Among many historical places Petra is one of the most famous archaeological sites in Jordan’s

southwestern desert .Around 300 B.B. it was the capital of the Nabatean kingdom. Petra is
known
as Raqmul to the Nabateans .Basically it is a historical city in Jordan and because of it’s water
conduit system and rock-cut architecture, this city is very popular. Rose city is the another name
of Petra for the color of the stone out of which it is portrayed.

Petra is situated on the shield of Jebel al-Madhab It lied in a basis among the mountains. Which
form the eastern side of Arabah .Arabah is a large valley running from the Death sea to the Gulf
of
Aqaba .Until 1812 it was unknown to the western world and it was introduced by swiss explorer
Johan Ludwig Burckhardt.

Around 2000 years ago Petra used to blush with pink sandstone in the high desert of Jordan. This
“Rose City” is a hive of hand hewn caves ,temples and tombs carved from pink sandstone but as
time is passing ,sand are also shifting, so Petra is being lost civilization .Petra was the most

prominent city of Nabateans because it connected the camel caravans between the Mediterranean
and Arabian seas, from Egypt to Syria and beyond to Greece .Nabatean were unsubdued for
many
centuries because of controlling over the water sources and they had the unbelievable ability to
vanish into the cleft rocks. From the excavation it can be seen that an artificial oasis was created
because Nabatean could control the water supply so that they led to the birth of desert city. The
area is visited by flash ,floods .From archaeological proofs it was exhibited that Nabatean
controlled. This floods using dams ,cisterns and water conduits. Water was stored for long times
for their magic skills and it help to enable the city to prosper from its sale.

In the ancient time ,there was two ways to approach into Petra. From south Petra might have
been
approached which was the location of Tomb of Aaron and the other approach was probably from
the high plater can be approached from the east. These is a narrow gorge called Siq and this
eastern entrance leads through this dark narrow gorge. This gorge is formed in the sandstone

rocks and flowing water into the Wadi Musa .The end of this narrow gorge can destroy Petra so
this gorge is dangerous. The treasury which was known as Al Khazanov ,it was made of
sandstone
cliff.
It was said that the local Bedouin tribes made some holes to displace riches that were rumored
to be hidden into it .There is a massive theatre at the foot of the mountain called en-Nejs.It was a
little future from the Treasury. The purpose of the feature was to being a large number of tombs
within view. The site of the city is most noteworthy where the valley opens out into the plains.
During the construction of the amphitheater, it has been cut into the hillside and into
tombs. The mountain walls were rose colored. The whole site of Petra was beautifully made.

Around 7000B.C. is the Neolithic villages. The wadis used to live is the area surrounding Petra
Then in Iron age the area of Petra was inhabited by the Edomites .After that is 6th century BC the
Nabateans settled in the area. Then they used a huge amount of wealth to built the famous Petra
and they were basically known for their organized trades. The Nabateans built dams and water
channels to protect the city. At one point the Nabateans had to buy off the Romans in exchange
for freedom. During the Parthian war they had to pay a huge tribute to the Roman victors. Then
they were attracted by Herod the great twice. Who were able to control a large part of their
region. At a time the Nabateans realized the power of Rome and they fell under direct Rome
rule. After the death of the last Nabatean monarch. The Rome’s claimed the Nabatean kingdom
and they renamed it Arabia Petra .During that period, according to traditional Roman
architectural designs, Petra was redesigned.
In the history it is said Petra was the protection from the invaders as it is made of sandstone
bluff, The citizen needed more shelter ,so they built a wall in front of the city .Then the
Nomadic Nabateans gained the control over Petra and they made it their capital. As the
Nabateans had the power over Petra ,so they who passed through the area .Then the Nabateans
expand Petra with the money .They built elaborated tombs and temples. Before Petra was built it
was risky to transport goods from Arabia to difference countries. But after building it was easy to
transport things. Water was available is the location of Petra. So it was another big reasons.
The new study says that the ancient civilization built Petra so that the sun would brighten their
places like celestial spotlights.

Petra has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1985. There are many significance of Petra.
It is the symbol of Jordan. The tourists get attracted by the historical place. So the country is
being enrich by foreign earning. When Petra was built it was easy to transport goods into
different countries .So the trade routs were easier at that period. As the name was “Rose city “or

it was made very beautifully with pink sandstone .so we could know about the skills of the
ancient people and their ability .We could know about the history.
Petra is considered as one of the world heritage sites because of it’s beautiful appearances’ helps
us to know about the history of this beautiful rose city and they behind history of the city that
have the evidence through this sites.
Referencing
 Petra.(n.d).In Wikipedia.Retrieved November 21,2017,from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra