WELCOME TO PETRA MOON VILLAGE

The land and buildings of Petra Moon Village have a long association with the Nawafleh tribe, Petra and the surrounding countryside.

The site was settled by members of the Nawafleh tribe in the late 1800s, and the villagers used the abundant stones to build their houses and establish a village. Over the years the village expanded and the surrounding land was terraced and planted with many fruit and olive trees. As Wadi Musa developed and expanded so the villagers moved into the town, finally abandoning the site in 1975.

Subsequently the village was developed into a hotel complex. At that time the Department of Antiquities carried out several investigations to establish the early history of the site and to ensure any archaeological features were preserved.

These investigations showed that the earliest remains dated back to the Iron II (Edomite) period but also indications of the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The site appears to show that the main occupation started in the Nabatean period – first century BC – and that it has been occupied up to the present with only a few periods of non habitation. The construction of the buildings in the 1800s reflected a building tradition that had started back in the first century BC. The use of terraces helped support the buildings and gave the villagers the agricultural land to grow fruit and olive trees. During the excavations a number of olive presses were found from various periods, together with remains of hydraulic installations, water channels and a water tank

Today the hotel is under new management by the members of Nawafleh family who also own the Petra Moon Hotel. From the hotel you can look across the valley and see the terraces built all those years ago by the family’s ancestors and which today still provide fruit and olives for the area. All of the buildings on the site are the originals built in the 1800s and brought up to date to reflect the needs of today’ traveller.

We wish you a pleasant stay.