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Petra ( ar, ٱلْبَتْرَاء, Al-Batrāʾ; grc, Πέτρα, "Rock",
Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...
: ), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu or Raqēmō, is an historic and archaeological city in southern
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. It is adjacent to the mountain of Jabal Al-Madbah, in a basin surrounded by mountains forming the eastern flank of the
Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...
valley running from the
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
to the
Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
. The area around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000 BC, and the
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
might have settled in what would become the capital city of their kingdom as early as the 4th century BC. Archaeological work has only discovered evidence of Nabataean presence dating back to the second century BC, by which time Petra had become their capital. The Nabataeans were nomadic
Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
who invested in Petra's proximity to the
incense trade route The Incense Trade Route was an ancient network of major land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods, stretching from Mediterranean ports across the Levant ...
s by establishing it as a major regional trading hub. The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. The Nabataeans were accustomed to living in the barren deserts, unlike their enemies, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater,
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
stone carving Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...
. Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its
Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh ( ar, الخزنة; "The Treasury") is one of the most elaborate temples in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monaste ...
structure – believed to be the
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
of Nabataean king
Aretas IV Aretas IV Philopatris (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢗𐢓𐢆‎ 𐢊𐢛𐢞𐢞 𐢛𐢊𐢒 ''Ḥārīṯat Rāḥem-ʿammeh'', "Aretas, friend of his people") was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40. His daughter Phasaelis was m ...
– was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants. Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
in the first century BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as
Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empi ...
. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in 363 destroyed many structures. In the
Byzantine era The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...
several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1812 by
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...
. Access to the city is through a gorge called the
Siq The Siq ( ar, السيق, transliterated ''al-Sīq'', transcribed ''as-Sīq'', literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points ...
, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its
rock-cut architecture Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarryi ...
and water conduit system, Petra is also called the "Rose City" because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved. It has been a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
since 1985. UNESCO has described Petra as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage". In 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted one of the
New 7 Wonders of the World The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll via free Web-based voting and small amounts of telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss ...
. Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 1.1 million in 2019, marking the first time that the figure rose above the 1 million mark. Tourism in the city was crippled by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, but soon after started to pick up again, reaching 260,000 visitors in 2021.


Importance in antiquity

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...
and other writers identify Petra as the capital of the
Nabataean Kingdom The Nabataean Kingdom (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢕𐢃𐢋𐢈 ''Nabāṭū''), also named Nabatea (), was a political state of the Arab Nabataeans during classical antiquity. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled many of the trade routes of the region, ...
and the centre of their
caravan Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop *Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals *Convoy, a group of veh ...
trade. Enclosed by towering rocks and watered by a
perennial stream A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to intermittent river, one whose flow is interm ...
, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress, but controlled the main commercial routes which passed through it to Gaza in the west, to
Bosra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...
and
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
in the north, to
Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
and Leuce Come on the
Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
, and across the desert to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
.


Description


Water control

Excavations have demonstrated that it was the ability of the Nabataeans to control the water supply that led to the rise of the desert city, creating an artificial
oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
. The area is visited by
flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...
s, but archaeological evidence shows that the Nabataeans controlled these floods by the use of
dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...
s,
cistern A cistern (Middle English ', from Latin ', from ', "box", from Greek ', "basket") is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by t ...
s, and water conduits. These innovations stored water for prolonged periods of
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
and enabled the city to prosper from its sale.


Access routes

In ancient times, Petra might have been approached from the south on a track leading across the plain of Petra, around Jabal Haroun ("Aaron's Mountain"), the location of the
Tomb of Aaron The Tomb of Aaron is the name of the supposed burial place of Aaron, the brother of Moses, according to Jewish, Christian, and local Muslim tradition. There are two different places named in the Torah as Aaron's place of death and burial, Moun ...
, said to be the burial place of
Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
, brother of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
. Another approach was possibly from the high plateau to the north. Today, most modern visitors approach the site from the east. The impressive eastern entrance leads steeply down through a dark, narrow gorge, in places only wide, called the
Siq The Siq ( ar, السيق, transliterated ''al-Sīq'', transcribed ''as-Sīq'', literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points ...
("shaft"), a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into
Wadi Musa Wadi Musa ( ar, وادي موسى, literally "Valley of Musa (AS)) is a town located in the Ma'an Governorate in southern Jordan. It is the administrative center of the Petra Department and the nearest town to the archaeological site of Petra. I ...
.


Hellenistic architecture

One of the main things that Petra is known for is its
Hellenistic architecture Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BCE, when the Greek mainlan ...
. The facades of the tombs in Petra display this type of architecture and it also grants reflection on the different types of cultures that the Nabataens traded with. Most of these contain small burials and niches that are carved into the stone. Perhaps a more prominent resemblance to the Hellenistic style comes with its
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
, which is wide and tall and gives reference to the architecture of Alexandria. The facade of the Treasury features a broken pediment with a central tholos inside, and two
obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
s appear to form into the rock at the top. Near the bottom of the Treasury there are twin Greek gods
Castor and Pollux Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ('Z ...
, who protect travellers on their journeys. Near the top of the Treasury, two victories are seen standing on each side of a female figure on the tholos. This female figure is believed to be the Isis-Tyche,
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
being the Egyptian goddess and
Tyche Tyche (; Ancient Greek: Τύχη ''Túkhē'', 'Luck', , ; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity who governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. In Classical Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Aphrodite a ...
being the Greek goddess of good fortune. Another prime example of the Hellenistic architecture featured in Petra is in its
Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
, which stands at tall and wide; this is Petra's largest monument and is another building carved into the rocks of Petra. The facade of this again features a broken pediment, similar to the
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
, as well as another central tholos. The Monastery displays more of a Nabataen touch while at the same time incorporating elements from Greek architecture. Its only source of light is its entrance standing at high. There is a large space outside of the Monastery, which is purposefully flattened for worship purposes. Formerly, in the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, this was a place for
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
worship, but is now a holy site for
pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...
s to visit.


