The Nabataeans built the ancient city of Petra in present-day Jordan.
Petra became the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, whose people controlled important caravan routes linking Arabia, the Levant, and the Mediterranean. Much of the city was carved directly into rose-colored sandstone cliffs, giving Petra its famous nickname, the “Rose City.”
The Nabataeans were skilled traders and engineers. They built dams, channels, cisterns, and water systems that helped support a settlement in a naturally dry landscape. Petra later came under Roman rule in the second century CE, and Roman architectural influence can be seen in parts of the site. The famous Treasury is a monumental rock-cut façade, but it was not a treasury in the modern sense; its original function remains debated.