Canyon walls tower over you. Even in their shade, you feel sweaty and gritty. T at’s because you crossed a desert to get here. Now, you follow a twisting path. In places, it’s so narrow that a camel can barely squeeze by you. You go around a final turn and stop. You
can’t believe your eyes. You see temples and tombs. Some are 40 m tall. T ey’re carved into the rocky cliff s. Beyond them, you see wide roads and a large arena. It’s a hidden city made out of rock. Once, thousands of people wandered these
city streets. T e smells of camels, spices, and perfumes filled the air. Voices echoed off rock walls. Now, the city is empty and quiet. T e dry air smells of dust.
What happened to Petra? To find out, you have to travel back in
time 2,000 years. Caravans of camels stream through the canyon. T ey carry silks from China and spices from India. T ese goods are headed to Rome. T is trade route between Asia and Rome
is long and oſt en dangerous. T ieves attack. Water is scarce. Not in Petra, though. It’s safe here. T e narrow canyons keep robbers out. T ere’s plenty of water here, too. T at’s
because the people who live here are amazing engineers. T ey dig canals in the desert to carry water from springs up to 5 km away. T ey carve caves in the rock to store the water. Petra is a good place for travelers to rest.
It’s also a good place to get rich. T e people of Petra collect money on every good that moves through their city.
18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
T e people grow wealthy from these taxes.
T ey want to show off their wealth. So they carve grand temples and fancy tombs into the cliff s. T ey chip rock into statues of lions, elephants, and snakes. T roughout the city, green gardens grow. Fountains bubble. Petra has everything it needs to last. T en things change. New trade routes go
around Petra. Caravans stop coming. Now, there’s less money. Earthquakes shake the area. One destroys half the city and damages the water system. In time, people leave Petra. Most people forget about this ancient city.
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