5 Things You Didn’t Know About Petra In Jordan

The spectacular UNESCO World Heritage site, famously described as “a rose red city half as old as time,” The city was used by the Nabataeans to oversee the trade routes from Damascus to Arabia, collecting taxes and protection money from the spice, silk, and slave caravans that passed through.

1.On Location with Indiana Jones

Petra served as the backdrop for several scenes from the renowned epic Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Harrison Ford and Sean Connery emerge from the Siq in the climactic final scenes of the movie and venture deep into the Treasury’s maze in search of the Holy Grail.

2. Disguised as Arab

The ruins of Petra were hidden to most of the world until the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt disguised himself as an Arab scholar and infiltrated the Bedouin-occupied city in 1812. Burckhardt’s accounts of his discovery inspired other Western explorers and historians to visit the ancient site.

3. Bedouin-style target practice

A few bullet holes on the Treasury’s exterior were made hundreds of years ago by Bedouin tribesmen who believed there were hidden riches inside. The urn is actually made out of a single piece of stone.

4. An Archeological Iceberg

There are estimated to be 800 carved tombs in Petra, but 80% of the original carvings are assumed to be gone. Only roughly 15 percent of the city is currently visible, and the vast majority is still undiscovered and concealed.

5. Petra in Panorama

Despite being the most well-known, the Treasury is not Petra’s biggest building. With its 50 meters in width and 45 meters in height, the Monastery is far larger and significantly more spectacular.