thejaebeom
“Deep within Jordan’s desolate
desert canyons and rugged mountains lies an ancient treasure, the stone
city of Petra.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the new seven
wonders of the world, Petra is a giant metropolis of tombs, monuments,
and other elaborate religious structures directly carved into sandstone
cliffs.
Believed to have been settled as early as 9000 B.C., Petra developed into the thriving capital of the Nabataean kingdom. This little-understood Middle Eastern culture ruled much of modern-day Jordan from the third century B.C. until the first century A.D., when it yielded to the rising power of Rome.
After the Roman conquest and the shifting of trade routes, the city
declined in importance until it was abandoned. Europeans did not set
eyes upon it’s rose-colored walls for centuries, until the early 19th
century when a traveler dressed himself in Bedouin costume and
infiltrated the mysterious locale.”
