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Petra, originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies around Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin surrounded by mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.

The area around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000 BC and the nomadic Arabs, the Nabataeans, might have settled in what would become the capital city of their kingdom as early as the 4th century BC. They invested in Petra's proximity to the trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub, however archaeological work has only discovered evidence of their presence dating back to the 2nd century BC, by which time Petra had become their capital.

The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. They were accustomed to living in the barren deserts, unlike their enemies, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater, in agriculture and in stone carving, and Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its famous Al-Khazneh structure -- believed to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV -- was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants.

Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in 363 AD destroyed many structures. In the Byzantine era several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown to the world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

Access to the city is through a 1.2 km-long (0.75 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the 'Rose City' because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved. p> It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, when they described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage" and, in 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted one of the New7Wonders of the World.

Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 918,000 in 2010, but there followed a temporary slump during the political instability generated by the Arab Spring, which affected countries surrounding Jordan. Visitor numbers subsequently increased and reached a record-breaking 1.1 million in 2019. However, currently, tourism in the city has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic, with visitor numbers plummeting to zero since March 2020. The Jordanian government has authorized excavations in front of the treasury to make use of the site's current emptiness.