.P para1
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?
.P para2
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.
.P para3
Re-discovering this astounding complex of cliff-carved façades 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.