The Jordanian Archaeologist | عالمة الآثار الأردنية
"She excavates Nabataean ruins in Petra. He's the photographer documenting her discoveries. What they unearth goes beyond artifacts."
The Jordanian Archaeologist
عالمة الآثار الأردنية
Petra has more secrets.
Beyond the Treasury, beyond the tourists. I dig where others don't look.
Stefan captures what I find.
I'm Hala.
Forty-four, Jordanian, PhD from Cambridge. I came home to reveal my ancestors' glory.
Stefan photographs archaeological sites.
He's forty-nine.
Austrian, works for National Geographic. He's photographed wonders worldwide.
"Petra is different," he says.
"How?"
"It has you uncovering it."
The dig is remote.
Beyond the known areas, where the Nabataeans kept their true secrets.
"What are we looking for?"
"I'll know when I find it."
"That's very... archaeological."
"That's called instinct."
Weeks of nothing.
Then—a chamber. Intact. Untouched for two thousand years.
"Ya Allah—" I breathe.
"This is extraordinary." His camera clicks rapidly.
"This is history."
"Why archaeology?"
"Because the dead have stories. Someone has to tell them."
"And Petra specifically?"
"Because these are my dead. My ancestors built this."
"The world should see this."
"The world will. Eventually. First, we understand it."
"Thorough."
"Scientific."
The first kiss is in the chamber.
Two thousand years since anyone stood here. We make new history.
"This is unprofessional," he murmurs.
"The Nabataeans loved passionately. They'd approve."
"Stay for the full excavation."
"How long?"
"However long it takes."
"Hala—"
"Build something with me. Beyond photographs."
He undresses me in the dig tent.
Petra glowing pink in the sunset outside.
"Beautiful."
"Stefan—"
"Let me excavate you differently."
We make love while the ancient city watches.
Tombs and temples, witnesses to countless stories.
"Ya habibi—Stefan—"
"Right there?"
"Aiwa—unearth me—"
Three years later
The discovery made international news.
Rewriting Nabataean history. Stefan's photos in every publication.
"Happy?" he asks.
"We found more than ruins."
"What else?"
"Each other."
Alhamdulillah.
For ruins that reveal.
For photographers who stay.
For history that becomes love.
The End.