petra — The City Carved in Stone
Hidden among the mountains of southern Jordan lies Petra, one of the world's most remarkable ancient cities.
What makes Petra extraordinary is that much of it was carved directly into rose-coloured sandstone cliffs. Its most famous monument, the Treasury, appears dramatically at the end of a narrow passage known as the Siq.
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Petra flourished as a trading centre because of its position between Arabia, Egypt and the Mediterranean world. Its people also developed ingenious systems for collecting and managing water in an otherwise dry landscape.
The city eventually declined, but its magnificent stone façades remained.
Petra reminds us that human beings do not always build upon nature. Sometimes they discover how to build within it.
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