WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.459 Welcome back, everyone, to The Deep Dive. This 00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:04.219 is where we take the sources you send us, all 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:07.400 the articles, the research, and we really just 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:09.339 try to get to the core of it all. And our mission 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:11.380 today is a big one. We're looking at what you 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:13.300 can really call one of the great miracles of 00:00:13.300 --> 00:00:15.580 the ancient world, architecturally, economically. 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.399 And hydraulically. Exactly. We're talking about 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.219 the city of Petra. That's right. We are diving 00:00:21.219 --> 00:00:24.960 deep into this absolutely spectacular rock -cut 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:28.399 city set so dramatically in the sandstone cliffs 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:31.519 of what is now southern Jordan. Most of us, you 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.460 know, we know it as the Rose City. A name it 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:36.380 got from the incredible color of the sandstone. 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:39.200 It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, of course, 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:41.619 and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. 00:00:41.740 --> 00:00:44.479 But the thing is, that famous facade, the one 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:47.219 that everyone pictures. That's just the surface. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.640 It really is. And we're going beneath that surface 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:52.119 today. The people who built this, the Nabateans, 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.600 they didn't call it Petra. That's Greek for rock. 00:00:54.820 --> 00:00:57.299 To them, it was known as Rokhmu. Or Rokhomen 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:00.520 in their language, Nabatean Aramaic. Right. And 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.359 our mission, really, is to unpack the central 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:07.409 miracle of Rokhmu. How did this city, this thriving 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:11.109 metropolis, manage to not just survive, but actually 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:13.049 dominate from the middle of a barren desert? 00:01:13.269 --> 00:01:16.230 So we're going to get into the history, the mind 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:19.510 -bending architecture, and the one thing that 00:01:19.510 --> 00:01:22.489 drove all of its prosperity, the hidden power 00:01:22.489 --> 00:01:25.530 source. Water. It all comes down to water. It's 00:01:25.530 --> 00:01:28.530 the ultimate story of human ingenuity against 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:31.219 a brutal climate. How an ancient people basically 00:01:31.219 --> 00:01:34.200 industrialized the desert. Okay, so let's unpack 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.280 the timeline. When I think of Petra, my mind 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.540 just immediately jumps to the Nabataeans, you 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:40.260 know, carving the treasury in the first century 00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:42.640 AD. Right, that's the iconic image. But the sources 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.459 are really clear that this area has roots stretching 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.840 back thousands of years before the Nabataean 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.260 kingdom was even a concept. Oh, absolutely. The 00:01:50.260 --> 00:01:52.879 longevity of this specific spot as a place for 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:56.200 human settlement is, well, it's staggering. We 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:57.920 have evidence of organized settlements from the 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.079 Neolithic period. Neolithic, what are we talking, 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:03.540 like 7 ,000 BC? Around then, yeah. Incredibly 00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:06.239 early. This is when agriculture is just getting 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.500 started globally, and you have farmers settling 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:11.960 in a place called Beta, just a few kilometers 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:14.360 north of where Petra would eventually be. So 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:16.259 from the very beginning, people recognized this 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:20.419 area was viable. Viable and strategic. Even in 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:23.400 the Bronze Age, this region was on the map. It 00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:26.180 shows up in ancient records. Like imperial records. 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:29.330 Exactly. Egyptian campaign accounts, the Amarna 00:02:29.330 --> 00:02:31.930 letters. It's mentioned under different names 00:02:31.930 --> 00:02:34.990 like Pel, Sela, or Ser. It just shows that the 00:02:34.990 --> 00:02:36.949 routes running through here, as difficult as 00:02:36.949 --> 00:02:39.669 they were, were seen as essential. But the first 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:41.629 group to really establish the kind of infrastructure 00:02:41.629 --> 00:02:44.409 that would define the area, that was the Edomites, 00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:46.169 right? During the Iron Age. That's right, from 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:49.849 about 1200 to 600 BC. The Edomites were the first 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:51.969 to truly integrate with the topography here. 00:02:52.189 --> 00:02:54.349 What do you mean by integrate? Well, they looked 00:02:54.349 --> 00:02:56.030 at the specific configuration of the mountains, 00:02:56.069 --> 00:02:58.310 these deep canyons, and realized it could be 00:02:58.310 --> 00:03:00.229 used as more than just a fortress. It could be 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:02.349 a natural water reservoir. They weren't just 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:04.430 passing through. They were occupying the high 00:03:04.430 --> 00:03:08.409 ground. We have archaeological evidence of an 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:12.770 Edomite site at Elbiara, dating to the 7th century 00:03:12.770 --> 00:03:15.590 BC at the latest. So the Edomites basically proved 00:03:15.590 --> 00:03:17.490 the concept. They showed that you could store 00:03:17.490 --> 00:03:20.710 water here. They proved the concept. And in doing 00:03:20.710 --> 00:03:23.060 that... they transformed this challenging spot 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:26.259 into a safe harbor. It immediately became a crucial 00:03:26.259 --> 00:03:28.840 stopping point for merchants. A rare safe spot 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:31.400 for traders carrying, what, valuable goods? Very 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.240 valuable. Wines, olive oil, and especially wood, 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:36.199 which is hard to come by. It was a vital waypoint, 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:39.180 but it wasn't a capital city yet. Not by a long 00:03:39.180 --> 00:03:41.280 shot. And then come the Nabataeans, and they 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.960 take that waypoint concept and just explode it 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.099 into a global powerhouse. The Nabataean Revolution, 00:03:46.419 --> 00:03:49.060 starting around the 4th century BC, changes everything. 