Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Petra, Jordan
Petra is an amazing place full of mystery. It was even featured in an adventure movie about Indiana Jones. Petra is an ancient city. It is located in Jordan in the Middle East. To get there, first you will have to take a plane or a ship. Travel half way around the world. It will be easy to find a place to stay nearby, since many tourists visit Petra.
Are you ready to tour the ancient city now? First, we'll need an old-fashioned kind of transportation. We can ride a horse or a camel. The entrance to Petra is a long, narrow passage. It is called the Siq. It leads us through the mountains to the ancient city. There are interesting sights along the way. Look at the carvings in the rocky walls. Some of them are ancient tombs. Along the way, be sure to look up, too. You will see that the walls are very tall. The Siq is not just long. It is also deep. We are getting closer to the city. There it is. You can see the walls carved from red rock. Much of Petra is not built of wood, bricks, or even stones. It is carved from the solid rock of the mountains. It is so strong that some of the walls have stood for over 2,000 years. Petra has even survived huge earthquakes.
The first building we see is called al-Khazneh. Al-Khazneh means "the Treasury" in Arabic. The building is really a tomb. It is the burial place of ancient leaders of Petra. It was named the Treasury because people suspected that pirate treasure might be buried there.