City centre

At the end of the narrow gorge, the
Siq The Siq ( ar, السيق, transliterated ''al-Sīq'', transcribed ''as-Sīq'', literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points ...
, stands Petra's most elaborate ruin, popularly known as
Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh ( ar, الخزنة; "The Treasury") is one of the most elaborate temples in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monaste ...
("the Treasury"), hewn into the sandstone cliff. While remaining in remarkably preserved condition, the face of the structure is marked by hundreds of bullet holes made by the local Bedouin tribes that hoped to dislodge riches that were once rumoured to be hidden within it. A little farther from the Treasury, at the foot of the mountain called ''en-Nejr'', is a massive
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, positioned so as to bring the greatest number of
tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
s within view. At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect. The theatre was cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction. Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible. Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose-coloured mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers. The theatre was said to hold around 8,500 people. The performances that audiences were able to attend here were poetry readings and dramas.
Gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
fights were also said to be held here and attracted the most audience, although no gladiator was able to gain any momentum or fame due to the heavy mortality rate that came with it. The theatre was one of many structures in Petra that took significant damage due to the
363 Galilee earthquake The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be VII (''Very strong'') on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karn ...
. The
Petra Pool and Garden Complex The Petra Garden and Pool Complex is a name given to a series of structures within the center of the city of Petra. Originally said to be a market area, excavations at the site have allowed scholars to identify it as an elaborate Nabataean garden ...
is a series of structures within the city center. Originally said to be a market area, excavations at the site have allowed scholars to identify it as an elaborate Nabataean garden, which included a large swimming pool, an island-pavilion, and an intricate hydraulic system. Ahead of the Petra Pool and Garden Complex lies Colonnaded street, which is among few artifacts of Petra that was constructed rather than natural. This street used to hold a semi-circle
nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...
, which is now in ruins due to flash flooding, and used to hold Petra's only tree. This was intended to be a symbol for the peaceful atmosphere that the Nabataens were able to construct in Petra. Once the Romans took control of the city, Colonnaded street was narrowed to make room for a side walk, and 72 columns were added to each side.


The High Place of Sacrifice

The High Place of Sacrifice is located at the top of Jebel Madbah Mountain. The beginning of the hike is near Petra's theatre. From there, the site of The High Place of Sacrifice is around an 800-step hike. One commonly believed sacrifice that took place there was
libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substa ...
. Another common form of sacrifice that took place there was animal sacrifice; this is due to the belief that the tomb of the Prophet Aaron is located in Petra, which is a sacred site for Muslims. In honor of this, a goat was sacrificed annually. Other rituals also took place there, including the smoking of
frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species o ...
.


Royal Tombs

The Royal Tombs of Petra embody the unique artistry of the Nabateans while also giving display to Hellenistic architecture, but the façades of these tombs have worn due to natural decay. One of these tombs, the
Palace Tomb The Palace Tomb is a Nabataean tomb in the Petra Archaeological Park. It is situated among the Royal Tombs, a line of prominent monumental facades on the east cliffs flanking the valley in which the city lies. At 49 meters wide and 46 meters ta ...
, is speculated to be the tomb for the kings of Petra. The Corinthian Tomb, which is right next to the Palace Tomb, has the same Hellenistic architecture featured on the
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
. The two other Royal Tombs are the Silk Tomb and the Urn Tomb; the Silk Tomb does not stand out as much as the Urn Tomb. The Urn Tomb features a large yard in its front, and was turned into a church after the expansion of Christianity in 446 AD.


Exterior platform

In 2016, archaeologists using
satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...
and drones discovered a very large, previously unknown monumental structure whose beginnings were tentatively dated to about 150 BC, the time when the Nabataeans initiated their public building programme. It is located outside the main area of the city, at the foot of Jabal an-Nmayr and about south of the city centre, but is facing east, not towards the city, and has no visible relationship to it. The structure consists of a huge, platform, with a monumental staircase along its eastern side. The large platform enclosed a slightly smaller one, topped with a comparatively small building, , which was facing east toward the staircase. The structure, second in size only to the Monastery complex, probably had a ceremonial function of which not even a speculative explanation has yet been offered by the researchers.


Climate

In Petra, there is a semi-arid climate. Most rain falls in the winter. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is BSk. The average annual temperature in Petra is . About of precipitation falls annually.


History


Neolithic

By 7000 BC, some of the earliest recorded farmers had settled in Beidha, a
Pre-Pottery Neolithic The Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent, dating to  years ago, (10000 – 6500 BCE).Richard, Suzanne ''Near Eastern archaeology'' Eisenbrauns; il ...
settlement just north of Petra.


Bronze Age

Petra is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the
Amarna letters The Amarna letters (; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between t ...
as ''Pel'', ''Sela'' or ''Seir''.


Iron Age Edom

The Iron Age lasted between 1200 and 600 BC, in that time, the Petra area was occupied by the
Edomites Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
. This came when the Edomites rebelled after the death of
King Solomon King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
in 928 BC when Israel split into two kingdoms for
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
to be in the north and Judah in the south. The Edomites were known as descendents of
Esau Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
and this was referenced in the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
of the Bible. The configuration of mountains in Petra allowed for a reservoir of water for the Edomites. This made Petra a stopping ground for
Merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s, making it an outstanding area for trade. Things that were traded here included wines, olive oil and wood. Initially, the Edomites were accompanied by
Nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...
s who eventually left, but the Edomites stayed and made their mark on Petra before the emergence of the Nabataens. They were then engaged in battle with King Amaziah of Judah and chased back into their own lands. It is said that 10,000 men were thrown off of the mountain Umm el-Biyara. This story has been debated by scholars. The Edomite site excavated at the top of the Umm el-Biyara mountain at Petra was established no earlier than the seventh century BC (Iron II).


The emergence of Petra

The
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
were one among several nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian Desert and moved with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water. Although the Nabataeans were initially embedded in Aramaic culture, theories about them having
Aramean The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean h ...
roots are rejected by many modern scholars. Instead, archaeological, religious and linguistic evidence confirm that they are a northern
Arabian tribe The Tribes of Arabia () or Arab tribes () are the ethnic Arab tribes and clans that originated in the Arabian Peninsula. The tribes of Arabia descend from either one of the two Arab ancestors, Adnan or Qahtan. Arab tribes have historically inhabit ...
. Current evidence suggests that the Nabataean name for Petra was Raqēmō, variously spelled in inscriptions as ''rqmw'' or ''rqm''.


