Once at the entrance to the Visitor Centre there is a 200-metre walk down the hill to the Sik – the natural cleft in the rock that winds its way to the centre of the city.
Not a lot us known about the religious beliefs of the Nabataeans but what is known indicates that the facades and carvings in Petra are mainly tombs to kings or other dignitaries.
One of the first facades encountered before the Sik is the Tomb of the Obelisks. You have to keep in mind that these structures were hewn from the rock so whilst the facades are ornately decorated in a variety of architectural styles – none of which I have time to describe here - the rooms or spaces behind are limited. The obelisks are thought to represent the dead buried in the tomb whilst the statue at the centre of the façade represents a deity or king. Most tombs have a sacrificial stone carved into the rock that is thought to show the importance of religious offerings of sheep, goats or camels to the Nabataeans.
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