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:53.120 They were originally nomadic Bedouin tribes from 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.159 the Arabian Desert. And we're pretty sure about 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:57.960 that origin now. Modern scholarship is very firm 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.919 on it. Linguistic, archaeological evidence all 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.419 points to them being a northern Arabian tribe. 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:05.900 The old theories about them being Aramean have 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.539 been, you know, pretty much rejected. So they 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:11.379 settled down and make Petra Rakhmu their capital 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:14.439 in the second century B .C. And this is where 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:16.759 their real genius comes into play. This is the 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:19.060 critical insight. Yeah. The fact that they were 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:22.180 desert nomads wasn't a disadvantage. It was their 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:24.660 greatest strength. Why so? They were already 00:04:24.660 --> 00:04:27.160 masters of arid survival. They understood the 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:30.360 wadis, the hidden springs, the climate in a way 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:32.540 that their enemies, like the Greeks or later 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:35.819 the Romans, just couldn't. It gave them an incredible 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:38.100 home field advantage. An almost impenetrable 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:40.439 one. They could defend their kingdom, maintain 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:43.920 secret supply lines, and withstand sieges far 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.100 more effectively than anyone else. And that mastery 00:04:46.100 --> 00:04:48.379 of the environment put them in the perfect position 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:51.019 to control the ancient world's supply chains. 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:53.740 It did. They basically put a highly efficient 00:04:53.740 --> 00:04:56.379 militarized toll booth on the most profitable 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:58.779 trade routes of the day. They controlled the 00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.660 caravan routes, especially the incredibly lucrative 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.339 incense trade. Incense being frankincense and 00:05:04.339 --> 00:05:06.920 myrrh. Frankincense and myrrh. which were, I 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:08.680 mean, they were the oil of the ancient world, 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:11.180 used for everything from religious rituals to 00:05:11.180 --> 00:05:13.519 medicine. And these routes all funneled through 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.160 Petra. They controlled the paths leading to Gaza 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:19.139 and the Mediterranean, up to Damascus, down to 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:21.839 Aqaba on the Red Sea, and east towards the Persian 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:24.720 Gulf. The revenue they generated from this was 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.519 just astronomical. And it all hinged on their 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:29.819 ability to provide the one thing no one else 00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:32.839 could in that desert. reliable, managed water. 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:35.279 It's fascinating, too, that the original name, 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.459 Rekomo, might actually be a clue to what they 00:05:38.459 --> 00:05:41.160 were famous for. It's a beautiful piece of linguistic 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.579 context. The historian Josephus, writing in the 00:05:44.579 --> 00:05:47.439 first century AD, said that the local Arabs in 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:50.839 his day still called the city Rekim. And the 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.019 root of that word? The Arabic root, Rekoma, means 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:56.699 to mark or to decorate. So it could be a very 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:59.060 early reference to the city's most defining feature. 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:01.800 The decorated city. The city of decorated carved 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.540 facades, literally standing out against the desert. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.500 A city whose identity was carved in stone, but 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:09.920 whose entire economy was built on water and spice. 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:12.100 So once the Nabataeans consolidate their power, 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:14.399 their rise seems almost meteoric. We get to the 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:16.220 first century AD, and this is considered the 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:18.660 golden age. This is absolutely their zenith. 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:22.290 Politically, culturally, economically, the sources 00:06:22.290 --> 00:06:24.490 estimate that Petra's population peeped at around 00:06:24.490 --> 00:06:27.129 20 ,000 inhabitants. 20 ,000. I mean, you have 00:06:27.129 --> 00:06:29.550 to stop and think about that. Supporting 20 ,000 00:06:29.550 --> 00:06:32.310 people in that environment, it's a miracle of 00:06:32.310 --> 00:06:34.470 engineering in itself. It is. It's a testament 00:06:34.470 --> 00:06:36.490 to just how successful their water management 00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:38.730 systems were. And it's during this period of 00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:40.970 incredible wealth that they construct the most 00:06:40.970 --> 00:06:43.870 iconic buildings. Like Al -Qasna, the treasury. 00:06:44.129 --> 00:06:46.430 The treasury, yes. Which, as you know, despite 00:06:46.430 --> 00:06:48.310 the name, wasn't actually a treasury. Right. 