Dec 6, 2009 – The Treasury in Petra, Jordan – Michele Falzone / Corbis
Petra (Greek “πέτρα” (petra), meaning rock; Arabic: البتراء, Al-Batrāʾ) is an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma’an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Hor in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Nabataeans constructed it as their capital city around 100 BCE.
The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was famously described as “a rose-red city half as old as time” in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage.” In 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.
- This place didn’t make the original list of the world’s seven wonders.
Did it make the new list? - This was once a bustling metropolis of 30,000 people.
What’s left of them now? - John William Burgon had it right when he called it a “rose-red city half as old as time.”
What’s its real name? - Legend has it that Israelite leader Moses miraculously brought forth water right here in this desert.
Where is it?
