Bedouins, hermits, and rock climbers: The Wadi Rum desert

The Wadi Rum was home to Christian monks and hermits in Late Antiquity and even during the early Middle Ages.

Not too far from the ancient Nabatean capital of Petra, the Wadi Rum is a vast desert area in southern Jordan, about an hour’s drive north of Aqaba, the vibrant Jordanian port by the Red Sea.

This desert valley has been inhabited by different cultures since prehistoric times, as is evident from the famous petroglyphs found in the…