Hidden in Plain Sight This engraving shows Johann Ludwig Burckhardt disguised in Muslim garb, as he might have looked during his search for Petra. Photograph by Art Archive Much later, a new wave ...

Petra, once a thriving political, cultural, and economic centre in the ancient world, holds a significant place in the history of the Middle East. Established by the Nabateans, an indigenous ...

Though the Nabataeans settled permanently in Petra, for much of their history they were a nomadic Bedouin people who traveled the Arabian Desert. Why, exactly, they chose to settle permanently in ...