Petra as "Rekem"

The Jewish historian
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
(ca. 37–100 AD) writes that the region was inhabited by the
Midianites Midian (; he, מִדְיָן ''Mīḏyān'' ; ar, مَدْيَن, Madyan; grc-gre, Μαδιάμ, ''Madiam'') is a geographical place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Ara ...
during the time of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, and that they were ruled by five kings, one of whom was Rekem. Josephus mentions that the city, called Petra by the Greeks, "ranks highest in the land of the Arabs" and was still called Rekeme by all the Arabs of his time, after its royal founder (Antiquities iv. 7, 1; 4, 7). The Onomasticon of Eusebius also identified Rekem as Petra. Arabic '' raqama'' means "to mark, to decorate", so ''Rekeme'' could be a Nabataean word referring to the famous carved rock façades. In 1964, workmen clearing rubble away from the cliff at the entrance to the gorge found several funerary inscriptions in Nabatean script. One of them was to a certain Petraios who was born in Raqmu (Rekem) and buried in Garshu (
Jerash Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...
).


Petra as "Sela"

An old theory held that Petra might be identified with a place called ''sela'' in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1911) states that the Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, would remain unknown. It nevertheless cautioned that ''sela'' simply means "rock" in Hebrew, and thence might not be identified with a city where it occurs in the biblical text in the book of Obadiah. It is possible that the city was part of the nation of Edom. The passage in
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
(xix. 94–97) which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BC, was understood by some researchers – and not so by others – to throw some light upon the history of Petra, but the "petra" (Greek for rock) referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name, and the description implies that there was no town in existence there at the time.


Roman period

In AD 106, when Cornelius Palma was governor of
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, the part of
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
under the rule of Petra was absorbed into the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
as part of
Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Empi ...
, and Petra became its capital. The native dynasty came to an end but the city continued to flourish under Roman rule. It was around this time that the Petra Roman Road was built. A century later, in the time of
Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...
, when the city was at the height of its splendor, the issue of coinage came to an end. There was no more building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently to some sudden catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
power under the
Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
. Meanwhile, as
Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...
( fl. 130–270) grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra, the latter declined. It appears, however, to have lingered on as a religious center. Another Roman road was constructed at the site.
Epiphanius of Salamis Epiphanius of Salamis ( grc-gre, Ἐπιφάνιος; c. 310–320 – 403) was the bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gai ...
(c.315–403) writes that in his time a feast was held there on December 25 in honor of the virgin
Khaabou According to the early Christian bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315–403), Chaabou or Kaabu (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢏𐢁𐢃𐢈 ''kʾbw'') was a goddess in the Nabataean pantheon—a virgin who gave birth to the god Dusares. However, few modern ...
(Chaabou) and her offspring
Dushara Dushara, (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀‎ ''dwšrʾ'') also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). Safaitic inscriptions imply he ...
. Dushara and al-Uzza were two of the main deities of the city, which otherwise included many idols from other Nabataean deities such as Allat and Manat. Between 111 and 114
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
built the
Via Traiana Nova The Via Traiana Nova or Via Nova Traiana ( for, , Latin, Trajan's New Road), previously known as the Via Regia or King's Highway, was an ancient Roman road built by Emperor Trajan in the province of Arabia Petraea, from Aqaba on the Red Sea to ...
, running from the Syrian border to the Red Sea through Petra. This road followed the old routes of Nabataean caravans. In the shadow of the ''
Pax Romana The Pax Romana (Latin for 'Roman peace') is a roughly 200-year-long timespan of Roman history which is periodization, identified as a period and as a golden age (metaphor), golden age of increased as well as sustained Imperial cult of ancient Rome ...
'', this route revived trade between Arabia, Syria, and Mediterranean harbors. In 125 AD, one of Emperor
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
's administrators left marks in Petra, pointed out by documents found at the
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
. In 130 AD, Hadrian visited the former Nabataean capital, giving it the name of ''Hadriānī Petra Metropolis'', imprinted on his coins. His visit, however, did not lead to any boom in development and new buildings as it did in
Jerash Jerash ( ar, جرش ''Ǧaraš''; grc, Γέρασα ''Gérasa'') is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located north of the capital city ...
. The province's governor, Sextius Florentinus, erected a monumental
mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
for his son near the end of the al-Hubta (King's Wall) tombs, which had been generally reserved during the Nabataean period for the royal family. The interest that Roman emperors showed in the city in the 3rd century suggests that Petra and its environs remained highly esteemed for a long time. An inscription to
Liber Pater In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of the ...
, a god revered by Emperor
Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa (Roman province), Africa. As a young man he advanced thro ...
, was found in the ''
temenos A ''temenos'' (Greek: ; plural: , ''temenē''). is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, such as a sanctuary, holy gro ...
'' of the temple known as
Qasr al-Bint The Qasr al-Bint is a religious temple in the Nabataean city of Petra.  It faces the Wadi Musa and is located to the northwest of the Great Temple and to the southwest of the Temple of the Winged Lions. One of the best preserved of the ancient s ...
, and Nabataean tombs contained silver coins with the emperor's portrait, as well as pottery from his reign. Emperor
Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...
declared Petra to be a
Roman colony A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term ''colony''. Characteri ...
, when he reorganized the Roman Empire towards the end of the 3rd century. The area from Petra to
Wadi Mujib Wadi Mujib ( ar, وادي الموجب, ''Wadi el-Mujib''), also known as Arnon Stream (Hebrew: נַחַל ארנון), is a river in Jordan. The river empties into the Dead Sea circa below sea level. Today, Wadi Mujib is fed by seven tributa ...
, the
Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
, and the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...
were annexed into the province of
Palaestina Salutaris Palaestina Salutaris or Palaestina Tertia was a Byzantine (Eastern Roman) province, which covered the area of the Negev, Sinai (except the north western coast) and south-west of Transjordan, south of the Dead Sea. The province, a part of the Dioce ...
. Petra may be seen on the Madaba mosaic map from the reign of Emperor
Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
.


