat was sacrificially cut
at the oasis of Dumat some two hundred miles from Petra. |
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When we first visited
this site in 1980 with American researcher and author Bob Boyd
(Baal Worship in Old Testament Days, Vernon Martin, Lancaster
Penna, 1966) he explained to us his theory that the blood needed
to reach the mouth of the Lion Monument farther down the mountain,
before the sacrifice was acceptable. We have tried to trace this
route several times but have had difficulty connecting it. |
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Left: The Soldiers
Tomb. |
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Across from
the Soldiers Tomb is a very ornaite dinning room. |