00:06:48.449 --> 00:06:51.310 The consensus is that it was a mausoleum, a tomb. 00:06:51.550 --> 00:06:53.810 Almost certainly a mausoleum, yes. Yeah. Probably 00:06:53.810 --> 00:06:56.629 for King Aretas I, who had a very long and prosperous 00:06:56.629 --> 00:07:00.470 reign. The sheer scale and the intricate Hellenistic 00:07:00.470 --> 00:07:03.629 detail, it was a statement of power and wealth. 00:07:03.850 --> 00:07:06.589 But that native dynasty, that independence, it 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:08.750 couldn't last forever. The shadow of Rome was 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:11.649 getting longer. Inevitably. The end of Nabataean 00:07:11.649 --> 00:07:14.230 independence came in 106 AD. With the Emperor 00:07:14.230 --> 00:07:17.720 Trajan. Yes. Rome annexed the kingdom. Under 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:20.660 the command of Aulus Cornelius Palma Frontonianus, 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:23.360 the Nabataean kingdom was absorbed and renamed 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:26.660 Arabia Petraea. But Rome didn't just absorb it 00:07:26.660 --> 00:07:29.100 and let it wither. They recognized its value, 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:31.339 right? Well, immediately. They kept Petra as 00:07:31.339 --> 00:07:34.019 the provincial capital. And Roman rule, as it 00:07:34.019 --> 00:07:36.680 often did, brought a massive investment in infrastructure. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.129 The Pax Romana meant safer. Better trade. They 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:42.629 built roads. They built roads. First the Petro 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:45.209 -Roman Road, and then the monumental Via Triana 00:07:45.209 --> 00:07:48.850 Nova, built between 111 and 114 A .D. This was 00:07:48.850 --> 00:07:51.629 a huge undertaking. A paved, organized highway 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:53.589 system. Was that more for military movement or 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:56.569 for trade? It was for both, but trade was paramount. 00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.100 And here's the clever part. The road followed 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:01.660 the exact lines of the old successful Nabataean 00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:03.899 caravan routes. So they weren't reinventing the 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:05.939 wheel. They were just paving it. They were paving 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:08.519 it and protecting it with Roman legions. This 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:10.660 revived trade and kept the money flowing through 00:08:10.660 --> 00:08:12.980 the region. So at first, Petra benefited hugely. 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:15.439 It even became something of an imperial showpiece. 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:19.300 Absolutely. The Emperor Hadrian himself visited 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:23.509 in 130 AD. He granted the city the title Hadriani 00:08:23.509 --> 00:08:25.810 Petra Metropolis, which they then put on their 00:08:25.810 --> 00:08:28.470 coins. It was a huge deal. And the Roman governor 00:08:28.470 --> 00:08:30.410 at the time even built his tomb there. He did. 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:32.929 Sextius Florentinus. He built this monumental 00:08:32.929 --> 00:08:35.470 mausoleum near the King's Wall tombs, which is 00:08:35.470 --> 00:08:37.690 a real sign of respect because that area had 00:08:37.690 --> 00:08:40.090 historically been reserved only for Nabataean 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:42.169 royalty. So it seems like everything is going 00:08:42.169 --> 00:08:44.409 great under Roman rule. But here's the question. 00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:48.129 By making trade so much easier and safer everywhere, 00:08:48.409 --> 00:08:51.509 did Rome accidentally undermine Petra's unique 00:08:51.509 --> 00:08:53.570 advantage? That is the perfect way to put it. 00:08:53.590 --> 00:08:55.990 Yes, that's exactly what happened. Rome standardized 00:08:55.990 --> 00:08:59.070 trade, but in doing so, they enabled growth elsewhere. 00:08:59.659 --> 00:09:02.220 and a major rival city begins to emerge. Yeah, 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:04.960 Palmyra. Palmyra. Further north in modern Syria, 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:06.860 it was on the edge of the desert, not hidden 00:09:06.860 --> 00:09:08.860 deep inside it. So it offered a more direct, 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:11.000 maybe easier route for the caravans? A much more 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:13.759 direct route. And as Palmyra grew, it started 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:16.000 to pull all that valuable trade traffic away 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.639 from Petra. Petra's whole advantage was being 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:22.100 the necessary, secret, secure choke point. Once 00:09:22.100 --> 00:09:24.500 other routes became secure under Roman protection, 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.899 its remote location went from being an asset... 00:09:28.110 --> 00:09:31.769 To a liability. Precisely. The city's main reason 00:09:31.769 --> 00:09:34.429 for being was slowly being eroded. And you can 00:09:34.429 --> 00:09:36.529 actually see this decline in the archaeological 00:09:36.529 --> 00:09:38.549 record, right? The source mentions they just 00:09:38.549 --> 00:09:42.990 stopped minting coins. They did. Local coinage 00:09:42.990 --> 00:09:46.149 ends in the third century. That's a huge red 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:48.789 flag. It signals that the city's economic engine 00:09:48.789 --> 00:09:51.820 had seized up. Without that massive trade revenue, 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:54.539 maintaining the complex water systems would have 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:56.399 been incredibly difficult. So the city didn't 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:59.259 just disappear, it sort of faded. It faded. It 00:09:59.259 --> 00:10:01.879 lingered on as a religious center. We have records 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:04.139 of a major religious feast still being held there 00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:06.559 every year on December 25th, honoring their gods 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.100 Dusharra and Kabu. Though cultural life persisted, 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:11.740 but it was a shadow of its former self. But the 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:14.399 final catastrophic blow wasn't economic, it was 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:16.799 environmental. The ultimate disaster struck in 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.100 363 AD. A massive earthquake. It was part of 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:22.039 a series of quakes that devastated the entire 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.000 region. And it didn't just knock down buildings. 