PETRA
Petra, WADI ARABA, all Jordan, Jordan
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Petra (Greek 'rock') capital of Nabataea c310BC, famous for spice trade and hydraulic engineering, including water conservation systems and the dams, autonomous until Trajan when it flourished under Romans, tomb structures were carved out of the living rock, in 363AD an earthquake destroyed half of the city, then it was a Byzantine Christian bishopric until the 6thC then an Islamic backwater community until 1812 when it was discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt