Image courtesy of Petra Tourism Authority
For over a thousand years, the stone and sands of Petra (now in Jordan) have borne witness to a shifting flow of civilizations and influences. The area is thought to have been inhabited since prehistoric times, with the Edomites later settling there around 1200 BC. Petra itself truly flourished under the Nabataeans, an Arab tribe who pushed the Edomites out and made Petra their capital in 312 BC. The city became a key center of the spice trade, with the Nabataeans dominating caravan routes from Arabia to Syria. Though the Romans conquered the Nabataeans in 64-63 BC, Petra continued to thrive, witnessing rapid urbanization and building under the Romans. The fourth century brought the beginning of the end for Petra's heyday — earthquakes in 363 and 551 AD decimated much of the city, and changing trade routes led to the city's decline. By the mid-seventh century, Petra was virtually abandoned. After a Crusader outpost was built there in the 12th century, the area was completely lost to the Western World until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt. Archaeologists and tourists alike have flocked to the site over the last two hundred years, and excavations continue to unveil new knowledge about the ancient city.
Known as the "rose-red city," Petra rises up out of the red sandstone of the desert between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. The city owes its name to the Latin word "petrae" (rock), and indeed, it nearly seems a part of the rock itself. An important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt, and Syria/Phoenicia, the city bears the evidence of a melding of cultures, fusing Eastern and Hellenistic architecture. Wander amid the ruins, and you may stumble upon the elaborate tombs the Nabataeans carved into the cliffs; explore their temples, palaces, and large outdoor theatre; and walk down the colonnaded street added by the Romans. In the time of the Nabataeans, the city also had a sophisticated water system, with dams, aqueducts, cisterns, tunnels, and ceramic pipes. Among the most notable buildings are the Nabataean Al-Khazneh (the Treasury), a large tomb, and Ad-Dayr (the Monastery), a Nabataean tomb façade used as a church by the Byzantines. Though it now stands in ruins, echoes of the grandeur and power of the city and its many empires still resonate from the towering red stone.
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Image courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica
Image courtesy of Petra Tourism Authority