The Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt discovered ‘The lost City of Petra’ 200 years ago and this recently crowned ‘Wonder of the World’ is certainly worth a visit. The site, which was hidden to the western world for centuries, was revealed by Johann with the description “a rose-red city half as old as time”.
Petra was part of the ‘Nabataeans’ civilization and was a major trading point as part of the Silk Road which from China to Arabia and within the region, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.
The trading network centered on strings of oases and the routes that linked them was built up by the Nabataeans who are thought to have arrived into the region around 312 BC.
Many festivals and celebrations will start taking place this summer to commemorate this very special event plus it is the 50th anniversary of the release of director David Lean’s acclaimed movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ which used Wadi Rum, a desert area close to Petra as its backdrop to the storyline.
