Who Built Petra? The Story of the Nabataeans

Petra was not created simply through the ability to carve monuments into sandstone cliffs. The city was established by the Nabataeans, an Arab people who turned a desert area in what is now southern Jordan into a trading capital, religious hub and feat of engineering. They amassed wealth from caravans travelling between Arabia and the Mediterranean.

Who built Petra?

The Nabataeans were responsible for building and developing Petra. This people, of Arab origin, appears in ancient records as a community involved in caravan trade. Over time, they founded a kingdom spanning parts of present-day Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the Sinai Peninsula.

Petra began to rise in importance between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, eventually becoming the leading Nabataean city. Rather than entirely abandoning their traditions, its inhabitants blended desert knowledge with Arab, Egyptian, Greek and Roman influences, producing a distinct culture expressed in its architecture and religion.

Why was Petra built in that location?

Although the setting appeared inhospitable, it was strategically valuable. Positioned between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, Petra lay close to routes linking the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Syria and Mediterranean ports. UNESCO describes the city as an important meeting point for ancient caravans.

Traders carried incense, myrrh, spices, textiles, metals and other sought-after goods. The Nabataeans charged duties, provided protection, and supplied travellers with water and shelter. Controlling this trade generated the wealth needed to expand temples, homes, markets and funerary monuments.

How did the Nabataeans overcome Petra’s water shortage?

Petra’s prosperity relied on solving the problem of limited water. Its builders created rock-cut channels, dams, pipes, cisterns and reservoirs. This network collected rainfall and channelled water from distant springs, providing for residents, crops, gardens and travellers throughout dry periods.

Their engineering also shielded the city from flash floods. The structures that made settlement in the valley possible included:

• Distribution channels built into the gorge walls.
• Underground cisterns designed to store water and limit evaporation.
• Dams and diversion systems that controlled dangerous torrents.
• Urban reservoirs for drinking water, agriculture and public spaces.

Watch the video shared by the YouTube channel Strange History, which tells the story behind Petra’s construction.

Was the Treasury really a vault?

Petra’s best-known monument is Al-Khazneh, called the Treasury. Despite its name, archaeologists consider it more likely that the structure was a monumental tomb, possibly associated with Nabataean royalty. Its façade was carved directly into sandstone, probably during the 1st century.

Petra has hundreds of façades, tombs and buildings, many carved from rock. Its mix of columns, pediments and decorative figures reflects influences from the different peoples with whom the Nabataeans traded. The city was not merely a collection of tombs, but a metropolis with temples, houses and commercial districts.

What happened when the Romans arrived?

In AD 106, Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean kingdom to the Roman Empire and established the province of Arabia Petraea. Petra remained inhabited and gained new structures, although it lost some of its independence. Changes to maritime trade routes also gradually diminished its economic importance.

Earthquakes, political changes and weakening trade all contributed to the city’s decline over the centuries. Even so, Petra has never ceased to preserve the memory of its creators. Understanding its history means recognising that the Nabataeans did not find a ready-made city in the desert: they built it through trade, engineering and creativity.