Petra 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.
More than 2,000 years ago Petra was used as a temporary refuge by nomadic Nabatean Arabs, Bedouins who came north out of Arabia. From a few caves in a rocky outcrop, easy to defend, the nabateans created Petra as a fortress city.
Many of these temples or tombs go back to about 600 B.C., but the particular one they used was built around the time of Christ. Nobody knows for sure what it was used for. Behind the temple face are a few small, square rooms, which are completely empty. Whatever they held was stolen long ago. It’s quite an incredible place - like a tenth wonder of the world.
Before reach the Petra, visitors have to cross through the "Siq" which an amazing and narrow gloom chasm. It's about a kilometer long.
Famous of Petra:
It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture. Petra is also one of the new wonders of the world. The Nabateans 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.”
On December 6, 1985, Petra was designated a World Heritage Site.On July 7, 2007, Petra was named one of New Open World Corporation’s New Seven Wonders of the World.The picturesque site is featured in various films such as: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, “Arabian Nights”, Passion in the Desert, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the Sisters of Mercy music video “Dominion”, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Here some nice views of Petra:
Petra Sandstone Layer:
