A 720 square kilometre desert of sandstone and granite towers rising from rust-red sand, where T.E. Lawrence based operations during the Arab Revolt and where the Zalabia Bedouin still guide visitors past more than 25,000 Nabataean inscriptions carved into the rock.
At a glance
Wadi Rum is the largest wadi in Jordan, a desert plateau at roughly 1,000 metres altitude marked by sandstone massifs between 300 and 600 metres tall that rise abruptly from a flat, rust-coloured sand floor. The highest of these, Jebel Rum, reaches 1,754 metres and is the highest point in southern Jordan. The protected area also contains seventeen natural rock arches, among them the easily reached Umm Fruth Bridge and the taller Burdah Rock Bridge, which requires a moderate climb.
The Zalabia tribe of the Howeitat Bedouin confederation has traditionally lived here and now runs the jeep tours, camel rides and desert camps under arrangement with the Jordanian government.
Key facts
- Location: Aqaba Governorate, southern Jordan
- Meaning: Wadi Rum translates as ‘Valley of the Moon’
- Highest point: Jebel Rum, 1,754 metres
- Rock art: over 25,000 Nabataean inscriptions and petroglyphs, the largest such collection in the world
- Natural arches: 17, including Umm Fruth Bridge and Burdah Rock Bridge (about 35 metres high)
- Designation: UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed 2011
History
The area has been inhabited and crossed since the Neolithic period, with rock art and stone tools dated to around 7000 BCE. From roughly 300 BCE to 106 CE the Nabataeans controlled the trade route linking the Hejaz to the Red Sea port of Aqaba, and left their language and imagery across hundreds of sites in the wadi. In 106 CE the Roman emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean kingdom as the province of Arabia Petraea, and the area became part of the Roman road network.
In July 1917, T.E. Lawrence and the forces of Faisal ibn Hussein used Wadi Rum as a base for sabotaging the Hejaz Railway, the Ottoman line connecting Damascus to Medina. These operations, continuing into 1918, contributed to the collapse of Ottoman control in the region. Lawrence later described the landscape in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, his account of the Arab Revolt, in a chapter that introduced Wadi Rum to English-speaking readers. A nearby spring still bears his name.
In 1962 David Lean filmed much of Lawrence of Arabia here. Ridley Scott later used the desert for the exterior scenes of ancient Carthage in Gladiator, and in 2015 filmed The Martian here, using the landscape to represent the surface of Mars.
What you see
Visitors enter through Wadi Rum Village, where the protected area’s only paved road ends; beyond it, the desert floor is reached by jeep, camel or on foot. Standard jeep tours run for a few hours and typically take in the Khazali Canyon, a narrow sandstone gorge with Nabataean and Thamudic inscriptions at its entrance, including carved camel and human figures thought to be around 2,000 years old. Other stops include Lawrence’s Spring, reached by a short climb up iron rungs set into the rock face, the Anfaishiyya inscriptions, one of the most significant collections of Nabataean writing in the area, and the Umm Fruth Rock Bridge, a climbable arch about 15 metres high.
Many visitors stay overnight in a Bedouin tent camp, where a traditional zarb meal of meat and vegetables is cooked slowly in an underground pit oven. With almost no light pollution, the night sky over Wadi Rum shows the Milky Way to the naked eye, and some camps offer transparent-domed rooms for stargazing from bed.
Practical information
- Entry: a fee is charged per person for the protected area; jeep tours must be booked through a registered Zalabia operator, with registrations displayed at the visitor centre
- Jordan Pass: a pre-purchased pass covers Wadi Rum entry, Petra entry and the Jordanian visa; worth considering for visits of three days or more in the country
- Best season: March to May and September to November offer the most comfortable temperatures; summer days are extremely hot, while winter nights fall below freezing though days remain clear
- Bookings: check current fees, opening arrangements and camp availability with the site’s official visitor centre or tourism board before travelling
Getting there
Wadi Rum lies about 60 kilometres from both Aqaba and Wadi Musa, the town beside Petra, each roughly an hour’s drive away; Petra and Wadi Rum are commonly combined in a two- to three-day circuit. Queen Alia International Airport in Amman is a longer drive south. Some JETT bus services between Amman and Aqaba pass through the area.
Nearby
- Petra — about 60 km north, the Nabataean city carved into rose-red rock, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1985
Sources
- UNESCO
- Jordan Tourism Board
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