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Petra

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  Location: Jordan (Continent of Asia and in the Middle East region)
• Built by: Nabataeans (an old civilization in this region)
• How long to build: Between 312 BC to about 110 AD (about 400 years), the people of Petra were continuously craving buildings, tombs, homes, and much more in the mountains in the area.
• Date built: Building started in 312 BC, and the city is half-built and half-carved out of the rocks from the surrounding mountains (about 2300 years ago)
• Size: About 23 sq m (60 sq km) area and some of the buildings are about 131 ft (40 m) tall, and some are even bigger
• Petra gets its name from the Greek word “Petros,” which means “rocks,” and it is also called the “Rose City” because of the pink color of the sandstone at sunset and sunrise.
• It was the capital city of the Nabataean civilization and an important trade city where they would trade silks, enslaved people, ceramics, and spice.
• Even though the city was in the desert, it had enough water for its 20,000 – 30,000 residents because it had a man-made water system made with terra cotta pipes throughout the city.
• Around 110 AD, the Romans had taken over the city; in 363 AD, a major earthquake destroyed half the city. By 700 AD, only a small group lived in the city.
• It was hidden from outsiders for hundreds of years before Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered it in 1812. He disguised himself as a local Bedouin (the people who live in this area), could enter the city unnoticed, and noted what he saw.
• Only about 15% of Petra has been discovered.
• Archaeologists have found around 1,000 tombs carved throughout Petra, and they have painted decorations with pictures of what the person did in their life.
• One of the most famous buildings in the city is called the “ Treasury, ” It got its name because it looked like a bank and held the city’s money. It was a tomb for the royal families. Under the floor of the building, archeologists found three rooms and skeletal remains.