Jabal Harun and Jabal Umm al-Biyara

SJLJ The third climb begins just to the right of Jabal Habis below the museum. A sign points to Ad-Deir (the Monastery) and leads northwest across Wadi Siyah, past the Forum Restaurant to Wadi Deir and its fragrant oleander. As you squeeze through the narrowing canyon you will confront a human-shaped hole in the facade of the Lion’s Tomb. A hidden tomb awaits daredevils who try to climb the cleft to the right; less intrepid wanderers can backtrack to the right and find it a few minutes later. Again on the path, veer left, and eventually stone steps lead past a providential Pepsi stand to Petra’s largest monument.

Ad-Deir, 50m wide and 45m tall, was undertaken in the first century AD but never completed, and is less ornate than the Khazneh. On the left a lone tree popping through a crack in the rock marks more ancient steps, which continue all the way up to the rim of the urn atop the monastery. Straight across the wadi looms the highest peak in the area, Jabal Harun (Aaron’s Mountain or Mount Hor). On top of the mountain a white church reportedly houses the Tomb of Aaron. ‘lTie whole trip takes a couple of hours, a few more if you detour into Wadi Siyah and visit its seasonal waterfall on the way back.

The fourth hike climbs Jabal Umm al-Biyara (Mother of Cisterns), which towers over the Crusader castle on Jabal Habis. Follow the trail from the left of the] Nabatean temple past the Pharaoh’s Penis and down into the wadi to the right. If you scramble 5()m up the rock chute to the left of the blue sign you’ll reach the beginning of a stone ramp and stairway that leads to the top. It was here, at the site of Petra’s original acropolis and the biblical city of Sela, that a Judean king supposedly hurled thousands of Edomites over the cliffs edge. The gigantic piles of shards, over 8000 years old, are the only remnants of the mountains’ first inhabitants. This grueling excursion takes three hours.

If instead of climbing Umm al-Biyara you continue south along Wadi Tughra, which runs by its foot, you’ll eventually reach the Snake Monument, one of the earliest Nabatean religious shrines. From here it’s about two hours to Aaron’s Tomb on Jabal Harun. The path meanders around Mount Hor before ascending it from the south. When it disappears on the rocks, follow the donkey dumpings. As you start to climb Jabal Harun you’ll see a lone tent. A Bedouin inside, the official holder of the keys, will escort you the rest of the way and open the building for you to explore. The entire trek takes five or six hours.