Byzantine period

Petra declined rapidly under Roman rule, in large part from the revision of sea-based trade routes. In 363, an earthquake destroyed many buildings and crippled the vital water management system. The old city of Petra was the capital of the Byzantine province of Palaestina III and many churches from the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
were excavated in and around Petra. In one of them, the Byzantine Church, 140 papyri were discovered, which contained mainly contracts dated from 530s to 590s, establishing that the city was still flourishing in the 6th century. The Byzantine Church is a prime example of monumental architecture in Byzantine Petra. The last reference to Byzantine Petra comes from the ''
Spiritual Meadow The ''Spiritual Meadow'' is a 7th-century book by John Moschus. In Greek, it is titled ''Leimōn pneumatikos'' (also the ''Leimonarion'' , or the "New Paradise") and in Latin, it is known as ''Pratum spirituale'' ("Spiritual Meadow"), occasionall ...
'' of
John Moschus John Moschus ( el, Ἰωάννης Μόσχος, c. 550 – 619; name from the grc, ὁ τοῦ Μόσχου, o tou Moschou, (son) of Moschos, was a Byzantine monk and ascetical writer. Biography He was born about 550 probably at Damascus. He ...
, written in the first decades of the 7th century. He gives an anecdote about its bishop, Athenogenes. It ceased to be a
metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...
ric sometime before 687 when that function had been transferred to Areopolis. Petra is not mentioned in the narratives of the
Muslim conquest of the Levant The Muslim conquest of the Levant ( ar, فَتْحُ الشَّام, translit=Feth eş-Şâm), also known as the Rashidun conquest of Syria, occurred in the first half of the 7th century, shortly after the rise of Islam."Syria." Encyclopædia Br ...
, nor does it appear in any early Islamic records.


Crusaders and Mamluks

In the 12th century, the
Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
built fortresses such as the Alwaeira Castle, but were forced to abandon Petra after a while. As a result, the location of Petra was lost until the 19th century. Two further Crusader-period castles are known in and around Petra: the first is al-Wu'ayra, situated just north of Wadi Musa. It can be viewed from the road to
Little Petra Little Petra ( ar, البتراء الصغيرة, ''al-batrā aṣ-ṣaġïra''), also known as Siq al-Barid ( ar, سيق البريد, literally "the cold canyon") is an archaeological site located north of Petra and the town of Wadi Musa in the ...
. It is the castle that was seized by a band of Turks with the help of local Muslims and only recovered by the Crusaders after they began to destroy the olive trees of Wadi Musa. The potential loss of livelihood led the locals to negotiate a surrender. The second is on the summit of el-Habis, in the heart of Petra, and can be accessed from the West side of the Qasr al-Bint. The ruins of Petra were an object of curiosity during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and were visited by
Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
, one of the first
Mamluk sultans of Egypt The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...
, towards the end of the 13th century.


19th and 20th centuries

The first European to describe them was the Swiss traveler
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...
during his travels in 1812. At that time, the Greek Church of Jerusalem operated a diocese in
Al Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...
named Battra (باطره in Arabic, and Πέτρας in Greek) and it was the opinion among the clergy of Jerusalem that Kerak was the ancient city of Petra. Burckhardt already spoke
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
fluently, and was on his way to explore the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through ...
when he heard stories of a dead city that held the tomb of the Prophet Aaron. He then became fascinated with finding the city. He then dressed himself up as a local, and only spoke in Arabic, bringing a goat with him with the intent of sacrificing it in honor of Aaron's Tomb. After one day of exploring, he was convinced that he had found the lost city of Petra.
Léon de Laborde Léon, Marquis de Laborde (1807–1869) was a French archaeologist and traveler. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of Alexandre de Laborde. Educated in Germany, he traveled extensively in Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, and then entered the ...
and Louis-Maurice-Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds made the first accurate drawings of Petra in 1828. The Scottish painter
David Roberts David or Dave Roberts may refer to: Arts and literature * David Roberts (painter) (1796–1864), Scottish painter * David Roberts (art collector), Scottish contemporary art collector * David Roberts (novelist), English editor and mystery writer ...
visited Petra in 1839 and returned to England with sketches and stories of the encounter with local tribes, published in ''
The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia ''The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia'' is a travelogue of 19th-century Palestine and the magnum opus of Scottish painter David Roberts. It contains 250 lithographs by Louis Haghe of Roberts's watercolor sketches. It was fir ...
''.
Frederic Edwin Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, ...
, the leading American landscape painter of the 19th century, visited Petra in 1868, and the resulting painting '' El Khasné, Petra'' is among his most important and well-documented. Missionary Archibald Forder published photographs of Petra in the December 1909 issue of National Geographic. Because the structures weakened with age, many of the tombs became vulnerable to thieves, and many treasures were stolen. In 1929, a four-person team consisting of British archaeologists
Agnes Conway Agnes Ethel Conway (2 May 1885 – 1950), later Agnes Horsfield, was a British writer, historian and archaeologist who worked in the Middle East from 1929-1936. Perhaps best known for her excavations at Petra and Kilwa, she also produced publicat ...
and
George Horsfield George Horsfield (1882-1956) was a British architect and archaeologist. He was Chief Inspector of Antiquities in Transjordan in 1928–36. Horsfield began the initial clearance and conservation of Jerash in 1925, and excavated at Petra with his fu ...
, Palestinian physician and folklore expert Dr
Tawfiq Canaan Tawfiq Canaan ( ar, توفيق كنعان) (24 September 1882 – 15 January 1964) was a pioneering Palestinian physician, medical researcher, ethnographer, and Palestinian nationalist. Born in Beit Jala during the rule of the Ottoman Empire, he s ...
and Dr Ditlef Nielsen, a Danish scholar, excavated and surveyed Petra. The archaeologist Philip Hammond from the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
visited Petra for nearly 40 years. He explained that the local folklore says it was created by the wand of
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, when he struck the rock to bring forth water for the
Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
. Hammond believed the carved channels deep within the walls and ground were made from ceramic pipes that once fed water for the city, from rock-cut systems on the canyon rim. Numerous scrolls in Greek and dating to the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
period were discovered in an excavated church near the
Temple of the Winged Lions The Temple of the Winged Lions is a large Nabatean temple complex located in Petra, Jordan, and dated to the reign of King Aretas IV (9 BCE–40 CE). The temple is located in Petra's so-called Sacred Quarter, an area situated at the end of Petra ...
in Petra in December 1993.


