Petra from Lost Cities of The World

This ancient city carved out of rose-colored sandstone lies in Jordan and is locally called Wadi Musa, after the stream that flows through it. This naturally fortified city is located in the eastern flank of Wadi Araba, a huge cleft valley placed between the Gulf of Arabia and Dead Sea. Petra was the capital of Nabataenan civilization from the fourth century BC until the Romans occupied it in 106 AD, when it became a part of Arabia Patraea. At its peak it was an important trading center connecting Gaza to Bosra and Damascus, Aqaba and Leuce Come on the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. Its significant stone architecture, which is a mixture of Greek, Roman and Nabataenan architecture, is marked by the buildings half-built, half carved into the surrounding rocks. There is also an evidence that its technology was in many ways advanced, they had cisterns which helped them collect water from the local streams and use it during draughts. But, after a strong earthquake in 363, this water system was destroyed, and its inhabitants were forced to leave the city. For many years it was forgotten, until it was rediscovered by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.