Editing Petra (section)

=== 19th and 20th centuries ===
[[file:Comparative Petra siq.jpg|thumb|Petra [[Siq]] in 1947 (left) compared with the same location in 2013]]

The first European to describe them was the Swiss traveler [[Johann Ludwig Burckhardt]] during his travels in 1812.<ref name= EB1911/><ref name= "Burckhardt1822">{{cite book| first=John Lewis |last= Burckhardt|title=Travels in Syria and the Holy Land| url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22956| year=1822 |publisher= J. Murray}}</ref> At that time, the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] operated a diocese in [[al-Karak]] named Battra ({{langx|ar|باطره|link=no}}, {{langx|grc|Πέτρας|link=no}}) and it was the opinion among the clergy of Jerusalem that Kerak was the ancient city of Petra.<ref name= "Burckhardt1822"/>

Burckhardt already spoke Arabic fluently, and was on his way to explore the [[Niger River]] when he heard stories of a dead city that held [[Tomb of Aaron (Jordan)|the tomb of the Prophet Aaron]], and became fascinated with finding the city. He then dressed himself up as a local, and only spoke in Arabic, bringing a goat with him with the intent of sacrificing it in honor of Aaron's Tomb. After one day of exploring, he was convinced that he had found the lost city of Petra.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The discovery of Petra {{!}} History Today|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/discovery-petra|access-date=2021-12-03|website=www.historytoday.com}}</ref>

[[Léon de Laborde]] and [[Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds|Louis-Maurice-Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds]] made the first accurate drawings of Petra in 1828.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Carr|first=Gerald L.|title=Frederic Edwin Church: Catalogue Raisonne of Works at Olana State Historic Site, Volume I|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1994|isbn=978-0521385404|location=Cambridge|pages=386–396}}</ref> The Scottish painter [[David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]] visited Petra in 1839 and returned to Britain with sketches and stories of the encounter with local tribes, published in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]''. [[Frederic Edwin Church]], the leading American landscape painter of the 19th century, visited Petra in 1868, and the resulting painting ''[[El Khasné, Petra (painting)|El Khasné, Petra]]'' is among his most important and well-documented.<ref name=":0" /> Missionary Archibald Forder published photographs of Petra in the December 1909 issue of National Geographic.
[[File:Petra (9779016262).jpg|thumb|the "Street of Facades"]]

Because the structures weakened with age, many of the tombs became vulnerable to thieves, and many treasures were stolen. In 1929, a four-person team consisting of British archaeologists [[Agnes Conway]] and [[George Horsfield]], Palestinian physician and folklore expert [[Tawfiq Canaan]] and Ditlef Nielsen, a Danish scholar, excavated and surveyed Petra.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Conway |first1=A. |last2=Horsfield |first2=G. |year=1930 |title=Historical and Topographical Notes on Edom: with an account of the first excavations at Petra |journal= The Geographical Journal |volume=76 |issue=5 |pages=369–390|doi=10.2307/1784200 |jstor=1784200 |bibcode=1930GeogJ..76..369H }}</ref>

The archaeologist Philip Hammond from the [[University of Utah]] visited Petra for nearly 40 years. He explained that the local folklore says it was created by the wand of [[Moses]], when he struck the rock to bring forth water for the [[Israelites]]. Hammond believed the carved channels deep within the walls and ground were made from ceramic pipes that once fed water for the city, from rock-cut systems on the canyon rim.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP9ku2EAahM|url-status=dead|title=Forbidden Archaeology of Petra and Nazca|publisher=National Geographic|year=2018|format=documentary|via=YouTube|access-date=2020-02-12|archive-date=2020-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502074933/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP9ku2EAahM&gl=US&hl=en}}</ref>

In the 1980s, the [[Bedul|Bedul Bedouin]], once inhabitants of Petra, were relocated by the Jordanian government to the nearby settlement of Umm Sayhoun, a process spanning two decades. This move was part of broader initiatives aimed at settling Bedouin communities and promoting tourism in Petra.<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal |last=Simms |first=Steven |date=1996 |title=The Bedul Bedouin of Petra, Jordan: Traditions, tourism, and an uncertain future |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287496244 |journal=Cultural Survival Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=22–25}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=After the world heritage classification: Bedouins have been forcibly relocated from Petra - FUF.se |url=https://fuf.se/en/korrar/efter-varldsarvsklassningen-beduiner-har-tvangsforflyttats-fran-petra/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=fuf.se |language=en}}</ref> With a name meaning "the changing ones" and oral traditions recounting a conversion narrative, the Bedul Bedouins are believed to have adopted Islam later in their history, possibly with [[Jews|Jewish]] or Nabatean origins.<ref name=":022">{{Cite book |last=Peake |first=Frederick Gerard |url=https://archive.org/details/McGillLibrary-rbsc_isl_history-trans-jordan-tribes_DS1544B551934_vol1-5254/page/n117/mode/2up |title=A history of Trans-Jordan and its tribes |year=1934 |volume=1 |location=Amman |pages=109}}</ref><ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last=Ben-Zvi |first=Itzhak |author-link=Yitzhak Ben-Zvi |title=שאר ישוב: מאמרים ופרקים בדברי ימי הישוב העברי בא"י ובחקר המולדת |publisher=none |year=1967 |location=תל אביב תרפ"ז |pages=374–378 |language=Hebrew |trans-title=She'ar Yeshuv}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Kanʿān |first=Tawfīq |title=Studies in the Topography and Folklore of Petra |publisher=Beyt-Ul-Makdes Press |year=1930 |series=Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society |volume=IX |pages=216}}</ref> Today, alongside their traditional activities, they engage in local tourism, alongside the more prominent [[Liyathnah]] tribe.<ref name=":42" />

Numerous scrolls in Greek and dating to the [[Byzantine]] period were discovered in an excavated church near the [[Temple of the Winged Lions]] in Petra in December 1993.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/lost-city-petra/ | title= Petra | work= National Geographic | access-date= 2017-08-20 | archive-date= 2017-08-20 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170820160051/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/lost-city-petra/ | url-status= dead }}</ref>