Petra is a world-renowned historical and archaeological site in Jordan's southwestern desert.  It was once a flourishing city in the heart of the ancient Near East.  It is believed that the earliest inhabitants of this mysterious area were the Horites (Genesis 14:6). Evidence indicates that Petra's first occupants were cave-dwellers. Esau, the brother of Jacob, settled in the area south of the Dead Sea. His descendants, the Edomites, eventually replaced the Horites (Genesis 36). The mountains of Edom still abound with caves, temples, and houses cut in the side of the mountain surrounding Petra. The Edomites built almost impregnable fortresses in the canyons and gorges of these mountains. The magnificent ruins at Petra attest to the greatness which Edom once knew. When the Israelites came from Egypt during the Exodus, about 1445 BC, the Edomites still occupied this region.  It was the Nabataeans who drove the Edomites out of the ancient city of Petra (approximately 400 BC). The Nabataeans were a group of Arabian nomads who led fruitful lives as desert traders. Few clues exist to reveal exactly where these migrants originated. It is puzzling why these successful, nomadic merchants settled down, shifting from a rural life to an urban lifestyle. Since the early Nabataeans were tent-dwellers, it is assumed that for the first several hundred years of their occupation of the region that they did not erect stone houses. It is only during the latter part of their kingdom that suddenly the Nabataeans began constructing houses -- often of incredible size, varying from 600 to 2000 square meters.  As many as 30,000 people may have occupied Petra during the 1st century A.D. A large earthquake in 363 A.D. destroyed at least half of the city. Petra never recovered from this destruction. It is believed that God predicted the demise of the inhabitants of Petra.  The prophet Obadiah describes the lofty places of Petra and the confidence of its inhabitants (Obadiah 2–4). Jeremiah prophesied that Petra would lose its power and become uninhabited (Jeremiah 49:16–18). . Source: https://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/petra-the-ancient-city.htm  #Petra #Jordan #TheHappyTravellers
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