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:27.779 It destroyed buildings, yes. But crucially, for 00:10:27.779 --> 00:10:30.360 a city built on water management, it crippled 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.559 their hydraulic system. The dams, the cisterns, 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.440 the conduits, they were broken. So the artificial 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.539 oasis just dried up. It dried up. And when you 00:10:40.539 --> 00:10:43.480 take that away, survival on that scale becomes 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.830 impossible. That earthquake accelerated Petra's 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:49.429 slide into total obscurity. Okay, so after that 00:10:49.429 --> 00:10:51.190 devastating earthquake, you'd think that would 00:10:51.190 --> 00:10:53.149 be the end of the story. But Petra still had, 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:55.490 well, a surprising afterlife in the Byzantine 00:10:55.490 --> 00:10:57.950 period. It really did. The city's institutional 00:10:57.950 --> 00:11:00.750 roots were so deep that even after the economic 00:11:00.750 --> 00:11:02.830 collapse and the earthquake, it actually served 00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:05.330 as the capital of the Byzantine province of Palestine 00:11:05.330 --> 00:11:08.470 III. So it was still a seat of power. Even if 00:11:08.470 --> 00:11:10.549 diminished. A seat of power. Yeah. And we have 00:11:10.549 --> 00:11:13.289 this incredible find that proves life was still 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:15.950 going on there well into the 6th century. You're 00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:18.549 talking about the Petra papyri. Exactly. A discovery 00:11:18.549 --> 00:11:21.210 of 140 papyri in the ruins of a Byzantine church. 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:23.549 And they're fascinating. They're mostly private 00:11:23.549 --> 00:11:26.629 legal contracts, land sales, marriage dowries, 00:11:26.750 --> 00:11:29.250 wills. Everyday life. The business of everyday 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:32.730 life, dating from the 530s to the 590s. This 00:11:32.730 --> 00:11:34.850 shows people were still living there, managing 00:11:34.850 --> 00:11:37.450 property. almost 200 years after the big quake. 00:11:37.450 --> 00:11:39.590 And we also see the city's religious identity 00:11:39.590 --> 00:11:41.850 shifting during this time. We do. We see them 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:44.950 physically repurposing the old structures. The 00:11:44.950 --> 00:11:48.529 Urn Tomb, one of those grand royal Nabataean 00:11:48.529 --> 00:11:51.149 tombs, was converted into a Christian church. 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:54.620 It was consecrated around 447 A .D. So they were 00:11:54.620 --> 00:11:57.679 actively integrating the ancient city into their 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.919 new Christian world. But even that presence eventually 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:04.700 fades. It does. By the late 7th century, it ceases 00:12:04.700 --> 00:12:07.720 to be a major bishopric. After the Muslim conquest 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:10.419 of the region, Petra, already so damaged, just 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:12.139 sort of vanishes from the historical record. 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:14.960 It becomes a lost city. Known only to the local 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.240 Bedouin. For almost 500 years, and only really 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:19.299 reappears on the world stage, and even then, 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:21.700 just briefly, during the Crusades. The Crusaders 00:12:21.700 --> 00:12:23.759 saw its defensive value, I assume? They did. 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:25.960 They built a few fortresses there in the 12th 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.460 century, holding the area until 1189. After they 00:12:29.460 --> 00:12:32.259 left, it was visited by the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:34.519 but for the Western world, it was basically a 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:37.120 myth. Which sets the stage for this incredible 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.700 moment of rediscovery in 1812, and a story that's 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.129 all about clever deception. The central figure 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:45.990 is the Swiss traveler, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, 00:12:46.009 --> 00:12:48.789 an extraordinary man. He was fluent in Arabic, 00:12:48.990 --> 00:12:50.929 which was essential for getting around safely. 00:12:51.190 --> 00:12:53.669 And he'd heard these rumors, these local legends 00:12:53.669 --> 00:12:56.409 of a dead city hidden in the mountains. He had. 00:12:56.649 --> 00:12:58.870 He became obsessed with finding this rumored 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:01.649 city, which the legend said contained the tomb 00:13:01.649 --> 00:13:04.049 of the prophet Aaron. But he couldn't just walk 00:13:04.049 --> 00:13:06.750 in. The local tribes were extremely protective 00:13:06.750 --> 00:13:09.909 of the area. So he had to be cunning. He disguised 00:13:09.909 --> 00:13:12.909 himself completely as a local. spoke only Arabic, 00:13:13.129 --> 00:13:15.830 and, and this is the brilliant part, he invented 00:13:15.830 --> 00:13:18.230 a pretext. The famous goat? The famous goat. 00:13:18.789 --> 00:13:21.289 He claimed he had made a religious vow to sacrifice 00:13:21.289 --> 00:13:24.210 a goat at Aaron's tomb. This gave him a sacred, 00:13:24.309 --> 00:13:27.429 unimpeachable reason to demand access deep into 00:13:27.429 --> 00:13:29.429 the canyon. It was a perfect cover story. It 00:13:29.429 --> 00:13:31.769 worked. His local guide led him down the sick. 00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:34.990 He only had one day to explore, but when he saw 00:13:34.990 --> 00:13:38.230 the treasury and the tombs, he knew. He was certain 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:41.019 he'd found the lost city of Petra. And his writings, 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:43.720 published after his death, just electrified Europe. 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:46.600 They really did. But it still took time for visual 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.360 proof to get out. The first accurate drawings 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.879 weren't made until 1828 by Léon de Laborde. And 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.059 then the artists started coming. The artists 00:13:55.059 --> 00:13:57.519 came. David Roberts, the Scottish painter in 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:00.480 1839, and later the American painter Frederick 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:05.350 Edwin Church. His huge 1868 painting of the treasury 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:08.389 really brought the scale and majesty of Petra 00:14:08.389 --> 00:14:10.690 to the American public for the first time. It's 00:14:10.690 --> 00:14:13.389 not until the 20th century that real archaeology 00:14:13.389 --> 00:14:16.009 begins, and that's when we start to confirm the 00:14:16.009 --> 00:14:19.110 science behind the Nabataean miracle. Yes, people 00:14:19.110 --> 00:14:21.129 like Philip Hammond, an archaeologist who spent 00:14:21.129 --> 00:14:24.179 decades at Petra. He did crucial work connecting 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:27.259 the local legends to the hydraulic reality. There's 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:29.519 that local story that Moses created Petra by 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:31.860 striking the rock for water. A beautiful legend, 00:14:31.980 --> 00:14:34.500 because it acknowledges that abundant water in 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:37.440 this landscape was a miracle. But Hammond provided 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.259 the scientific proof. He saw that the carved 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:42.679 channels deep in the walls of the sick weren't 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:44.899 just erosion. They were engineered. They were 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:47.559 engineered. He found remnants of ceramic pipes 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:49.950 inside them. proving they were part of a sophisticated 00:14:49.950 --> 00:14:53.330 system that fed water down from huge reservoirs 00:14:53.330 --> 00:14:56.049 and cisterns carved into the canyon rim. So they 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:58.909 were harvesting every last drop of rain and piping 00:14:58.909 --> 00:15:01.970 it into the city. Every drop. This early research 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:04.070 proved that the water infrastructure wasn't an 00:15:04.070 --> 00:15:07.110 afterthought. It was the entire foundation of 00:15:07.110 --> 00:15:09.870 Nabataean life and their economy. So let's talk 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:12.190 about that engineering. If water was the engine 00:15:12.190 --> 00:15:14.909 of Petra, the architecture was its spectacular 00:15:14.909 --> 00:15:17.330 chassis. And you have to start with the entrance. 00:15:17.870 --> 00:15:20.570 The Sik. The Sik is just a phenomenal feature, 00:15:20.769 --> 00:15:23.710 both natural and man -made. It's this narrow, 00:15:23.929 --> 00:15:26.690 two -kilometer -long gorge. And it wasn't carved 00:15:26.690 --> 00:15:29.470 by a river. It was formed by a tectonic split 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:31.730 in the sandstone. And it's incredibly narrow 00:15:31.730 --> 00:15:34.370 in places. Only three or four meters wide. It's 00:15:34.370 --> 00:15:37.370 naturally defensive, forcing any potential invader 00:15:37.370 --> 00:15:40.190 into a single file line. But it also creates 00:15:40.190 --> 00:15:42.909 this incredible dramatic reveal when you finally 00:15:42.909 --> 00:15:44.970 emerge in front of the treasury. But the Napateans 00:15:44.970 --> 00:15:47.240 saw it as more than just a path. Oh, much more. 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:50.500 It was a primary water conduit. It naturally 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:52.740 channeled rainwater down into the main valley. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.179 But they knew that also meant it channeled devastating 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:58.860 flash floods. So they had to control it. They 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.340 had to. So they built a massive diversion dam 00:16:01.340 --> 00:16:04.240 right at the entrance. A simple but brilliant 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.840 piece of engineering. How did it work? It diverted 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:09.340 the main force of a flash flood away from the 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:11.580 walking path of the sick and into a separate 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.080 tunnel they carved into the rock, which then 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.519 led to storage cisterns. So they turned a deadly 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.159 threat into a life -giving resource. Exactly. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.580 They controlled nature, harvested the water, 00:16:22.659 --> 00:16:25.080 and stored it for droughts. This is how they 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:27.639 created their artificial oasis. It's the real 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.460 marvel of Petra. The stunning facades are the 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:32.639 artistic result of that engineering success, 00:16:32.940 --> 00:16:35.500 and the architectural style itself is this fascinating 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:39.159 mix of cultures. It is. It's overwhelmingly Hellenistic. 00:16:39.610 --> 00:16:41.610 which reflects the Greek cultural influences 00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:43.429 they were absorbing through their trade networks, 00:16:43.629 --> 00:16:46.649 especially from Alexandria in Egypt. Petra was 00:16:46.649 --> 00:16:48.970 a cosmopolitan city, and it wanted to look the 00:16:48.970 --> 00:16:52.250 part. So let's zoom in on the star of the show, 00:16:52.809 --> 00:16:55.529 El Cosna, the treasury. What are we actually 00:16:55.529 --> 00:16:57.549 looking at architecturally? Okay, so it's huge, 00:16:57.750 --> 00:17:01.750 24 meters wide, 37 meters tall. It has features 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:04.230 that are classic late Hellenistic design. You 00:17:04.230 --> 00:17:06.230 see the broken pediment. That's the triangular 00:17:06.230 --> 00:17:08.230 gable at the top that's split open in the middle. 00:17:08.289 --> 00:17:10.430 Right. And in that opening, you have a central 00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:13.589 tholos, a circular structure. What's so unique 00:17:13.589 --> 00:17:16.329 is how it's blended with a natural rock. You 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:18.990 have these two huge obelisks that seem to just 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:21.130 grow right out of the cliff face above it all. 00:17:21.190 --> 00:17:24.650 And the statues, the iconography, tell the story 00:17:24.650 --> 00:17:27.539 of their world. It's a perfect summary. Near 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.779 the bottom, you have the Greek gods, Castor and 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:32.240 Pollux, who are protectors of travelers and trade. 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:34.880 And on top of the tholos is a female figure, 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:36.980 probably a combination of the Egyptian goddess 00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:40.000 Isis and the Greek goddess of good fortune, Taish. 00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:42.940 So it's a monument to safe travels and profitable 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:45.559 trade. Exactly what their kingdom was built on, 00:17:45.619 --> 00:17:48.039 which adds a layer of irony to that modern anecdote 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:49.980 you hear about the bullet holes. Yes, explain 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:52.619 that. The facade is covered in hundreds of bullet 00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:55.359 marks, especially around the big stone urn at 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.559 the very top. For generations, local Bedouin 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.880 believed that urn contained hidden treasure, 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:03.539 and they would shoot at it, hoping to break it 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:06.200 open and release the gold. Wow. The myth of the 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:08.920 treasury lived on in a very literal way. It did. 