September 3, 2018
Located in the southwestern corner of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Petra, also known as the ‘Rose City’, is Jordan’s most visited tourist attraction site with its majestic building façade carved directly into vibrant red, white, and pink solid sandstone cliffs by its ancient people, the Nabateans, in 312 B.C.
Before its demise, the ancient city was a thriving cosmopolitan market place and a crucial trade route of goods such as spices, incense, gold, animals, perfumes, and fabric administered by the Nabateans who are known skilled traders that facilitated commerce with China, India, Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Trade in the ancient city began to wane when Rome took over and sea trade routes became popular. Aided by earthquake and decay, Petra was abandoned. It was relatively a ‘lost city’ to the western world until in the early 1800s when European travelers disguised as Bedouin tribesmen introduced it to the modern world.
In 1985, the Petra Archeological Park was declared a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site, and in 2007 it was named as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.
Today, Petra’s archeological allure has attracted more than half a million tourists per year and is even made more popular by Hollywood films shot in its location such as the ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ where it made its debut on-screen in 1989, and in the film ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ in 2009.
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