Very often, claims arise suggesting that Petra, the ancient Nabataean city in Jordan, shares historical or cultural links with Indic, Sanskritic, and Vedic traditions. While these assertions are frequently met with scepticism and vehement criticism by mainstream historians, they continue to intrigue proponents of cross-cultural diffusion. To those deeply immersed in Hindu iconography and symbolism, certain architectural and linguistic parallels feel deeply familiar; to standard archaeology, however, such a connection remains highly improbable. Nevertheless, exploring the specific arguments and perceived evidence behind this theory offers a fascinating look into how ancient cultures are reinterpreted today.
Jordan River and the Sanskrit 'jhara' (झर):
To understand the claimed link, one must first look to the etymology of the Jordan River, from which the region takes its name. Mainstream linguistics traces the name "Jordan" back to ancient Semitic roots. The modern name evolves from the Hebrew Yared or Yorad, which stems from the Aramaic Yarden (or Jarden), meaning "to descend" or "the down-flowing." This Semitic root yrd directly describes the river's rapid descent into the Dead Sea.
Proponents of the Indic theory, however, point to a striking phonetic and semantic parallel in Sanskrit. They suggest a connection to the Sanskrit word jhara (झर), which translates to a spring, waterfall, or a stream that cascades downward. From this perspective, the phonetic transition from jhara to jarden is viewed not as a coincidence, but as potential evidence of a shared linguistic substrate or an ancient migration of ideas.
To fully grasp the scope of this theory, we must look closer at the mechanics of the Sanskrit language. In Sanskrit, when describing the active motion of flowing downward, the verb form jharat (झरत्) is employed. Its core nominal root is jhara (झर), which encapsulates the concept of a cascade, a rapid stream, or a waterfall. Across the Indian subcontinent and Nepal, this root naturally populates the names of countless water bodies. [1, 2, 3]
Intriguingly, proponents of the global Indic substrate argue that this jhara phonetic signature is not confined to Asia, but echoes across waterways worldwide. Consider these notable global parallels:
- The Americas: The Jari River, a northern tributary of the Amazon, and Lake Jara in New Mexico.
- Europe & Oceania: Romania's Jara River (a tributary of the Susita) and Melbourne's own River Jara.
- Africa: The Niger River, where the indigenous Tuareg root *ger historically translates to "flowing water."
- Niagara Falls: The famous landmark evolves from the Iroquoian/Huron word Oniagarah (or Onguiaahra), where the suffix -gara is traditionally interpreted by some to mean "thundering waters". [1, 2, 3, 4]
For alternative theorists, the sheer repetition of these phonetic markers suggests that ancient hydronyms—names given to bodies of water—might hold the keys to a forgotten, interconnected linguistic past. It raises a compelling question: why has mainstream academia not investigated these global phonetic overlaps more thoroughly? Given the sheer volume of these geographical parallels, they are far too prominent to have simply been missed. One can't help but wonder if conventional researchers are already aware of these links, yet choose to overlook them.
Unless that is the case, it is high time mainstream scholarship approaches these cross-cultural linguistic patterns with the serious academic scrutiny they deserve.
Temple of Petra and the Sanskrit 'prastar':
Now let's look at the Temple of Petra in Jordan. Petra in Ma’an is the home of Jordan's most ancient race - the Nabataeans. Petra is a complete city carved in a mountain - its rocks are mostly red or pink in hue. It is said that the name Petra derives from the Greek word 'pietra', which means 'stone ', a reference to the rocky landscape of the area. the Greeks were in this region when One or two lines.
However, Petra is a later Greek name. The Bible, the Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna Tablets refer to Petra with names such as 'Sela', 'Seir' and 'Pel'. 'Shila' (शिला), a close cognate of 'Sela' too, means 'rock', 'mountain' or 'rocky-mountain' in Sanskrit. Even the word 'pal' (पल) is linked to 'stone' and occurs in Sanskrit as 'upala' (उपल) or as 'shonapal' (शोणोपल), which means 'red-stone' - thus explaining the name 'Pel' from the ancient texts.