Religion

The Nabataeans worshipped
Arab gods The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
and
goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...
es during the pre-Islamic era as well as a few of their
deified Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term ha ...
kings. One,
Obodas I Obodas I (Nabataean Aramaic: ''ʿŌbōdaṯ''; grc, Ὀβόδας) was king of the Nabataeans from 96 BC to 85 BC. After his death, Obodas was worshiped as a deity. Life Obodas was the successor of Aretas II, from whom he inherited the war with ...
, was deified after his death.
Dushara Dushara, (Nabataean Arabic: 𐢅𐢈𐢝𐢛𐢀‎ ''dwšrʾ'') also transliterated as Dusares, is a pre-Islamic Arabian god worshipped by the Nabataeans at Petra and Madain Saleh (of which city he was the patron). Safaitic inscriptions imply he ...
was the primary male god accompanied by his three female deities: Al-‘Uzzā,
Allat Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongs ...
and
Manāt ( ar, مناة  pausa, or Old Arabic manawat; also transliterated as ') was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshiped in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century. She was among Mec ...
. Many statues carved in the rock depict these gods and goddesses. New evidence indicates that broader
Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
ite, and Nabataean theology had strong links to Earth-Sun relationships, often manifested in the orientation of prominent Petra structures to equinox and solstice sunrises and sunsets. A
stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
dedicated to Qos-Allah 'Qos is Allah' or 'Qos the god', by Qosmilk (melech – king) is found at Petra (Glueck 516). Qos is identifiable with Kaush (Qaush) the God of the older Edomites. The stele is horned and the seal from the Edomite Tawilan near Petra identified with Kaush displays a star and crescent (Browning 28), both consistent with a moon deity. It is conceivable that the latter could have resulted from trade with
Harran Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...
(Bartlett 194). There is continuing debate about the nature of Qos (qaus – bow) who has been identified both with a hunting bow (hunting god) and a rainbow (weather god) although the crescent above the stele is also a bow. Nabataean inscriptions in Sinai and other places display widespread references to names including Allah, El and Allat (god and goddess), with regional references to al-Uzza,
Baal Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during Ancient Near East, antiquity. From its use among people, it cam ...
and Manutu (Manat) (Negev 11). Allat is also found in Sinai in South Arabian language. Allah occurs particularly as Garm-'allahi – god decided (Greek Garamelos) and Aush-allahi – "gods covenant" (Greek Ausallos). We find both Shalm-lahi "Allah is peace" and Shalm-allat, "the peace of the goddess". We also find Amat-allahi "she-servant of god" and Halaf-llahi "the successor of Allah". Recently, Petra has been put forward as the original "Mecca" by some in the
revisionist school of Islamic studies The Revisionist school of Islamic studies, (also Historical-Critical school of Islamic studies and skeptic/revisionist Islamic historians) Hoyland, ''In God's Path'', 2015: p.232 is a movement in Islamic studies that questions traditional Muslim ...
, owing to claims of large numbers of independent pieces of evidence, namely that the early original mosques faced Petra, not
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
or
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
, as the direction of Muslim prayer, the
Qibla The qibla ( ar, قِبْلَة, links=no, lit=direction, translit=qiblah) is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the s ...
. However, others have challenged the notion of comparing modern readings of Qiblah directions to early mosques’ Qiblahs as they claim early Muslims could not accurately calculate the direction of the Qiblah to Mecca and so the apparent pinpointing of Petra by some early mosques may well be coincidental.
The Monastery ''The Monastery: a Romance'' (1820) is a historical novel by Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels. Set in the Scottish Borders in the 1550s on the eve of the Reformation, it is centred on Melrose Abbey. Composition and sources Scott had bee ...
, Petra's largest monument, dates from the 1st century BC. It was dedicated to Obodas I and is believed to be the symposium of Obodas the god. This information is inscribed on the ruins of the Monastery (the name is the translation of the Arabic
Ad Deir Ad Deir ("The Monastery"; Arabic: الدير ), also spelled ad-Dayr and el-Deir, is a monumental building carved out of rock in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra. The Deir was probably carved out of the rock in the mid-first century AD. Argu ...
). The
Temple of the Winged Lions The Temple of the Winged Lions is a large Nabatean temple complex located in Petra, Jordan, and dated to the reign of King Aretas IV (9 BCE–40 CE). The temple is located in Petra's so-called Sacred Quarter, an area situated at the end of Petra ...
is a large temple complex dated to the reign of King
Aretas IV Aretas IV Philopatris (Nabataean Aramaic: 𐢗𐢓𐢆‎ 𐢊𐢛𐢞𐢞 𐢛𐢊𐢒 ''Ḥārīṯat Rāḥem-ʿammeh'', "Aretas, friend of his people") was the King of the Nabataeans from roughly 9 BC to AD 40. His daughter Phasaelis was m ...
(9 BC–40 AD). The temple is located in Petra's so-called Sacred Quarter, an area situated at the end of Petra's main Colonnaded Street consisting of two majestic temples, the
Qasr al-Bint The Qasr al-Bint is a religious temple in the Nabataean city of Petra.  It faces the Wadi Musa and is located to the northwest of the Great Temple and to the southwest of the Temple of the Winged Lions. One of the best preserved of the ancient s ...
and, opposite, the Temple of the Winged Lions on the northern bank of Wadi Musa.
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
found its way to Petra in the 4th century AD, nearly 500 years after the establishment of Petra as a trade centre. The start of Christianity in Petra started primarily in 330 AD when the first Christian Emperor of Rome took over,
Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
, otherwise known as Constantine The Great. He began the initial spread of Christianity throughout the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
.
Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
mentions a bishop of Petra (Anhioch. 10) named Asterius. At least one of the tombs (the "tomb with the urn"?) was used as a church. An inscription in red paint records its consecration "in the time of the most holy bishop Jason" (447). After the
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic conquest of 629–632, Christianity in Petra, as of most of Arabia, gave way to Islam. During the
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
Petra was occupied by Baldwin I of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
and formed the second
fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
of the
barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of
Al Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...
(in the lordship of
Oultrejordain The Lordship of or (Old French for "beyond the Jordan", also called Lordship of Montreal) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan River, an area known in ancient times as Edo ...
) with the title ''Château de la Valée de Moyse'' or Sela. It remained in the hands of the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
until 1189. It is still a
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. According to Arab tradition, Petra is the spot where
Musa Musa may refer to: Places *Mūša, a river in Lithuania and Latvia * Musa, Azerbaijan, a village in Yardymli Rayon * Musa, Iran, a village in Ilam Province *Musa, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Iran *Musa, Kerman, Iran * Musa, Bukan, West Azerbaijan ...
(
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
) struck a rock with his staff and water came forth, and where Moses' brother,
Harun Harun, also transliterated as Haroon or Haroun ( ar, هارون, ) is a common male given name of Arabic origin, related to the Hebrew name of the Prophet Aaron. Both are most likely of Ancient Egyptian origin, from ''aha rw'', meaning "warrior li ...
(
Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
), is buried, at
Mount Hor Mount Hor (Hebrew: , ''Hōr hāHār'') is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the area south of the Dead Sea, and the other is by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border of the Land o ...
, known today as Jabal Haroun or Mount Aaron. The Wadi Musa or "Wadi of Moses" is the Arab name for the narrow valley at the head of which Petra is sited. A mountaintop shrine of Moses' sister
Miriam Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The Tor ...
was still shown to pilgrims at the time of
Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...
in the 4th century, but its location has not been identified since.


