04/04/2019
The city of Petra, the capital of the Arab Nabataeans is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world and the most important tourist attractions in Jordan. It is visited by tourist groups from all parts of the earth. It is located 240 kilometers south of Amman and 120 km from the Gulf of Aqaba - Map), Petra is characterized by the nature of its architecture carved in pink rock, which contains a mixture of ancient architectural arts belonging to different civilizations and is a city full carved in pink rock.
Petra is a unique example of the most ancient Arab civilization (the Nabatean civilization), where the Nabataean Arabs carved it from the rock for more than 2,000 years. It is a witness to the most rich and creative Arab civilizations. Petra remained undiscovered throughout the Ottoman period until it was rediscovered by the Swiss orientalist Johann Ludwig Berkharart in 1812, through an exploratory trip in the Levant, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula for the Royal British Geographical Society, so many scientists and Orientalists are calling on Petra "the lost city" for the delay of showing it to the world, The stunning eastern city, the pink city that is unparalleled.
The Nabataean kingdom flourished and its borders spread southward to reach the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula, where the city of Madain Saleh existed. The Nabataeans extended their influence to reach the shores of the Red Sea, the eastern Sinai peninsula and the Horan plain in Syria to the city of Damascus. Civilizations, including the Pharaonic civilization in the west, the civilization of Palmyra in the north, and the Mesopotamian civilization in the East, so the Nabataean Kingdom was the center of the civilizations of the ancient world and the focal point of the various civilizations of the world.
Nabataeans have been famous for water engineering and water harvesting techniques, and they have been the owners of the idea since ancient times. The Nabataeans developed irrigation systems, collected rainwater and springs, and mastered the construction of dams and reservoirs they dug in rock. They also cut channels for long distances, in addition to building agricultural terraces on the slopes.