Petra, Jordan

 Petra is a historic and archaeological city in southern Jordan. It is located next to the Jabal Al-Madbah mountain, in a basin surrounded by mountains that constitute the eastern side of the Arabah valley, which runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra has been inhabited since at least 7000 BC, and the Nabataeans may have resided in what would become their kingdom's capital city as early as the 4th century BC. Only evidence of Nabataean presence has been uncovered, going back to the second century BC, when Petra had been their city. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who established Petra as a key regional economic centre because of its closeness to the incense trade routes.

The Nabataeans made a lot of money through commerce, and Petra became the center of their prosperity. Unlike their attackers, the Nabataeans were used to living in desolate deserts and were able to withstand invasions by taking use of the area's rugged environment. Rainwater gathering, agriculture, and stone sculpting were among their specialties. Petra reached its height in the first century AD, when the magnificent Al-Khazneh edifice – thought to be the tomb of Nabataean king Aretas IV – was built, and its population reached 20,000 people.

Although the Nabataean kingdom became a Roman Empire client state in the first century BC, it did not lose its independence until 106 AD. The Romans conquered Petra and acquired Nabataea, renaming it Arabia Petraea. Petra's significance waned when sea trade routes established, and many of its buildings were damaged by an earthquake in 363. Several Christian churches were erected during the Byzantine period, but the city continued to decay, and by the early Islamic era, it had been abandoned save for a few nomads. It remained undiscovered until Johann Ludwig Burckhardt uncovered it in 1812.

Petra was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on December 6, 1985. It was also designated one of the New7Wonders of the World in a public survey in 2007. In August 2007, the Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) was established as a separate legal organization to oversee the site's administration. The Bidouls are a Bedouin tribe whose cultural legacy and traditional skills were declared intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2005 and inscription in 2008.