UNESCO listing of ancient Petra and Bedouin heritage

The Bidoul/Bidul (Petra
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
) were forcibly resettled from their cave dwellings in Petra to Umm Sayhoun/Um Seihun by the Jordanian government in 1985, prior to the UNESCO designation process. They were provided with block-built housing with some infrastructure including in particular a sewage and drainage system. Among the six communities in the Petra Region, Umm Sayhoun is one of the smaller communities. The village of Wadi Musa is the largest in the area, inhabited largely by the Layathnah Bedouin, and is now the closest settlement to the visitor centre, the main entrance via the Siq and the archaeological site generally. Umm Sayhoun gives access to the 'back route' into the site, the Wadi Turkmaniyeh pedestrian route. On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. In a popular poll in 2007, it was also named one of the
New 7 Wonders of the World The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll via free Web-based voting and small amounts of telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss ...
. The Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) became an autonomous legal entity over the management of this site in August 2007. The Bidouls belong to one of the Bedouin tribes whose cultural heritage and traditional skills were proclaimed by UNESCO on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2005 and inscribed in 2008. In 2011, following an 11-month project planning phase, the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority in association with DesignWorkshop and JCP s.r.l published a Strategic Master Plan that guides planned development of the Petra Region. This is intended to guide planned development of the Petra Region in an efficient, balanced and sustainable way over the next 20 years for the benefit of the local population and of Jordan in general. As part of this, a Strategic Plan was developed for Umm Sayhoun and surrounding areas. The process of developing the Strategic Plan considered the area's needs from five points of view: *a socio-economic perspective *the perspective of Petra Archaeological Park *the perspective of Petra's tourism product *a land use perspective *an environmental perspective


Issues

The site suffers from a host of threats, including collapse of ancient structures, erosion from flooding and improper rainwater drainage, weathering from salt upwelling, improper restoration of ancient structures and unsustainable tourism. The last has increased substantially, especially since the site received widespread media coverage in 2007 during the
New7Wonders of the World The New 7 Wonders of the World was a campaign started in 2000 to choose Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments. The popularity poll via free Web-based voting and small amounts of telephone voting was led by Canadian-Swiss ...
Internet and cellphone campaign. In an attempt to reduce the impact of these threats, the
Petra National Trust Established in 1989, Petra National Trust (PNT) is a registered Jordanian nongovernmental (not-for-profit) organization whose function is to promote the preservation, protection, and conservation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra. PNT ha ...
(PNT) was established in 1989. It has worked with numerous local and international organisations on projects that promote the protection, conservation, and preservation of the Petra site. Moreover, UNESCO and ICOMOS recently collaborated to publish their first book on human and natural threats to the sensitive World Heritage sites. They chose Petra as its first and the most important example of threatened landscapes. The presentation ''Tourism and Archaeological Heritage Management at Petra: Driver to Development or Destruction?'' (2012) was the first in a series to address the very nature of these deteriorating buildings, cities, sites, and regions.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...
(PETA) released a video in 2018 highlighting abuse against working animals in Petra. PETA claimed that animals are forced to carry tourists or pull carriages every day. The video showed handlers beating and whipping working animals, with beatings intensifying when animals faltered. PETA also revealed some wounded animals, including camels with fly-infested, open wounds. The Jordanian authority running the site responded by proposing a veterinarian clinic, and by spreading awareness among animal handlers. In 2020, more video released by PETA indicated that conditions for the animals had not improved, and in 2021, the organization was running what appeared to be the only veterinary clinic in the area.


Conservation

Petra is a site at the intersection of
natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
and
cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
forming a unique
cultural landscape Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...
. Ever since
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...
aka Sheikh Ibrahim had re-discovered the ruin city in Petra, Jordan, in 1812, the cultural heritage site has attracted different people who shared an interest in the ancient history and culture of the
Nabataeans The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic language, Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabian Pe ...
such as travellers, pilgrims, painters and savants. However, it was not until the late 19th century that the ruins were systematically approached by archaeological researchers. Since then regular archaeological excavations and ongoing research on the Nabataean culture have been part of today's UNESCO world cultural heritage site Petra. Through the excavations in the Petra Archaeological Park an increasing number of Nabataean cultural heritage is being exposed to environmental impact. A central issue is the management of water impacting the built heritage and the rock hewn facades. The large number of discoveries and the exposure of structures and findings demand conservation measures respecting the interlinkage between the natural landscape and cultural heritage, as especially this connection is a central challenge at the UNECSO World Heritage Site.


Conservation of cultural heritage

In recent years different conservation campaigns and projects were established at the cultural heritage site of Petra. The main works first focussed on the entrance situation of the Siq to protect tourists and to facilitate access. Also, different projects for conservation and conservation research were conducted. Following is a list of projects, to be continued. *1958 Restoration of the third pillar of the Treasury building (
Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh ( ar, الخزنة; "The Treasury") is one of the most elaborate temples in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monaste ...
). This project was funded by the
United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...
(USAID) *1974–1990 Conservation work in the excavated area of the Winged Lions Temple *1981 Different restoration works by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *1985 Restoration works at the Qasr El Bint Temple by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *1990–1998 Excavation and Conservation of the Byzantine Church by the American Centre of Research (ACOR) *1992–2002 Conservation and Restoration Center in Petra CARCIP, German GTZ Project. *1993–2000 Excavation, conservation and restoration of the Great Temple, funded by the Brown University, USA. *1996 onwards, Restoration of the
Siq The Siq ( ar, السيق, transliterated ''al-Sīq'', transcribed ''as-Sīq'', literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, it is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points ...
and rehabilitation of the Siq floor by the Petra National Trust foundet by the Jordanian-Swiss counterpart Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and the
World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...
. *2001 Restoration of the altar in front of the Casr Bint Firaun by UNESCO *2003 Development of a conservation and maintenance plan of the ancient drainage systems to protect the rock-cut facades *2003–2017 Evaluation of desalination and restoration at the tomb facades *2006–2010 Preservation and consolidation of the Wall Paintings in Siq al Barid by the Petra National Trust in cooperation with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and the
Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
(London). *2009 onwards, renewed effort to preserve and rehabilitate the Winged Lions Temple by The Temple of the Winged Lions Cultural Management (TWLCRM) Initiative, the Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan *2016–2019 Characterisation and Conservation of Paintings on Walls and Sculpture from Nabataean Petra "The Petra Painting Conservation Project (PPCP)", funded by the
German Research Foundation The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
(Project number 285789434).


