Deep within the deserts of Jordan lies the ancient city of Petra.
Through a narrow gorge it emerges into view, revealing awe-inspiring
monuments cut into the surrounding cliffs. What is this astonishing
city? Who built it, and why?

          Two thousand years ago, Petra stood at a crossroads of
     the ancient Near East. Camel caravans passed through, loaded
     with spices, textiles and incense from distant regions--and
     through such commerce, the city flourished. Its people, the
     Nabataeans, harnessed precious water, enabling the
     population to soar to perhaps 20,000.

  Re-discovering this astounding complex of cliff-carved faades as
     Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, did exactly 200 years
     ago must surely have been well worth writing home about. Now well
     known to the world - in no small part due to its on-screen role
     in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' - and in company with the
     likes of Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Peru's Machu Picchu, and the
     Great Wall of China on the list of 'New 7 Wonders of the World',
     it is thrilling to imagine what this intrepid explorer must have
     felt on first seeing Petra.