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:11.200 Now, if we move on to Petra's largest monument, 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:15.519 Adir, the monastery, it's even bigger. How does 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:17.799 it compare to the treasury in style? It's even 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.529 larger. 45 meters tall, 50 meters wide. It has 00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:23.509 similar Hellenistic elements like the broken 00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:26.009 pediment and the tholos, but it's simpler, more 00:18:26.009 --> 00:18:28.650 monumental. Some scholars see it as a more distinctly 00:18:28.650 --> 00:18:31.410 Nebatean take on the Greek style. It was dedicated 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:34.410 to a deified king, Obodessa I. And its location 00:18:34.410 --> 00:18:36.769 is so remote, high up in the mountains, it must 00:18:36.769 --> 00:18:39.150 have been for very serious worship. Absolutely. 00:18:39.190 --> 00:18:42.490 The interior is very plain, lit only by its massive 00:18:42.490 --> 00:18:45.140 8 meter high doorway. But outside, there's a 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:47.559 huge flat plaza that they carved out of the mountain 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:49.799 specifically for large religious gatherings. 00:18:50.059 --> 00:18:52.319 Now, if we come down from the high places into 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.680 the city center, we learn about their public 00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.200 life. The theater, for example. The theater is 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.079 amazing. It could hold about 8 ,500 people, which 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:02.079 gives you a sense of the population. And it's 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:04.740 a great example of Nebatean pragmatism. How so? 00:19:05.059 --> 00:19:07.450 To build it. They cut the seats not only into 00:19:07.450 --> 00:19:10.190 the hillside, but they also carved right through 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:13.349 several existing tombs. They sacrificed tombs 00:19:13.349 --> 00:19:15.990 to maximize seating capacity. So public entertainment 00:19:15.990 --> 00:19:18.690 and funerary reverence were all mixed together. 00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:21.210 All part of the fabric of daily life. They had 00:19:21.210 --> 00:19:24.329 poetry, drama, and gladiator fights, which were 00:19:24.329 --> 00:19:26.450 apparently very popular. But the theater was 00:19:26.450 --> 00:19:29.789 badly damaged in that 363 earthquake. Another 00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:31.509 site that's changed our understanding of their 00:19:31.509 --> 00:19:34.029 daily life is the Petropoul and Garden Complex. 00:19:34.349 --> 00:19:37.029 Oh, this is a great story of archaeological reinterpretation. 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:39.769 For years, everyone thought it was just a marketplace. 00:19:40.109 --> 00:19:42.930 But it wasn't. Not at all. Excavations revealed 00:19:42.930 --> 00:19:46.009 it was an elaborate formal garden. with a huge 00:19:46.009 --> 00:19:48.769 swimming pool, an island pavilion in the middle, 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:52.349 and its own complex irrigation system. It showed 00:19:52.349 --> 00:19:54.609 they weren't just about survival, they were about 00:19:54.609 --> 00:19:58.309 luxury, creating a true green paradise. And the 00:19:58.309 --> 00:20:00.910 main street, the colonnaded street, was the spine 00:20:00.910 --> 00:20:04.019 of that civic center. It was. And it's unique 00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:05.720 because it was one of the few major structures 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.940 that was actually built with blocks, not carved 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:11.720 from the rock. The Romans later came in and added 00:20:11.720 --> 00:20:14.539 rows of columns, really stamping their mark on 00:20:14.539 --> 00:20:16.380 the city. Okay, before we move on, we have to 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:18.079 talk about the discovery that proved we still 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:21.460 have so much to learn about Petra. The 2016 discovery. 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.799 It's just mind -blowing. Using satellite imagery 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.880 and drones, archaeologists found a massive, previously 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:30.920 unknown, monumental platform. How big are we 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:35.039 talking? It's huge. 184 by 161 feet. It's the 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.200 second largest structure in all of Petra, after 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.900 the monastery. And it dates way back to around 00:20:39.900 --> 00:20:42.740 150 BC, near the beginning of their building 00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:44.740 boom. And the weirdest part is its location. 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:47.200 It's completely separate from the main city center. 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.890 It faces east. Away from everything, it has this 00:20:49.890 --> 00:20:52.349 grand staircase leading up to a small building 00:20:52.349 --> 00:20:55.829 on top, which suggests some kind of ceremonial 00:20:55.829 --> 00:20:58.170 or maybe astronomical function. But we have no 00:20:58.170 --> 00:21:00.789 idea what it was for. Pure speculation at this 00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:02.950 point. It just proves that after 200 years of 00:21:02.950 --> 00:21:05.309 study, Petra is still holding on to some of its 00:21:05.309 --> 00:21:07.730 biggest secrets. Let's shift a bit to the culture 00:21:07.730 --> 00:21:10.630 and religion of the Nabataeans before Christianity 00:21:10.630 --> 00:21:13.210 became dominant in the region. What was their 00:21:13.210 --> 00:21:15.930 spiritual world like? It was a very rich Aradian 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:19.839 pantheon. Their main male god was Dushara, which 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.339 means Lord of the Mountain. Very fitting for 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:25.539 Petra. And he was joined by female deities. Yes, 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.339 three main goddesses, Al -Uzza, Alat, and Manat. