Petra, the Nabataean rock-cut city in Jordan, has been chosen by 100 million voters as one of the new seven wonders of the world. It was selected, along with six other monuments, as part of the “New7Wonders” online campaign.
The settlement of Petra, located at the end of the narrow Siq canyon in southern Jordan, may date back to the upper Paleolithic period (c. 40,000–10,000 B.C.E.). The Hebrew Bible says that the region was part of the Edomite kingdom during the late second and early first millennia B.C.E.
Many of Petra’s geographical features are associated with Moses and his brother Aaron, including Wadi Mousa (the Riverbed of Moses) and Jebel Haroun (the Mountain of Aaron). According to tradition, the Israelites passed through Petra en route from Egypt to the Promised Land.
A city was established at Petra in the fourth century B.C.E. by semi-nomadic Arabs known as the Nabataeans, who carved the impressive tombs and façades into the pliable sandstone. One of the most beautiful examples is el Deir (the Monastery), which dates to the late-first century 015C.E.. The structure was thought to have been a monastery because of the crosses that were painted and inscribed on its inner walls, but its original function was as a banquet hall and meeting place for the cult of the deified Nabataean king Obodas I. The city flourished for centuries as a major center of Near Eastern trade, and, after being conquered by the Romans in 106 C.E., it remained a thriving metropolis until the sixth or seventh century, when it was mysteriously abandoned.
In 1812 Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt rediscovered the site, and since then it has been a modest tourist attraction, the number of visitors limited by its inconvenient location. The site’s popularity hit a peak when it was featured in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” but with this latest honor as a world wonder, thousands more visitors are expected. Scientists worry that their arrival may do more harm than good to the site, however, which is not equipped to handle large numbers of tourists.
The new list of seven wonders follows in the footsteps of Herodotus and Callimachus, who composed the original lists of the seven wonders of the ancient world, of which only one—the Great Pyramid at Giza—remains. The new seven, announced on July 7, 2007, also include Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico), Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu (Cuzco, Peru), the Roman Colosseum (Rome, Italy) and the Taj Mahal (Agra, India). The campaign was sponsored by the private nonprofit New Open World Corporation.
—M.D.G.
Petra, the Nabataean rock-cut city in Jordan, has been chosen by 100 million voters as one of the new seven wonders of
the world. It was selected, along with six other monuments, as part of the “New7Wonders” online campaign.
The settlement of Petra, located at the end of the narrow Siq canyon in southern Jordan, may date back to the upper
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