Deep in the Jordanian desert, surrounded by towering mountain ranges, laid the ruins of an ancient city that fascinates archaeologists because of its unique appearance.
This is the ancient city of Petra, which was literally carved from the sandstone cliffs of Southern Jordan. There, the people known as the Nabataeans built temples and tombs, houses and halls, altars and aqueducts. Petra is believed to have been established in or around the 6th century BC .The city’s beautiful structures were carved out of rock. In fact, the word Petra itself means ‘rock’.
There were many different structures created from the red rocks of the mountain on which the city sits. Some of the most amazing of these structures are the many different tombs that rest within the city- all of them empty. No one knows what happened to their contents. There is also a beautiful three thousand seat theatre, and the treasury of the pharaoh.
Petra quickly attracted many tradesmen to the region. It became extremely wealthy, because it monopolized trade in silk and spices.
At its peak, the city of Petra was home to some 20,000 Nabataeans who, in the midst of the desert, built an ingenious system of waterways to provide their city with the precious liquid. Thus Petra was able to transform itself into an artificial oasis in the middle of the desert.
