12 Facts about Petra — a lost city carved out of the rocks of the Jordanian desert

Petra is an ancient city carved into the rocks. It is located in Jordan, a country with a large concentration of deserts. And to access it, there is only one way through a narrow gorge — quite an adventure, which still doesn’t stop curious tourists from discovering this place full of mysteries.

we, from awesome.club, we love mysterious lost places around the world. And in Petra’s case, there are many more questions than answers. Check out!

Petra has been abandoned for hundreds of years, but its construction took place over millennia. It was an important trading center located at a crossroads between trade routes that transported spices, silk and incense from India to other locations. This made the city quite wealthy during its golden age.

It is not entirely clear when it was built, but it is known to have been before Christ. Petra was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom. According to estimates, in its best years the population was about 20 thousand people.

The facades of the buildings were carved into the walls of the canyons and are of a unique beauty. The high-level architecture attests to the skill of this civilization and the skill of the builders of the time.

The main entrance to the city is called Al Khazneh – “The Treasure”, in Portuguese –, named for the local Bedouin belief that untold wealth was stored within the temple. The main gate is carved out of beautiful pink sandstone, which is why Petra is also known as the “Pink City”.

The builders of this architectural wonder certainly faced some difficulties in building it. But of course, to design such structures they probably had considerable knowledge and skills. The ancient local master builders managed to create buildings that in terms of decoration and architecture were not inferior to Greek and Roman monuments.

How it was possible to build a temple so high on the rocks is still unclear. There is no vegetation around that could have been used as scaffolding. Scientists surmise that construction began at up: it was possible to stand on the rough rocks and gradually descend floor by floor. Furthermore, using only chisels and hammers, the local engineers achieved a surprising result.

Other peoples were jealous of the Nabateans’ wealth, even Petra had to fight the Greeks. And won! However, when the Roman conquerors arrived, the city did not resist. For many years it continued to flourish as an important center in the region, but already under the rule of the Roman Empire.

In the 4th century AD a major earthquake destroyed much of Petra and caused irreparable damage to many areas. The Romans then decided to abandon the damaged city🇧🇷 She was later captured and came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire.

With the development of technology, maritime trade routes emerged, which made Petra lose its strategic importance and be left to its own devices, hidden in the sands of Jordan’s deserts. So, it gradually became a lost city.

However, it is important to note that it was lost only to western civilizations, because the locals knew it as the hidden pearl of the desert. Bedouin tribes lived in the rubble of it. They called themselves descendants of the Nabateans and didn’t want anyone else to know about Petra’s existence, because they feared that the curious would go there in search of treasure and destroy the rest of the buildings. Therefore, her location was kept secret for many years.

The exact date of discovery was August 12, 1812. The young Swiss Johann Ludwig Burckhardt heard about the mysterious place during a trip to Cairo, Egypt. So he disguised himself as an Arab to convince the local guide to take him to this mysterious city.

Johann couldn’t stay in for long, because he wasn’t a resident there. He couldn’t even state for sure if he was exactly in the place he was looking for, as there was no confirmation of this information anywhere at that time. However, from then on Europeans knew about Petra in Europe, and after Johann other researchers began to explore it and made more accurate drawings of it. However, excavations only began in 1929, more than 100 years after the discovery of the lost city.

Archaeologists still don’t fully understand why the temple was built. Some think it was the tomb of some Nabataean king. Others claim that it was used to store documents or was even just a temple. However, it is known that Al Khazneh was one of the last structures built in the city, when it was already rich and prosperous.

The people of Petra were experts in technology for the supply and storage of water. Cisterns, dams and reservoirs were built, as the city was a kind of oasis for weary travelers. The technology developed so brilliantly allowed the inhabitants to remain there even in the dry season.

There was flooding in this area at certain times, but the Nabateans also handled it brilliantly. They built dams and aqueducts that redirected the flow of rainwater so people could survive.

Petra was a major religious center and presumably clerics, merchants, sculptors and people working in the service sector lived there. There are over 1,000 tombs there and many of them are intended for families and even entire tribes. Probably, many inhabitants were somehow associated with the funeral business.

Interestingly, it is difficult to answer the question whether all 20,000 people (according to other sources, 30,000) lived within the city. Based on an estimate, if each family had an average of 10 people, there should be 2,000 households there. However, there is much less than that. Probably some inhabitants lived in tents behind stone walls.

On this question, researchers have no concrete assumptions. It can be said with certainty that the tombs were carved in different historical periods because they are very different in appearance. The locals, unlike the rest of the Nabateans, did not make inscriptions on them, which would make it possible to know who was buried there. However, they believed that in the other world the deceased could eat and have fun, as they left food and various household items with their bodies.

Interestingly, due to the incredible number of tombs, Petra, at first, was considered a large necropolis. Only later did scientists discover that it was a perfectly developed city.

One of Petra’s most impressive buildings is the amphitheater. It is located almost in the center of the city and has a capacity of up to 8,500 people.

Other landmarks there include Rua das Fachadas with its many tombs and the Ad Deir Monastery. This beautiful monumental structure still intrigues modern researchers as to its purpose.

In 1985, Petra was declared part of the World Heritage Site by UNESCO and, in 2007, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. An agreement was made with the Bedul tribe to have it moved some distance from the city, and now the Bedouins live in a settlement built especially for them. One of the tribe’s main occupations now is local tourism.

Much in Petra is still a mystery. For example, the city has huge stones—square monuments scattered outside the walls. Nobody knows why they were installed there and what they are. according to legend🇧🇷 there were geniuses within them, which were supposed to protect the ancient capital.

Discoveries are still being made. In 2016, archaeologists discovered an incredible ceremonial site. And now researchers are still trying to figure out what it was for. In 1993, scrolls from the Byzantine period were found. However, its content is still a mystery.

the archaeologists suggest that only 15% of the city has been discovered and the remaining 85% is underground and remains intact. So we still have a lot to learn about this lost treasure.

The Middle East is not a particularly popular destination for tourists. Still, in 2019 Petra was visited by over 1 million people. It is one of the most visited excavation sites in the world. Another curiosity is that the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed there. In addition, the place serves as the setting for numerous photo shoots. Therefore, thousands of people strive to reach this paradise in the middle of the desert.

Sometimes tourists are allowed to enter Petra at night, and because of this the road there and the main entrance to the lost city are decorated with candles and lanterns.

Well, if you haven’t been able to visit this ancient site yet, you can take advantage of an opportunity Google offers — a tour with an audio guide. Enjoy!

Would you like to visit Petra? Or maybe you’ve already been there and want to tell us what impression this city made on you? Share with us in the comments section.