The city of Petra

The capital of the Nabataean Empire is the city of Petra in Jordan

The commercial city of Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Empire. The city of Petra had an impossibly beautiful architectural setting and the city became one of the trade routes between the various countries in a very short time due to its location. Petra also became proficient and self-sufficient in art, literature, education, engineering and astronomy. So the Nabataean civilization gradually became lost in the Greco-Roman culture when the Roman emperor Trajan Petra was conquered by the Roman Empire around 106 BC.

Petra is an ancient Arab city. Petra is located at the foot of Mount Hur, just east of the village of Wadi Musa in southwestern present-day Jordan. The city was originally a highly fortified fortress. It is famous for its remarkable natural monuments. Next to the cave there are many buildings built by cutting hard stone hills. In addition to the ancient buildings, there are temples and mausoleums here. The most famous of them is the temple named 'Khaznet Pharaoh'. The temple is also known as the treasure of the pharaohs. There is also a hemispherical Roman Colosseum-like theater where about three thousand spectators can sit together.

The city was extremely secure and economically prosperous. It is surrounded by high mountains and the city of Gaza to the west, Basra and Damascus to the north. Petra controlled all major trade routes to the Persian Gulf. It was annexed by the Muslims of the Roman Empire in the seventh century and later destroyed by the Crusaders in the twelfth century. After many years of obscurity, the ancient city was introduced to the Western world in 1812 by the Swiss traveler Johann Ludig Burkhardt. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 and was named "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".