Another Petra-Perfect Day

After completing some bureaucratic requirements my colleague Bruce McKeeman & I entered into the park and found that there was a Park Ranger presence like we hadn’t seen before: was the King returning? Nope: probably response to accident a few days ago that resulted in a park visitor having her leg broken when a speeding carriage’s horse bolted from another horse, and jettisoned the lady from her carriage(#5). She was asked not to report the incident by the carriage driver (who has been in custody), but fortunately “she did” before going to the hospital where she spent the night. We then hiked up the Al-Khubtha stairway/trail. This leads to views from above The Treasury probably seen by less than 1% of visitors to PAP. They are my main photos posting tonight. Note the stairways leading up to south (left) on he 2nd photo. After descending we met a mother-daughter travel-team (from DC & NYC) that were a delight to talk with. Shortly afterwards we witnessed an incident by a PAP employee that we are in process of bringing to attention of park management, as it was uncalled for and potentially had an adverse effect on intact cultural deposits (artifacts). As in "the reason for this Park." Of course, this former Park Ranger/Special Agent and archeologist didn’t like that.

Which leads me to the subject of T. E. Lawrence (aka “Lawrence of Arabia”). In reading recent bio: Hero, I learned that his dad wasn’t the cad I took him for from the reference to him in the movie. His dad actually left his 1^st wife (nicknamed by the household staff as “The Queen of Vinegar”) to follow his heart to be with T.E.’s mom (leaving his title and fortune behind when his wife refused him a divorce). He changed his name and they had many progeny together. T.E. went to Oxford after attending the City High School of Oxford (his dad was an Eton grad). The summer before his last year at Oxford was spent on foot in the “Middle East” collecting data for his senior paper: he was awarded a “first” (no surprise there). After graduating he had many options, but settled on field archaeologist at Carhemish. He was there for four seasons and quickly became a co-field director with his counterpart interested in monuments, leaving him the material culture for study and analysis. Most archaeologists only dream of such a gig (of course, then there is “Indiana”.. I have to admit my career wasn’t bad either…and my sisters can tell you about my bullwhip long before Jones was conjured-up). Another thought about Mr. Lawrence & Film vs. History: he was a well seasoned traveler in the area, that played politics with generals ("fishing" for approval of his plans) before being "sent out." He also had a deep-seated desire to be Heroic in the classical sense. As I read on, I believe he met that obective (that and being a stoic)...