Print this pageDate Added: 28-11-2006
Ancient city situated some 200 miles south of Jordan’s capital Amman towards the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea.
Petra is mentioned in the Bible and the Koran known by both the Hebrew word “Sela” (rock) and “Wadi Mousa” (Valley of Moses). This ancient city was the capital of the Nabatean kingdom and famed for its beautiful rose pink rock and fabulous architecture. The most famous monument in Petra is the Khasneh al Faraoun (the Pharaoh’s Treasury). This immense monument, whose façade is 130 feet high and 93 feet wide, is breathtaking especially viewed in the early morning light when the carved pink rock takes on wondrous shades of colour.
Inhabited from 1500 BC when according to the Bible the “Orite” people settled in the Valley of Petra living in the many caves set in the sides of the mountains. Many other periods followed until the Nabateans. Eventually Petra was abandoned and as far as the west was concerned all knowledge of the Nabatean kingdom was lost. Only the Bedouin herding their sheep near Petra knew of the ancient city’s existence.
It was in 1812 when the Rose coloured City was re-discovered by a young Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burchhardt. The first reliable pictures in the form of drawings and lithographs were by the French Marquis Léon de Laborde, son of a French diplomat, and Louis Linant de Bellefonds, son of a Breton naval officer. Later Laborde would become keeper of antiquities at the Louvre then General Manager of the Archives of France. Linant went on to study hydrography and later appointed Director of Ministry of Public Works. Fascinated by the idea of a new Suez Canal he drew up tentative plans.
During World War I the mountainous deserts of Wadi Rum were home to Lawrence of Arabia and his guerrilla camps.
In present times, Petra was to capture the imagination of Steven Spielberg who used the location to film Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.
Queen Rania of Jordan received Petra's certificate of candidacy for "New Seven Wonders of the World". See Queen Rania's official website: www.queenrania.jo
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