The Biblical Manuscript or the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' say that the original name of Petra was 'Rekim' or 'Rekem'. The name 'Rekem' was inscribed on the Petra temple passage wall - the passage wall was called the Siq or Sic. This inscription 'Rekem' was visible until a couple of decades back, when a bridge was built over the passage wall, such that, sadly, the inscription is no longer visible.
Rekem Gaya of Jordon and the Gaya of Magadha in India:
It is interesting to note that a close Sanskrit cognate of 'Rekim', the Sanskrit 'Recin', pronounced Rechin (रेचिन्), means red powder and describes the hue and colour of the temple. There is another name mentioned in the original Aramaic texts, which says that the oldest known name of Petra is Rekem-Geya, which is equally interesting. The name Rechin-Gaya translates as 'Red-Gaya' from Sanskrit. Naba
Gaya is the name of an ancient Vedic-Hindu pilgrimage site in Bihar in India. Writers such as E. Pococke and P. N. Oak have recorded in their writings about Indian tribes that migrated West from Bihar (then called Magadh). Their presence has been recorded right up to Greece, and they have been known to have built temples en route and given them Vedic names. The question then arises: is there a link between the Gaya of India and Rekem Gaya of Jordon. Was Rekem-Gaya one such temple that these tribes built. Did the name gaya reach Jordon before it reached Greece.
There is a possibility. The word gaia appears in Greek also with the meaning of earth. In Greek history, Pelasgus was the ancestor of the Pelasgians, a population that in turn were the ancestors of the Greeks - that is, they preceded the Greeks and were the source of all knowledge that characterized the Hellenic or Greek civilization.
Where did the Pelasgians come from and what does the name 'Pelasgus' mean in Greek? There is no translation for the name 'Pelasgus' in Greek which is not surprising because the Pelasgians spoke a language that pre-dated Greek.
Much later, in around 700 B.C., Asius one of the poets of Greek civilization had this to say about the Pelasgian race:
"Godlike Pelasgus, on the mountain chase,
The sable (black) earth gave forth her mortal race."
The couplet is originally in Greek, and Asius uses the Greek word 'gaia' in the couplet which interpreters translated as 'earth'. But Pococke in his book 'India in Greece', written in 1851 AD, clarifies and says that it was the word 'Gaya' that was tweaked by interpreters into 'gaia' in Asius's work - it was Gaya (in Bihar in India) that 'gave forth Pelasgus its race'. And there are reasons which lead credence to Edward Pococke's claim.
For one, the etymological origin or the source of the Greek word 'gaia' is unknown - which is strange. Even Proto-Indo-European, which was reconstructed by reverse engineering, has not been able to trace a source word for 'gaia'!
his is not such an outlandish thought at all, considering that the Greeks were for centuries in direct contact with Vihara, the present-day state of Bihar, where Gaya is located.
To read more about the link of Gaya to Greece, click here.
The Water Springs of Petra:
The Petra Temple area was full of water springs. Several springs still exist in the Petra area today. The Siq or Sic* is a complex geological feature that has many places where water could enter the Petra Temple. In Sanskrit, 'Sic' (सिच्) means to soak or irrigate. It is Moses who is credited with extracting water from below the red, rocky arid area that is called Petra today. Until then, say the Aramaic texts, the site of Rekem-Geya was known as 'kadesh'. 'Kadesh' or 'Ku-desh' (कुदेश) in Sanskrit means 'Bad-Land' or 'Inhospitable Land'.
Nabateans and the Nabha (नाभ्) water-spring of Sanskrit:
Philip C. Hammond, professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, is the director of the American Expedition to Petra, and has been researching Petra for the last 35 years. In his research, he has made an attempt to dispel the myths and legends surrounding the Nabataean Temple of Petra at Jordon, including the various names that have come to be associated with this site over time (such as 'Wadi Musa' - or the 'Valley of Moses' which have no bearing on the history of this site).
The myth about the name 'Valley of Moses' arose because the entrance to the Petra temple (called the Shiq or Sic) is a great cleft in the earth and was once filled with water. People came to believe that it was here that Moses struck the rock to secure water for his wandering people after their flight from Egypt. No one has any inkling why the cleft is called a 'sic'. Interestingly, as mentioned above, in Sanskrit 'sic' (सिच्) means 'to irrigate, sprinkle or pour'.
