Petra - City in Stone

Deep in the Jordanian desert, surrounded by towering mountain ranges, lie the ruins of an ancient city that fascinates archaeologists and tourists alike as much with its unique appearance and construction as with its beauty and grandeur. The city is Petra, ancient capital of the Nabateans – a Semitic people. Petra is famous for its buildings – temples, monasteries, churches, amphitheatres that are carved into solid rock.

As remarkable as the ability of the Nabateans to construct buildings out of rock was their creation of a complex system of hydraulic engineering. Located in the middle of a desert and surrounded by mountains, the Nabateans were conscious of the importance and value of water. A complicated system of dams, cisterns, conduits stands testament to the ingenuity of these ancient people. With this clever innovation, water from the flash floods which would ravage the place could be stored for use throughout the year. Water in the desert, being a precious commodity was also traded, bringing in revenue. Thus, Petra was able to transform itself into an artificial oasis in the middle of the desert.

Tradition holds that the earliest known inhabitants of Petra were the Edomites. The Nabateans, scholars hypothesize, invaded the region, displacing the Edomites. Establishing themselves in the region, they managed to hold on despite political turmoil and conflict in their neighborhood. They seem to have been skilful in the art of trade and commerce, taking advantage of the strategic location on ancient commercial routes. For, soon Petra became an important trading post in the fabled spice route. The architecture of the monuments testifies to an influence of many lands. A confluence of native building styles with Greco-Roman architecture produced a grand and imposing style of construction.

The name ‘Petra’ is derived from the Latin word petra which means stone. This was how the city was known to the outside world. It is still unclear what the inhabitants called their city. Scholars believe that the mention of a city called Rekem in the Dead Sea Scrolls refers to Petra.

In 64-63 BC, the Roman General Pompey conquered the Nabateans and Petra came under Roman rule. The Romans, however, allowed the Nabateans to be independent in exchange for tribute. This status continued until 106 AD when the Roman emperor Trajan annexed the region into the Roman Empire. The Romans called the region Arabiae Petrae and retained Petra as its capital. The decline of the city seems to have started a century later. The exact cause for the collapse of Petra is unknown. It is generally believed that a combination of factors such as the development of rival trade centers in the region and external invasions may have been responsible for the decline of this wondrous city. The city all but disappeared from the glare of the outside world until 1812, when the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt discovered it.

Some of the earliest religious buildings are temples built in honor of local gods and goddesses and deified kings. Christianity reached Petra in the 4th century AD. A number of churches have been discovered. However, it was supplanted by Islam, which reached the region in the 7th century AD.

Efforts are on by the Jordanian Government and UNESCO to preserve this historic treasure for future generations. Petra is currently mentioned on the World Heritage List. Many restoration missions and photogrammatic surveys have been conducted at this site. A comprehensive plan is being designed to protect this site and to develop a sustainable economic model for tourism with the involvement of the local population.