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.039 And interestingly, they were often worshipped 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:35.440 not as statues, but as beetles' sacred uncarved 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.359 stones. It was a more abstract and iconic form 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.059 of worship. And we're now learning that their 00:21:40.059 --> 00:21:43.259 religion was deeply connected to astronomy. That's 00:21:43.259 --> 00:21:45.779 a really exciting area of new research. There's 00:21:45.779 --> 00:21:47.839 growing evidence that many of their most important 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.380 structures, tombs, high places of sacrifice, 00:21:50.660 --> 00:21:53.660 were precisely oriented to align with the sunrise 00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:56.700 and sunset on the solstices and equinoxes. So 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:58.779 they were using the entire landscape as a sort 00:21:58.779 --> 00:22:00.920 of cosmic calendar. Exactly. The architecture 00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:02.660 was integrated with the movements of the sun. 00:22:02.740 --> 00:22:05.380 It was very sophisticated, place -based theology. 00:22:05.819 --> 00:22:08.359 Now, beyond the Nabataean Pantheon, Petra holds 00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.140 this incredibly deep significance for the Abrahamic 00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:13.450 faiths linked to... Moses and his brother Aaron. 00:22:13.650 --> 00:22:16.630 That tradition is ancient, going back at least 00:22:16.630 --> 00:22:19.609 to the historian Josephus. The region is strongly 00:22:19.609 --> 00:22:22.130 identified with the Exodus story, specifically 00:22:22.130 --> 00:22:24.309 the part where Moses strikes a rock and water 00:22:24.309 --> 00:22:26.829 comes gushing out. Which is why the valley leading 00:22:26.829 --> 00:22:29.569 to Petra is called Wadi Musa. The Wadi of Moses, 00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:32.450 yes. And the connection to Aaron is even more 00:22:32.450 --> 00:22:35.210 tangible. His tomb is traditionally believed 00:22:35.210 --> 00:22:38.190 to be on top of Jabal Harun, Mount Aaron, which 00:22:38.190 --> 00:22:40.059 overlooks the whole site. And there's physical 00:22:40.059 --> 00:22:43.019 evidence of that tradition being very old. Very 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:45.420 old. A church was built on the mountain in the 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:47.920 5th century to commemorate it. And incredibly, 00:22:48.059 --> 00:22:50.140 the Petra Papyri we mentioned earlier specifically 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:53.720 identify that church as the house of High Priest 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:57.319 Aaron. It shows how revered that spot was across 00:22:57.319 --> 00:23:00.000 different faiths. For centuries. Which brings 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:02.279 us to the modern day and the immense challenges 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:05.559 Petra faces. The very love the world has for 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.720 this place is also one of its biggest threats. 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.480 The pressure is enormous. Yeah. You have the 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.380 threat of structural collapse of the monuments 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.539 themselves. You have erosion from flash floods, 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.460 a tragic echo of their ancient problems. And 00:23:17.460 --> 00:23:19.980 then you have this insidious internal weathering. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:23.329 It's called salt upwelling. Basically, moisture 00:23:23.329 --> 00:23:26.609 seeps into the porous sandstone and as it evaporates, 00:23:26.630 --> 00:23:29.609 it leaves behind salt crystals that literally 00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:31.990 push the grains of rock apart from the inside. 00:23:32.250 --> 00:23:34.529 It's like the stone is exploding in slow motion. 00:23:34.750 --> 00:23:37.289 And all of this is being accelerated by one thing. 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:40.710 Unsustainable tourism. What? Especially after 00:23:40.710 --> 00:23:43.630 it was named a new seven wonder in 2007. The 00:23:43.630 --> 00:23:46.430 numbers just skyrocketed. We're talking 1 .2 00:23:46.430 --> 00:23:50.930 million visitors in 2019 alone. Managing that 00:23:50.930 --> 00:23:53.710 many people in such a fragile, ancient site must 00:23:53.710 --> 00:23:56.190 be a nightmare. And it's had profound social 00:23:56.190 --> 00:23:58.549 consequences for the local people. This is a 00:23:58.549 --> 00:24:00.769 really important and difficult part of Petra's 00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:03.099 modern story. the forced resettlement of the 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:05.480 indigenous Bedul Bedouin people. These were the 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:07.619 people who traditionally lived in the caves within 00:24:07.619 --> 00:24:10.740 Petra itself. For generations, yes. And in 1985, 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:13.140 to prepare for the UNESCO designation and to 00:24:13.140 --> 00:24:15.539 manage the site for tourism, the Jordanian government 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:17.819 forcibly relocated them to a purpose -built village 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:19.859 nearby. So on one hand, it was to protect the 00:24:19.859 --> 00:24:21.859 site, but on the other, it displaced a community 00:24:21.859 --> 00:24:25.000 from their ancestral homes. It's a classic unresolved 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:27.799 tension between preservation and human rights. 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:30.799 And then there's the other major ethical crisis 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.480 that tourism has created, the one involving the 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:35.819 working animals. This is a really tough subject. 00:24:36.119 --> 00:24:38.980 It is. The site is so large and rugged that it 00:24:38.980 --> 00:24:41.599 relies on hundreds of donkeys, horses, and camels 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:44.599 to transport tourists. And organizations like 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:46.960 PETA have released multiple videos documenting 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:50.039 severe abuse. Leading, lipping. Just terrible 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:52.140 conditions. Animals work to exhaustion in the 00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:54.960 extreme heat. And it's a vicious cycle because 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.220 the handlers are often under immense economic 00:24:57.220 --> 00:24:59.519 pressure themselves. Has anything been done about 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:01.960 it? PETA reported that conditions hadn't improved 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:05.460 much by 2020. They eventually stepped in and 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.619 established what seems to be the only veterinary 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.799 clinic in the area offering free care. But it 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:12.799 highlights this painful conflict between the 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.539 economic demands of tourism and basic animal 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:17.799 welfare. It's good to hear, though, that there's 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:20.460 also a lot of positive, hands -on conservation 00:25:20.460 --> 00:25:23.329 work happening. Oh, absolutely. There's been 00:25:23.329 --> 00:25:26.490 a massive international effort for decades, from 00:25:26.490 --> 00:25:28.769 restoring a key pillar on the treasury back in 00:25:28.769 --> 00:25:31.589 the 50s to the full excavation and conservation 00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:34.190 of that Byzantine church in the 90s. And they're 00:25:34.190 --> 00:25:36.509 still working on the big problems. Constantly. 