Berkley Center

“Happy hour! Happy hour! Do you wish to ride in the Ferrari?” These are the last words one would expect to hear inside Petra, one of the world’s most ancient cities. In reality, the gentleman shouting “happy hour” referred to his camel as an Italian car to solicit visitors for a 10 dinar ride into the historical site. Throughout the day I heard about numerous “happy hours” and “one dollar specials” from locals to purchase camel rides or native trinkets; I was genuinely shocked by the influence of Western culture in their parlance. While walking through a set of old tombs I even overheard the rap lyrics to “Sh!t” by Future being blasted from a 1990s-style stereo clipped to the back of a mule (yes, a mule). Aside from my lack of rap knowledge, I was not prepared for my visit to Petra because of something else I did not expect to see: the local people who used to live inside Petra’s caves.

According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Nabataean people founded Petra in the sixth century BCE. For centuries the metropolis boasted a lucrative and strategic trade location at the crossroads of Mediterranean, Near Eastern, African, and Indian worlds. Carved entirely from rose-colored rock, Petra featured an advanced infrastructure including aqueducts, sacrificial altars, and royal tombs. Although the city is over 2,000 years old, Petra was not discovered until 1812 by a Swiss explorer who disguised himself as a pilgrim to trick the inhabitants to let him inside. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and UNESCO officially unearthed the site over 100 years later before Petra was named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World.” Prior to the city’s reestablishment, local people resided inside Petra’s caves for hundreds of years unperturbed by any outside influences.

I was curious about what happened to Petra’s cave-dwellers after the excavation in 1984. According to my tour guide and news sources, the Jordanian government promised about 250 families free housing and basic services in two neighboring towns. Met with fierce resistance by the locals, government officials “sealed the deal” by handing over control of all tourist services to the people it had resettled. Since then the government claims the agreement provides a sustainable source of income for the local people, though it is unclear how much revenue from tourism is apportioned to local businessmen. From my perspective, it seems like the government has become the greatest beneficiary of the excavation at the cost of Petra’s former inhabitants.

Firstly, the local people lack ownership of the houses they live in, which has created community tensions with other residents due to overcrowding. Some sources say that families return to their homes inside Petra even though it is now officially a World Heritage Site. Secondly, though the locals may benefit from some income inside Petra, there are few development projects or work opportunities in the towns they inhabit, confining most families to selling souvenirs for the rest of their lives. Thirdly, local reports suggest young children are dropping out of school and conscripted to work in the tourism business in order to support their families.

When I voice my frustrations to friends and family, I am sometimes met by eye rolls and disinterested faces. Understandably, Petra’s immense historical significance might make it difficult to empathize with the few families who were provided free housing and control of Petra’s tourism. One could argue that the local people were already destitute and needed to “catch up” with the rest of society, in which case the resettlement may have been ultimately better for them.

Though I remain deeply skeptical of the excavation’s positive contributions to the local people, I admit that I might not have enough information about the conditions of their resettlement to credibly criticize one of the world’s most prized excavations. Still, I cannot help but question if the local people were truly better off before the restoration, considering they had lived inside Petra’s caves for hundreds of years.

With nearly three months left of my semester in Jordan, maybe I’ll do some digging of my own. Perhaps there are ongoing business projects for the people of Petra that I would love to participate in. Until then, I know that whenever I glance through my old photos from Petra, I will immediately remember the man who offered me his Ferrari. Who knows, maybe someday he might have the opportunity to ride in a real one.