According to Professor Hammond, the Nabataeans were highly skilled, and it was their ability to control the water supply that led to the rise of the city of Petra, creating an artificial oasis in the desert. Nabataeans were able to harness the rainfall and the desert springs through an intricate system of cisterns, pools and waterways that captured and transported water to the city. Where might the Nabataeans have acquired such skills?
The Vedic Shiva and the Nabataean sacred site of Shivta:
The Nabataean territory included parts of present-day Jordon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Israel. There are other known Nabataean sites apart from Petra; for example, there are the ancient cities of Bosra (Syria), Shivta, Mamshit, Avdat and Haluza (also called Halasa) in Israel, and Hegra in Saudi Arabia. Shivta is undoubtedly an Indic name, though it is said that its earliest known record is recorded by the Greeks, who called it Sobata. But in Greek, the v and b sounds are interchangeable.
One of the known ancient trade routes between India and the West passed through the Nabataean town of Petra. And it is a possibility that the Nabataeans were originally from India and carried their skills from India. The word 'nabh' means 'water-spring', or 'cleft in which water flows', or 'cloud'. In its form, it means the navel and therefore the centre of the world.
Not much is known about the Nabataeans. Their language is extinct and said to be 'like Aramaic strongly influenced by Arabic'. However, not much light has been shed on what the meaning of the word 'Naba' or 'Nabha' might be in either of these languages. It is only through the knowledge of Indian scriptures that some sense can be made of the Nabataean site of Petra.
The Nebajoth of the Old Testament and the Sanskrit Navjyot:
It is recorded in historical annals that the Nabataeans were a Semitic people known at least as early as 312 B.C., inhabiting the region between the Dead Sea and the eastern arm of the Red Sea. There is a passage in the Old Testament that mentions Nebajoth, who was the firstborn of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Sara. Abraham and Sara are sometimes equated with Brahma and Sarasvati of the Vedic tradition. The origins of the Nebateans are sometimes traced to Nebajoth.
Kedar, the son of Ishmael and the Vedic Kedarnath:
The second son of Ishmael was named Kedar, and his descendants, called the Kederites, are sometimes regarded as Nabateans themselves, or those who assimilated with the Nabateans. Now, neither the name Nabajoth nor Kedar are said to have any meaning in the known languages of those times, including Aramaic. However, in Sanskrit, Nebajoth can be traced to 'Navajyot' (नवज्योत), or 'new light', and 'Kedar' (केदार) was, of course, the name of Lord Shiva himself. One of his abodes is known as Kedarnath, which is an ancient pilgrimage site for the Hindus. It is uncanny and surprising that Ishmael's son should be named Kedar.
The Nabataean King Asshurbanipal:
The Nabataeans are also mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions of the Assyrian kings. Under the form 'Na-ba-ai-te' in these cuneiform inscriptions, a pastoral people associated with Kedar. They are also mentioned on a cylinder inscription of Asshurbanipal. The inscription describes them as living in a remote region. The name Asshurbanipal (685 BC- 631 BC), though translated as 'Asshura - creator of Heir', may be decoded with Sanskrit as 'Asura (असुर) Bhumipal (भूमिपाल)' - meaning 'Asura - the nurturer of land' in Sanskrit. 'Pal', or 'nurturer', was often added to the names of kings in ancient India. The list is endless: Abhipala, Bhumipala, Indra was known as Devalokapala, Krishna was known as 'Madanagopala', Lokapala (Guardian of the four cardinal directions) were the name by which many gods and kings were addressed.
The name Nabha and the Ikshvaku dynasty of Sri Rama:
The ancient Indian scriptures and Sanskrit shed some light on the names of Nabatean Gods and Goddesses. First, the word 'nabha' itself may be traced to the Sanskrit 'nabha' (नभ), in this case with the meaning 'sky' or 'atmosphere'; 'nAbha' (नाभ) means 'central point' or 'navel'. It is a word straight from the Sanskrit dictionary. But it also appears in the Hindu scriptures.
