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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology pp 8547–8553Cite as

Petra, Archaeology of

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Introduction

The ancient city of Petra, in southwest Jordan, is among the most widely recognizable archaeological sites in the world. The city was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and has more recently been popularly elected to a list of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”. Originally constructed by the Nabataeans in the late first millennium BCE and later annexed by the Roman Empire, this ancient trading hub features stunning monumental architecture, much of which is carved directly into the red sandstone cliffs for which the site is widely known. The architecture of Petra features a combination of local and classical forms (McKenzie 1990), many of the latter manifested as elaborately carved facades for cave structures in the cliffs that enclose the city. Such is the case for the numerous tombs found within the boundaries of the city, including the widely recognizable “Treasury” (Al Khazneh), which has been featured in several films including Indiana Jones and the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK

    Thomas M. Urban

  2. American Center of Oriental Research, Amman, Jordan

    Christopher A. Tuttle

Authors
  1. Thomas M. Urban
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  2. Christopher A. Tuttle
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Correspondence to Thomas M. Urban .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Urban, T.M., Tuttle, C.A. (2020). Petra, Archaeology of. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_1125

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