In popular culture


Literature

*In 1845, British poet
John William Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 18134 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defence of the historicity and Mosaic authorship of Gen ...
won Oxford University's Newdigate Prize for his poem "Petra", containing the description "...a rose-red city half as old as time". *Petra appeared in the novels ''
Left Behind Series ''Left Behind'' is a multimedia franchise that started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It focuses on a seven-year conflict between the Tribulation Force, an underground network of converts, ...
''; ''
Appointment with Death ''Appointment with Death'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retai ...
''; '' The Eagle in the Sand''; ''
The Red Sea Sharks ''The Red Sea Sharks'' (french: link=no, Coke en stock) is the nineteenth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comic series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was initially serialised weekly in Belgium's ''Tintin'' magazine from ...
'', the nineteenth book in ''
The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...
'' series; and in Kingsbury's ''
The Moon Goddess and the Son ''The Moon Goddess and the Son'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Donald Kingsbury, published by Baen in 1986. The novel was an expanded version of a novella published in the December 1979 issue of ''Analog'' magazine, which was ...
''. It played a prominent role in the
Marcus Didius Falco Lindsey Davis (born 1949) is an English historical novelist, best known as the author of the Falco series of historical crime stories set in ancient Rome and its empire. She is a recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger award. Life and career ...
mystery novel ''
Last Act in Palmyra ''Last Act in Palmyra'' is a 1994 historical mystery crime novel by Lindsey Davis and the sixth book of the Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries series. Set in Rome, Nabatea, and Palmyra, the novel stars Marcus Didius Falco, informer and imperial agent. ...
'', and is the setting for
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
's ''
Appointment With Death ''Appointment with Death'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 May 1938 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retai ...
''. In
Blue Balliett Blue Balliett (born 1955 in New York) is an American author, who lives with her husband, three children, a grandson, and a cat. She is best known for her award-winning novel for children, '' Chasing Vermeer''. She was born Elizabeth Balliett, but ...
's novel, '' Chasing Vermeer'', the character Petra Andalee is named after the site. *In 1979 Marguerite van Geldermalsen from New Zealand married Mohammed Abdullah, a Bedouin in Petra. They lived in a cave in Petra until the death of her husband. She authored the book ''Married to a Bedouin''. *An Englishwoman, Joan Ward, wrote ''Living With Arabs: Nine Years with the Petra Bedouin'' documenting her experiences while living in Umm Sayhoun with the Petra Bedouin, covering the period 2004–2013.


Plays

*The playwright John Yarbrough's
tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...
, ''Petra'', debuted at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre in 2014 and was followed by award-winning performances at the Hudson Guild in New York in 2015. It was selected for the ''Best American Short Plays 2014-2015'' anthology.


Films

*The site appeared in
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
s such as ''
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action film, action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones, ''Indiana ...
'', ''
Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'', ''
Passion in the Desert ''Passion in the Desert'', or ''Simoom: A Passion in the Desert'', is a 1997 film from director Lavinia Currier based on the 1830 short story "Une passion dans le désert, A Passion in the Desert" by Honoré de Balzac. The film follows the ventures ...
'', '' Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'', ''
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger ''Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger'' is a 1977 fantasy film directed by Sam Wanamaker and featuring stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen. The film stars Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Jane Seymour and Patrick Troughton. The third and final ''Sinba ...
'', ''
The Mummy Returns ''The Mummy Returns'' is a 2001 American adventure horror film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez, Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, and Dway ...
'', ''
Krrish 3 ''Krrish 3'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language superhero film written, produced and directed by Rakesh Roshan, who wrote the screenplay with Honey Irani and Robin Bhatt. It is the third film in the ''Krrish'' series, following '' Koi... Mil Gaya ...
'', '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'', '' Samsara'' and '' Kajraare''.


Television

*Petra appeared in episode 20 of '' Misaeng''. *Petra appeared in an episode of ''Time Scanners'', made for
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
, where six ancient structures were laser scanned, with the results built into 3D models. Examining the model of Petra revealed insights into how the structure was built. *Petra was the focus of an American
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
''
Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
'' special, "Petra: Lost City of Stone", which premiered in the US and Europe in February 2015. *Petra is central to Netflix's first Arabic original series ''Jinn,'' which is a young adult supernatural drama about the
djinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
in the ancient city of Petra. They must try and stop the demons from destroying the world. The show is shot in Jordan and has five episodes. *In 2022, Petra appeared on the thirty-fourth season of the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
reality competition ''
The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
''.


Music and musical videos

*Six months after a deadly hike by two Israelis in 1958,
Haim Hefer Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...
wrote the lyrics for a ballad called
HaSela haAdom "HaSela haAdom" ( he, הסלע האדום, lit=The Red Rock) is an Israeli song written by Haim Hefer, with music by Yochanan Zarai, recorded by Arik Lavie in 1958. The song tells the story of a young Israeli soldier who illegally crossed the Isra ...
("The Red Rock") *In 1977, the Lebanese Rahbani brothers wrote the musical ''Petra'' as a response to the Lebanese Civil War. *The
Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...
filmed their music video for "Dominion/Mother Russia" in and around
Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh ( ar, الخزنة; "The Treasury") is one of the most elaborate temples in Petra, a city of the Nabatean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monaste ...
("The Treasury") in February 1988. *In 1994, Petra appeared in the video for the
Urban Species Urban Species is a British hip-hop band, best known for several hit singles during the 1990s. The band's music draws on a diverse range of influences (including reggae, blues, funk, dub, jazz, ragga and acoustic folk) and combines live playing ...
single "Spiritual Love".