The name 'Nabha' appears in the names of the descendants of Sri Rama, the Indian God-king, a descendant of the ancient Ikshvaku dynasty. About five generations down the line of Kush (the son of Sri Rama), we see kings with the names Nabha, Vajranabha and Hirnyanabha. And Kush is the son of Sri Rama, who left the shores of Bharat and established his kingdom in what is referred to as Kushadvipa in the Purana texts of India. And in the Puranas, Kushadwipa is the Island of Kusha, or Africa. It is here that you find in the Egyptian and Ethiopian texts the name of Cush and his Kingdom with its capital at Meroe, the Meru of the Vedic-Puranic texts.
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| The Genealogy of the Ishvaku Dynasty |
Nabhaga and Nabha-garista:
The genealogy of three of Manu's sons, that is, Ikshvaku (whose descendants came to be known as 'Suryavanshi' - Solar Dynasty), Vena and Saryati, and his one daughter, Ila (her dynasty came to be known as 'Chandravanshi'- Lunar Dynasty), is extensively described in the Vedic scriptures and epics.
Not much is known about two other sons of Manu, whom we find are named 'Nabhaga' and 'Nabha-Garista'. The epics say that the two were knowledgeable ascetics, and either one or both were deprived of their parental wealth; however, where they went and how they lived their lives is not discussed in detail.
Professor C. Hammond has pointed out that one of the known facts about the Nabateans is that they appeared mysteriously in the Nabha region (Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia), and that they were highly skilled at water management (click here to read how their several thousand-year-old techniques are now being applied in the desert of Israel). Where the Nabataeans acquired their knowledge is not known. Whether Nabhaga's and Nabha-garista's descendants wandered west, and then settled at Petra and other parts of Jordon can only be conjectured, but there seems to be a significant connection between the Nabataean and Indian culture.
Temple of Dushares at Petra and Madhaba:
It is known that the Nabataean temples were constructed as an ode to their deities - the chief male deity being 'Dushares' and the female deity 'Al-Uzza'. In the Mahabharata, Sri Krishna is constantly referred to as belonging to 'the Dasarha race'. In fact, 'Dasarha' (दशार्ह) is another name of Sri Krishna, who was a descendant of the Yadu tribe. One of the most famous of the kings of the Yadu tribe, an ancestor of Sri Krishna, was Dasarha, and for that reason the Yadu tribe is also known as Dasarha. As such, Dasarha was a descendant of Manu's daughter Ila, mentioned above. Whether the Nabataean Temple to Dushares has anything to do with Sri Krishna is not known, but he was also known by another name, which is Madhava, which often changes to Madhaba, since b and v are interchangeable sounds linguistically. One of the most ancient cities in Jordon is known as Madhaba.
The Madaba mosaic and Sri Krishna:g
In light of the above information, one can study a few of the mosaics found from different archaeological sites of Madaba. Some of them bear a resemblance to the manner in which Sri Krishna is represented in art in India.
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| It is said that this mosaic is that of Ammon- the Greek name of the Egyptian god Ymn. The Lore of Ymn, written as Amon, is often equated with that of Sri Krishna and the river Yamuna. |
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| In the Madaba mosaics there is almost always a mark on the forehead. |
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| Temple of Dushares, Petra Right in front is an altar for making offerings |
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| An idol in a seated posture, perhaps a Padmasana, at the Temple at Petra |
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| A Shivalinga or an Omphalos at the Temple of Petra |
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| Other Shivalinga-like structures in the temple of Dushares at Petra, Jordon |
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| The Temple of Dushares at Petra. This photo of Petra is rarely publicised. |
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| An entrance to Petra Notice the 'Ajanta-cave-like facade' cut into the rock |
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| At the entrance, on the top of the gate, is a kalash-like structure. |
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| The North-East entrance to Petra in Jordon is through a cleft between a mountain which was filled with water in ancient times, known as the 'Sic' or 'Sich'. Sich is Sanskrit for irrigate. |
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| The cleft called the 'Sic' at Petra was filled with water once. In Sanskrit, 'sic (सिच्) means 'to pour, irrigate or sprinkle'. A water- channel is a must at a Shiva temple |
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| An 'Elephant Column' at Petra Temple site. Reminiscent of Elephant columns at Vedic-Hindu Temples |
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| The elephant-headed columns are the most striking feature of the Petra Temple. |
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| Elephants are not native to Jordan yet elephant heads carved on pillars are one of the most dominant carving themes of the Temple of Petra, just like in many ancient temples of India. |
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| Photo courtesy and caption: Michael Gunther. "This capital, displayed in the Petra Museum, is from the triple colonnade on the lower terrace of Petra's Great Temple. Elephant heads are substituted for the volutes, between which the capital is worked in a band of "egg-and-dart" design. The capital is thus a modification of the Ionic order (adaptations of all three classical orders are seen in Petra). Nothing could show more delightfully the Nabataean genius for putting their own, unique 'spin' on an adopted architectural vocabulary of classical forms. Some have also associated the name Dusares with the name 'Dasharatha', the name of Sri Rama's father. The names of Rama and Kush also appear in the Bible, albeit in a different form, eg. Ham and Cush, though the history, the events and the chronology of events do not match or are distorted. Here is a quote on the names Raamah and Rama from Wikipedia: |
"Raamah or Rama is a name found in the Bible (Hebrew: רעמה, Ra‛mâh); it means "lofty, exalted, it may also mean "thunder". The name is first mentioned as the fourth son of Cush, who is the son of Ham, who is the son of Noah, in Gen. 10:7, and later appears as a country that traded with the Phoenician city-state of Tyre, in Ezek. 27:22.
