Silk Tomb

The Ancient City


Next to the distinctive Urn Tomb in the Royal Tomb group is the so-called Silk Tomb, noteworthy for the stunning swirls of pink-, white- and yellow-veined rock in its facade.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Ancient City attractions

1. Corinthian Tomb

0.05 MILES

The badly damaged Corinthian Tomb is something of a hybrid, with Hellenistic decorative features on the upper level and a Nabataean portico on the lower…

2. Urn Tomb

0.06 MILES

The most distinctive of the Royal Tombs is the Urn Tomb, recognisable by the enormous urn on top of the pediment. It was built in about AD 70 for King…

3. Palace Tomb

0.09 MILES

The delightful three-storey imitation of a Roman or Hellenistic palace, known as the Palace Tomb, is distinctive among the Royal Tombs for its rock-hewn…

4. Cistern

0.14 MILES

Hilltop Nabataean cistern with wonderful views of the Theatre.

5. Royal Tombs

0.18 MILES

Downhill from the Theatre, the wadi widens to create a larger thoroughfare. To the right, the great massif of Jebel Al Khubtha looms over the valley…

6. Theatre

0.2 MILES

Originally built by the Nabataeans (not the Romans) more than 2000 years ago, the Theatre was chiselled out of rock, slicing through many caves and tombs…

7. Street of Facades

0.23 MILES

From the Treasury, the passage broadens into what is commonly referred to as the Outer Siq. Riddling the walls of the Outer Siq are more than 40 tombs and…

8. Nymphaeum

0.24 MILES

At the start of the Colonnaded Street, this public fountain was built in the 2nd century AD and fed by water channelled from the Siq. Little can be seen…