The ancient city of Petra is in Jordan. Petra was established by the Nabataeans, an Arab people who controlled important trade routes across the deserts of the southern Levant. Its most famous monument, Al-Khazneh, was carved directly into sandstone cliffs and is often called the Treasury.
Petra became prosperous because it connected caravan routes carrying incense, spices, textiles, and other goods between Arabia, the Mediterranean, and the Near East. The city’s water channels, cisterns, and dams helped its inhabitants live in a dry environment.
Rome annexed the Nabataean kingdom in 106 CE, and Petra gradually declined as trade routes changed. Earthquakes also damaged parts of the settlement. Although local communities always knew of the site, Petra became widely known in Europe after Johann Ludwig Burckhardt visited it in 1812. Petra is sometimes confused with Wadi Rum, another famous Jordanian landscape, but Wadi Rum is a desert valley rather than the carved city.