"It has been connected with Rhammanitae mentioned by Strabo in the southwest Arabian peninsula, and with an Arabian city of Regmah at the head of the Persian Gulf. He is the brother of Nimrod, who founded several cities in Mesopotamia, including Babylon and Nineveh. We know from the inscriptions of ancient Sheba that Raamah's descendants settled near the land of Havilah to the east of Ophir.
"This country of Raamah is usually assumed to be somewhere in the region of Yemen; Sheba was a son of Raamah, and his descendants are often held to be included among the Sabeans. The Yemenites are dark-skinned, as are the descendants of their progenitor's eponymous grandfather, Kush or Cush, commonly translated in the Bible as Ethiopia, meaning dark. Dedan, son of Raamah. Apparently, a region of the Medina Province of Saudi Arabia."
There are many towns in ancient Nabatea (now Israel) with the name Ramah. Click here to read the details. Following are some other ancient Nabataean temples and sites in Israel, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. Check out the names:
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| The Nabataean Temple at Shivta in Israel is a reminder of Vedic Shiva |
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| The Ramon Crater in Israel. Its name is a reminder of Lord Rama. |
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| Lake Ram, Syria. Lake Ram, or Hebrew Brekhat Ram, meaning 'Pool of Ram' is a crater lake near Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is known as Jabal Haraman in Hebrew. |
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| Mt. Ram in Jordon. Sometimes its name is also written as Rum, pronounced Ramm |
It is quite evident that the name 'Rama' was well known in the Nabataean region and revered enough for the Nabataeans to name their temples, towns, lakes and mountains after 'Rama'.
Citations and Bibliography:
1. Temple of Petra - Jordon: Myth and Reality2. Ikshvaku Dynasty
3. History of Ancient India by J.P.Mittal
4. Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of the Society instituted in Bengal, for Inquiring into the History and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences and Literature of Asia
5. Is Petra a Hindu Temple-complex?
First, let's investigate the name Jordan. Jordan gets its name from the River Jordan. The origin of the name 'Jordan' is generally traced to the ancient Semitic word 'Arda'. 'Arda' in turn comes from the Hebrew 'Yorad', which is derived from the Aramaic 'Yarden' or 'Jarden' meaning 'downflowing' or 'that which descends'.
Let's go a step further and check out the Sanskrit connection. In Sanskrit, the verb in the context of 'flowing down' is 'jharat' (झरत्), and the root word is 'jhara' (झर), which means 'sprinkling' or 'waterfall' and is used to describe water bodies or rivers etc.
There are rivers all over the world which have names close to the 'jhara' sound such as the 'Jari' which is the northern tributary of the River Amazon, River Jara in Melbourne, the Jara River - a tributary of the Susita River in Romania, or Lake Jara in New Mexico, the Niger- the root word *ger in Niger also has the meaning of flowing water in the Tureg language, or the Niagara which derives from the word Oniagarah in the Huron language where the suffix 'gara' also has the meaning of 'thundering water' - not to mention many other such names in India and Nepal.
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