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In recent years the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in
Jordan has repaired the stairs to Al Kubtha Mountain, making
it possible for tourists to climb to the top and visit the High
Place and other sites on this mountain. The stairs up this mountain
are located between the Palace Tomb and Sextius Florentinus Tomb.
Right: Click on the map of Petra to see where these tombs
are located.
Below: Once you start up the stairs, you come to an
ancient doorway with a modern but poorly built door.
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Right: From
this doorway, the stairs go up and up. This is not a climb for
the faint hearted, or those with heart trouble!
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Above: After
climbing for a long time, from a lookout point you can get a
great view of the Christian Tombs.
Left: Across
the ravine, there are some tremendous displays of natural color
in the rocks.
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From the stairs you can look directly down
onto the top of the Palace Tomb and see how part of the facade
was built up with rock.
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Along the way to the top you
get a great view of Um al Biera, Jebal Habis and the Collonaded
Street. |
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There is a great view of the
amphitheater from the stairway! One tourists reach the top, they
are often confused at what they are looking at. |
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There are a number of sites that
could have been a High Place Altar on Jebal El Kubtha. |
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Across the valley you can see the Turkamaniya
Tomb. When we snaped this picture, the tomb was covered with
a metal scafolding during restoration. (March 2003)
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There is a dam and water cistern
at the top of the mountain, just east of the priest's village. |
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The easiest way down the mountain
is the same stairs that you came up. |
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There are a number of other
highplaces around Petra, some of them difficult to get to and
treacherous to climb, such as the one pictured on the left. |
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If you walk further east from the High Place you come to where
you can look down on the Treasury. To see a full size picture
of this photograph click the picture above. Special thanks to
Chris Spiegl for this exceptional photograh. Taken March 2001
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