00:25:36.509 --> 00:25:39.309 There's ongoing work to rehabilitate the floor 00:25:39.309 --> 00:25:42.390 of the sick to better handle floodwater. And 00:25:42.390 --> 00:25:44.690 researchers are testing high -tech desalination 00:25:44.690 --> 00:25:47.849 techniques to try and stop that salt weathering 00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:50.450 on the tomb facades. The scale of the conservation 00:25:50.450 --> 00:25:54.049 effort is as monumental as the city itself. Petra's 00:25:54.049 --> 00:25:57.329 journey from a lost city to a global icon has 00:25:57.329 --> 00:25:59.670 really cemented its place in our collective imagination. 00:25:59.950 --> 00:26:02.109 And you have to start with that one phrase that 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:04.450 defined it for the English -speaking world. John 00:26:04.450 --> 00:26:07.829 William Bergen's 1845 poem. He never even visited 00:26:07.829 --> 00:26:10.430 Petra, but he won a prize for it at Oxford. And 00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:12.970 it contains the line that everyone knows. A rose 00:26:12.970 --> 00:26:15.950 -red city, half as old as time. It's so evocative, 00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:18.490 it perfectly captured the romantic mystery of 00:26:18.490 --> 00:26:20.819 the place. And if poetry made it famous in the 00:26:20.819 --> 00:26:23.700 19th century, film made it an icon in the 20th. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:27.299 No question. The 1989 film Indiana Jones and 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:30.400 the Last Crusade. Using the treasury as the hidden 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:32.940 temple holding the Holy Grail was a stroke of 00:26:32.940 --> 00:26:36.269 genius. It made Petra instantly recognizable 00:26:36.269 --> 00:26:39.430 to millions of people around the world. It crystallized 00:26:39.430 --> 00:26:42.150 that image of adventure and ancient mystery. 00:26:42.309 --> 00:26:44.190 It did. And it's appeared in other films, of 00:26:44.190 --> 00:26:46.670 course, The Mummy Returns, Transformers. It's 00:26:46.670 --> 00:26:48.970 also fully crossed over into video games and 00:26:48.970 --> 00:26:51.289 streaming series. It's part of the pop culture 00:26:51.289 --> 00:26:53.809 landscape now. Now, I want to bring up a really 00:26:53.809 --> 00:26:56.529 surprising historical detail that shows the power 00:26:56.529 --> 00:26:59.569 Petra held, even when it was completely inaccessible. 00:26:59.670 --> 00:27:01.890 This is the story of the Zionist youth movement's 00:27:01.890 --> 00:27:04.410 incursions in the 1950s. Explain this. After 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:06.910 Israel was established, Petra was across a hostile 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:09.829 border in Jordan. Right. And for some young Israelis, 00:27:10.009 --> 00:27:12.869 making a dangerous, illegal cross -border trek 00:27:12.869 --> 00:27:15.650 through the desert to see Petra became this ultimate 00:27:15.650 --> 00:27:18.470 test of courage, a kind of rite of passage. A 00:27:18.470 --> 00:27:20.490 highly dangerous asylum. Extremely dangerous. 00:27:20.809 --> 00:27:22.890 Several of these young adventurers were killed 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:25.470 by Jordanian patrols over the years. But the 00:27:25.470 --> 00:27:27.829 mystique of the Red Rock, as they called it, 00:27:27.890 --> 00:27:30.650 was so powerful. It even inspired a famous song. 00:27:30.890 --> 00:27:34.880 It did. In 1958, a songwriter named Haim Heffer 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:38.039 wrote a very popular ballad called Hasele Hadom, 00:27:38.180 --> 00:27:41.039 The Red Rock, about one of these tracks that 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:43.380 ended in tragedy. It just shows the incredible 00:27:43.380 --> 00:27:46.240 cultural and emotional pull this place had, even 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:48.579 from a distance. So after this whole deep dive, 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.039 what does it all confirm about the absolute genius 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:54.119 of the Nabatans? Their core achievement was just 00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:57.019 this brilliant fusion of strategic thinking and 00:27:57.019 --> 00:27:59.950 environmental mastery. They didn't just... carved 00:27:59.950 --> 00:28:02.430 beautiful facades into rock. They took a hostile 00:28:02.430 --> 00:28:05.390 desert canyon and engineered it into a defensible, 00:28:05.509 --> 00:28:07.930 wealthy, cosmopolitan metropolis. They didn't 00:28:07.930 --> 00:28:10.230 just survive in the desert. They industrialized 00:28:10.230 --> 00:28:12.190 it. They took its biggest threats, the aridity, 00:28:12.390 --> 00:28:14.950 the flash floods, and turned them into their 00:28:14.950 --> 00:28:17.730 greatest assets. That hydraulic genius is what 00:28:17.730 --> 00:28:20.190 paid for everything else. The treasury, the monastery, 00:28:20.450 --> 00:28:22.490 those are the magnificent symbols of the profits 00:28:22.490 --> 00:28:24.609 they made from controlling water and trade. And 00:28:24.609 --> 00:28:27.079 that's why Petra still captivates us. But its 00:28:27.079 --> 00:28:29.420 story is still unfolding, and it's a story of 00:28:29.420 --> 00:28:32.140 conflict. A conflict between our desire to experience 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:34.880 these places and the need to preserve them. I 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:36.859 think the sources really leave us with a challenging 00:28:36.859 --> 00:28:39.500 paradox to think about, one that connects the 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.160 past to the present. It does. We've seen that 00:28:42.160 --> 00:28:44.240 Petra has always been a place of intense desire, 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:46.759 from the local Bedouins shooting at the treasury 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.500 hoping for gold to the modern ethical crises 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:52.460 driven by mass tourism. So here is the question 00:28:52.460 --> 00:28:55.910 to consider. Go on. Given this constant escalating 00:28:55.910 --> 00:28:58.710 conflict between preservation and profit, how 00:28:58.710 --> 00:29:01.710 should we today balance honoring this incredible 00:29:01.710 --> 00:29:04.609 architecture while protecting the entire landscape, 00:29:04.809 --> 00:29:07.410 the stone, the people, and the animals from the 00:29:07.410 --> 00:29:09.769 very love that threatens to destroy it? The paradox 00:29:09.769 --> 00:29:12.089 of loving a heritage site into ruin. That's it, 00:29:12.170 --> 00:29:14.329 exactly. A vital question and a perfect place 00:29:14.329 --> 00:29:16.890 to end. Thank you for joining us for this deep 00:29:16.890 --> 00:29:18.950 dive into Rokmou, the Rose Red City.