3D documentation

Some of the structures in the Petra Archaeological Park were spatially documented by the
Zamani Project The Zamani Project is part of the African Cultural Heritage Sites and Landscapes Database. Zamani is a research group at the University of Cape Town, which acquires, models, presents and manages spatial and other data from cultural heritage sites. ...
and are visible on the maDIH repository.


Gallery

File:Petra Siq, entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra, Jordan.jpg, Siq, rays of light File:Ad Deir (The Monastery), El Deir, Petra, Jordan.jpg, Ad Deir close-up File:Obelisk Tomb (35317131770).jpg, The Obelisk Tomb File:البتراء.JPG, The Hadrian Gate also known as the Temenos Gate File:Jordan-18B-050 - Garden Tomb.jpg, The Garden Temple File:20100926 petra150.JPG, The Colored Triclinium File:Roman Soldier Tomb Facade Petra Jordan1410.jpg,
Tomb of the Roman Soldier The Tomb of the Soldier, also called the Tomb of the Roman Soldier, is one of the best-preserved tombs in the ancient city of Petra. Although its façade is its most recognizable feature—with three carved figures inset between columns—the tomb ...
File:Urn Tomb, Petra 01.jpg, The Urn Tomb File:Petra ancient rock-cut city in desert, Petra, Jordan.jpg, Rock graves File:31 Petra Monastery Trail - Magnificent Views in Petra - panoramio.jpg, Petra Monastery Trail File:Petra (9779016262).jpg, Street of Facades File:Ornamental Garden and Pool Complex (12294195964).jpg,
Petra Pool and Garden Complex The Petra Garden and Pool Complex is a name given to a series of structures within the center of the city of Petra. Originally said to be a market area, excavations at the site have allowed scholars to identify it as an elaborate Nabataean garden ...
File:Petra, Jordan, Base of Mount Hor.jpg, Cliffs near Petra, View over Wadi Arabah File:Roman Theatre Petra.jpg, Roman Theatre Petra File:Temple of Dushares, Petra.jpg, Temple of Dushares, Petra


See also

*
List of colossal sculpture in situ A colossal statue is one that is more than twice life-size. This is a list of colossal statues and other sculptures that were created, mostly or all carved, and remain ''in situ''. This list includes two colossal stones that were intended to be m ...
*
List of modern names for biblical place names While a number of biblical place names like Jerusalem, Athens, Damascus, Alexandria, Babylon and Rome have been used for centuries, some have changed over the years. Many place names in the Land of Israel/Holy Land/ Palestine are Arabised forms of ...
*
Mada'in Saleh Hegra ( grc, Ἕγρα), known to Muslims as Al-Hijr (), also known as Mada’in Salih ( ar, مَدَائِن صَالِح, madāʼin Ṣāliḥ, lit=Cities of Salih), is an archaeological site located in the area of Al-'Ula within Medina Provin ...
*
Negev incense route The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its south ...
*
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...
: Petra monuments, findings, and nearby related sites (see also "Petra" category below) *
Beidha (archaeological site) Beidha ( ar, البيضا ''al-baīḍā'', "the white one"), also sometimes Bayda, is a major Neolithic archaeological site a few kilometres north of Petra near Siq al-Barid in Jordan. (Snippet view). It is included in Petra's inscription as a ...
, nearby site, best known for Neolithic and Early Muslim period findings *
Ridge Church The Ridge Church is one of several Church Building, churches in the ruins, ruined city of Petra, Jordan. The Ridge Church is thought to be the oldest church building in Petra, built on the ridge overlooking the city in the 3rd or 4th century built ...
, the oldest church building in Petra *
Tomb of the Roman Soldier The Tomb of the Soldier, also called the Tomb of the Roman Soldier, is one of the best-preserved tombs in the ancient city of Petra. Although its façade is its most recognizable feature—with three carved figures inset between columns—the tomb ...
, funerary complex in a side valley *
Petra papyri The Petra papyri, also known as the Petra archive, is a corpus of papyrus documents written in Ancient Greek and dating to the 6th century AD that were discovered in the Byzantine Church at Petra in 1993. At some 140 papyrus rolls, the collection ...


References

Notes Bibliography * *
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

"The Petra Great Temple; History"
Accessed April 19, 2013. *Glueck, Nelson (1959). ''Rivers in the Desert: A History of the Negev''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy/London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson * * * McKenzie, Judith (1990). ''The Architecture of Petra.'' (Oxford University Press) *Mouton, Michael and Schmid, Stephen G. (2013) "Men on the Rocks: The Formation of Nabataean Petra" *Paradise, T. R. (2011). "Architecture and Deterioration in Petra: Issues, trends and warnings" in Archaeological Heritage at Petra: Drive to Development or Destruction?" (Doug Comer, editor), ICOMOS-ICAHM Publications through Springer-Verlag NYC: 87–119. *Paradise, T. R. (2005). "Weathering of sandstone architecture in Petra, Jordan: influences and rates" in GSA Special Paper 390: Stone Decay in the Architectural Environment: 39–49. *Paradise, T. R. and Angel, C. C. (2015)
Nabataean Architecture and the Sun: A landmark discovery using GIS in Petra, Jordan
ArcUser Journal, Winter 2015: 16-19pp. * *
UNESCO World Heritage Centre A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

"Petra"
Accessed April 19, 2013.


External links


Petra Travel Pplanning informationPetra Archaeological ParkVideo overview of Petra"Petra In The Early 1800s"
''YouTube''
University of Arkansas Petra Project
. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
Open Context
"Petra Great Temple Excavations (Archaeological Data)", Open Context publication of archaeological data from the 1993–2006
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
excavations at the Great Temple of Petra, Jordan
Petra iconicarchive
photo gallery
Petra History and Photo Gallery
history with maps. Retrieved 27 March 2017. *Parker, S., R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies, S. Gillies, J. Becker
"Places: 697725 (Petra)"
''Pleiades''. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
NEW MUSEUM OF PETRAAlmost 800 pictures with captions, some panoramasJordanian Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesSpecial Issue on Petra and Nabatean Culture
Jordan Journal for History and Archaeology, 2020.
Photos of Petra
at the
American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...
{{Authority control Nabataean architecture Arabic architecture Cliff dwellings Former populated places in Jordan Levant Nabataea Populated places along the Silk Road Protected areas established in 1985 Rock-cut architecture Rock-cut tombs Roman towns and cities in Jordan Sandstone buildings Subterranea (geography) Tourism in Jordan World Heritage Sites in Jordan