Petra

Petra, an ancient city located in a mountainous valley in southern Transjordan, was built by the Nabataeans who achieved importance during the Late Hellenistic and Roman periods, attributed to their involvement in long-distance incense trade between East and West. Urban origins of Petra date to the third century bce. The city, recognized as a Nabataean capital and the royal seat, thrived during the Nabataean period when the valley became the location of spectacular Nabataean temples, baths, theater, palatial residences, and monumental rock-cut tombs, influenced by Hellenistic and Roman architecture, although also retaining native style and decorative elements. In 106 ce the Nabataean Kingdom was annexed by Rome, and Petra became the most prominent urban center of Roman Arabia, as evidenced by impressive civic honorific titles. The second century marks the flourishing urbanism and the prosperous economy of the city, based on the continuing participation in trade. The changed patterns of international trade in the third century might have been detrimental for the continuation of Petra’s economic prosperity as some parts of the city appear to have been abandoned by then. On 19 May 363, the city was struck by a disastrous earthquake from which it never fully recovered. Due to the inadequate repairs of anti-flash flood installations, episodes of massive flooding of the city center are already attested in the late fourth and early fifth century. Byzantine Petra was the capital of province Palaestina Salutaris/Tertia and the seat of the Metropolitan See. The city was beset by religious conflicts between Christians and polytheists, and the traditional Nabataean religion may have survived until early fifth century. Social and economic life in 6th-century Petra is clarified through the Petra Papyri, a unique corpus of Greek documents, dated between 537 and 592/3. However, Petra is not mentioned in any accounts related to inter-regional trade and its reflection in pre- and early Islamic tradition nor in any historical records after the sixth century. Archaeological data indicate that by the mid-seventh century, most of the valley was abandoned, and urban existence ended everywhere by the early eighth, although Christian population still inhabited the valley at the time of the Crusades. A revival of the Petra area in the Crusader period, marked by the construction of strongholds in the valley and nearby was short-lived. Petra disappears from the accounts of geographers, travelers, and explorers until 1812 when J. L. Burckhardt became the first Western scholar to visit the site.