Petra+of+Jordan

=**Petra: Lost City of Stone**=

**a.- Where is Petra located? ** Petra is located in the Middle East of surrounding cliffs of southern of the nation of Jordanian. The ancient city is in a narrow valley of Aravá’s Valley.

**b.- Who were its inhabitants? ** Residents of Petra were Arabian nomads called “Nabataeans”(considered one of the most civilized peoples of antiquity). They were traders of incenses and spices of Arabian Peninsula by the first century. ** c.- What is/are its characteristics? (name as many as you can) ** **d.- How important were tombs in Petra? What did they mean? ** The tombs in Petra were very important for the city and its habitants. The tombs of Petra have monuments on a giant scale. These tombs were constructed with the purpose of memorializing their kings and leaders.
 * Petra's city is a testimony to Nabataean engineering. They constructed temples and nearly 3,000 rock-cut tombs, dwellings, banquet halls, altars and niches.
 * Their habitants developed the technology to harness natural springs. With the purpose to sustain fertile crops, gardens and an impressive system of pools and reservoirs.
 * The city of Petra had their best years thanks to commercial traffic. Nabataean (habitants of Petra) were traders carrying incense, spice and perfume to supply the demand of Rome, Greece and Egypt.
 * Around AD 50, Petra’s city had 20.000 residents. Rich families hired master architects and masons to created elaborate facades for their funerary monuments. For this reason, many elements of architecture in the city of Petra Greek influence

**e.- How did this city become an urban center? ** Through commerce of incense, spices, perfumes and textiles the city flourished and become an urban center by the end of the first century BC. Petra steadily increased to mid-first century AD, to keep up with the growing demand for luxury goods in Rome, Greece and Egypt.

**f.- How was this city organized/planned? ** The city grew along the natural contours of the landscape. They had the main street followed the curve of the Wadi Musa. It is very important to say that Nabataeans paved the road through the Siq with locally quarried limestone used in city construction. And the architecture was another element exploted in the city with theirs temples, theaters and tombs. However, with the Roman occupation of Nabataea (AD 106) Petra’s development took a new direction. They impose an urban grid on this sprawling settlement. Romans created one straight road along the central marketplace flanked by colonnaded porticos and architectural imprint of Rome.

**PARAGRAPH OF PETRA ** The city of Petra is located in the Middle East, in the nation of Jordan. The ancient city is in the Arava’s valley. According to studies, this city was constructed two thousand years ago. Residents of Petra were Arabian nomads called Nabataeans (considered one of the most civilized people of antiquity).

They were traders of incenses and spices from the Arabian Peninsula by the first century. They attended the demands of Rome, Greece and Egypt. During this time, the city of Petra had a successful commerce and culture and became an urban center by the end of the first century BC.

It is very important to say that these structures (what structures? You haven't mentioned them yet!!!!) were carved on the amazing cliffs and they were also covered with a brightly painted and with this they created brilliant facades set against a backdrop of rose colored cliffs. Petra has theaters, temples and tombs with monuments on a giant scale (memorizing their kings and leaders). However, after the roman occupation (in AD 106), earthquakes, changes of political control and trade routes caused the abandonment of the city by its inhabitants.

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=** HOMEWORK **= 2 examples of comparison and contrast
 * Many of the architectural elements hailed from Alexandria—a Hellenistic Greek city in neighboring Egypt—and were common throughout the ancient Mediterranean region. In Petra they have a unique Nabataean flair.
 * From its origins as a tent encampment, Petra had become an urban center by the end of the first century BC.

2 examples of cause and effect
 * Camel caravans passed through, loaded with spices, textiles and incense from distant regions—and through such commerce, the city flourished.
 * But over time political control changed, and so did trade routes. Eventually the city fell silent, forgotten by the outside world.

2 examples of adjectives in the superlative form, and 2 in the comparative form. examples of comparative form.
 * The[|Nabataeans] were one of the most civilized peoples of antiquity
 * As with most other Roman cities, planners did their best to impose an urban grid on this sprawling settlement
 * When they finished that section, they chipped out a lower platform, working their way down the cliff
 * The city was unmarked on modern maps and—until Burckhardt's visit—had been unseen by outsiders for more than 500 years
 * Based on Hellenistic Greek architecture, towering flat columns called pilasters topped with carved capitals supported the upper stories of rock-cut tombs.