Three Greats of the Ancient World

The Pyramids, St. Catherine’s Monastery and Petra are all largely untouched by modernity, offering the traveller a window, through which millennia of history can be viewed - Petra, one of the recently selected ‘New7Wonders’ is contrasted with the surviving original ‘Ancient Wonder of the World’, the Pyramids.

This journey is now feasible in just a week thanks to a new flight opportunity. It follows in many ways the route of T.E. Lawrence when he travelled from Aqaba, following its capture by surprise attack from the desert, across Sinai and Suez to Cairo – as recounted in his classic ‘The Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ and captured on film in David Lean’s epic ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ in which Wadi Rum was one of the dramatic settings. Once the stronghold of the Nabataeans, Petra was re-discovered in 1812 by the famous Swiss explorer, Burckhardt. The immortal words of Dean Burgen “…match me such a marvel, save in Eastern clime; A rose-red city, half as old as time” give just a hint of the marvel that is revealed.

The Monastery of St. Catherine has attracted pilgrims since AD 337 when the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, built a sanctuary where Moses encountered the Burning Bush. The monastery has changed little and its spectacular setting at the foot of Mt. Sinai adds to its solitude and mystery. The Great Pyramids never cease to amaze, displaying different aspects according to the time of day and line of vision and all built as tombs for the pharaohs with mathematical precision thousands of years ago. The Egyptian Museum, including the treasures of Tutankhamun, gives an idea of life in ancient times.