Petra, a once-thriving city located in Jordan, was established 7,000 years ago by the Nabataeans, who used it as a trading hub due to its location on commercial routes connecting Gaza, Damascus, the Red Sea, and Persia.

It was eventually taken over by the Romans but became obsolete once the Romans built roads and established new trade routes. The city was abandoned and forgotten until Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss man who had heard of a dead city that supposedly held the tomb of the Prophet Aaron, rediscovered it in 1812.

The most iconic structure in Petra is the Treasury, or Al-Khazneh, which is believed to have been the mausoleum of a Nabataean king named Aretas IV and is about 2,000 years old. Its name comes from the legend that the pharaoh and his armies created it by magic as a place to store their treasures before continuing their pursuit of Moses.

The structure has bullet holes from Bedouins who attempted to dislodge the treasure. Petra is known for its Hellenistic architecture, which is not surprising as the Nabataeans traded with many cultures influenced by the Greeks. The city is a testament to the ingenuity of ancient civilizations and is a popular tourist destination today.