The ancient Nabataean city of Petra consists of tombs, carved from the surrounding sandstone mountains over 2,000 year ago. The Nabataeans – a tribe of the ancient Arabian people - formed an independent kingdom with its capital Petra around 312BC. The kingdom was allied to the Roman Empire from 63 BC and incorporated as a province of Arabia in AD 106.
Lost for nearly 12 centuries the ruins were re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. Entrance to the city is via a natural cleft in the rock known as the Sik, at times only 16 feet wide with sheer walls towering to 650feet. The path served both as a means of protection for the Nabataeans as well as a means of collecting and delivering water to the city.
The passage opens to the iconic view of the Khazneh – Treasury. Carved from the solid rock for use as a tomb the Khazneh received its name from a legend that pirates had hidden their treasure in the urn at the upper level. The impressive red coloured façade was used in the final scene of the film Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade.
Further down the path is the 8,000 seat amphitheatre that was carved out of the rock by the Nabataeans around the time of Jesus Christ.
Finally the Royal Tombs come into sight, considered to be the most impressive burial places in Petra, which are carved into the face of the Jebel Khubtha mountain and consist of the Vaulted Urn Tomb, the Corinthian Tomb and the largest of all, the 3-storied Palace Tomb.
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