Petra of Jordan

On 7/7/2007, during a large ceremony in Lisbon, Petra was chosen as one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" not just for the beauty of its rose-colored sandstone, not just for its setting in the midst of about 100 ruggedly dramatic square kilometers of Wadi Araba, but because this area is a living museum of 10,000 years of human history. From the Neolithic village at al-Beidha, to Sela, the capital of the Edomites, thought to be located on top of Umm al-Biyara, to the incredible Nabatean creations in Petra proper, the Roman and Byzantine additions, and the local Bedouins, Petra's history tells the story of many civilizations. Long a crossroads for trader Petra's architecture shows Assyrian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine influences.