Petra

This site in Jordan has been inhabited since very ancient times. Petra reached its greatest importance under the Nabataeans, an ancient people whose original homeland was in northeastern Arabia. They migrated westward in the 6th century BC and eventually settled at Petra. Not much is known about the Nabateans’ history before 312 BC, when Petra was unsuccessfully attacked by Seleucid forces. Petra was also made famous by the third Indiana Jones movie.

By the 1st century BC the powerful and rich  Nabataean kingdom that extended from Damascus in the north to the Red Sea in the south, and Petra was home to as many as 30,000 people. It was during this period that the most amazing structures of Petra were built, including the Treasury, the Great Temple and the Qasr el-Bint el-Faroun.

In the 1st century AD the Siq was paved and the beautiful classical theater was constructed. After annexation, Roman touches were added to Petra such as the colonnaded cardo. A Nabataean-style tomb was built in Petra for the Roman governor of Arabia Sextius Florentius (127 AD), and a high-ranking Roman soldier was buried in another tomb. The Urn Tomb also dates from this period (2nd-3rd century).

Various tombs and temples at Petra were also used as churches, including the Monastery and the Urn Tomb.

Christianity arrived in the 4th century, and a Byzantine church, whose ruins can still be seen at Petra, was built around 450-500 AD.