History Hit’s Tristan Hughes travels to the magnificent ancient wonder of Petra - a spectacular city in the desert, fabled as the "rose-red city, half as old as time". From advanced engineering to beautiful rock cut tombs, Tristan uncovers the reality of Petra and the fascinating civilisation that built it, the Nabataeans

The expedition begins at one of Petra’s best known sites - known as the Treasury, it is likely to be the tomb of one of the greatest Nabataean kings, Aretas IV. Tristan gets special access inside the tomb and sees how its famous classically inspired rock-cut exterior hides a beautifully simple interior that is uniquely Nabataean.

Like all great Nabataean rulers, Aretas IV harnessed the power of water, filling Petra with hydraulic engineering that turned this great city into an oasis, full of carved channels, pipes, cisterns and pools. Petra became a fabulously rich hub for the camel caravans carrying valuable goods like frankincense, spices and bitumen through Petra. Archaeologist Matthew Vincent explains how Petra flourished thanks to water and trade.

Tristan also explores how death surrounded this living city and investigates other exquisitely carved burial sites, cut from the living rock, like Uneishu’s Tomb which he visits with Archeologist Ahmad Bakheet Nawafleh. Religion was central to Nabataean life, including their own gods - Tristan meets Petra Museum director Ibrahim Farjat to look at a fascinating semi-abstract rectangular face, known as a betyl - something uniquely Nabataean. The gods of Petra lived in the skies - Tristan finally climbs up to Petra's mountaintop High Place of Sacrifice - a spectacular site complete with sacrificial altar, a mysterious and magical place to understand the spiritual side of life and death in Petra.

If you want to find out more about this fascinating city and the incredible Nabataeans listen to Tristan Hughes's in depth discussions with Matthew Vincent and Historian Jodi Magnuss on 'The Ancients' podcast (ad free for all our subscribers) here: https://shows.acast.com/the-ancients/episodes/petra-ancient-wonder-of-the-world

There’s so much to see in Petra, find out more about this amazing city and Jordan here: https://visitjordan.com/