homevideosguided toursarticleslocation profilespicturesiPIX

		Petra Photos Scriptures ref.

Petra - location profile

Location and Setting

• Petra is situated about fifty miles south of the Dead Sea and 170 miles southwest of modern Amman.
• At an elevation of 2,700 feet, the city was accessible from the west by ascending the Wadi Musa from the Arabah.
• Petra, (Greek "rock"), is located in a valley about three-fourths of a mile wide and one mile long. It is surrounded by nearly impassible mountains, except for a mile long, narrow crevice called the "Siq," which provided an excellent defense for the city.
• Petra was the capital of a trading empire, located at the junction of the north-south route from Ezion-geber to Ammon and Damascus and the east-west route to Beersheba and Gaza.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• The Bible does not mention Petra, although it may have been the Sela noted as a border of the Amorite territory (Judg 1:36) and as a city defeated by Amaziah, the king of Judah (2 Kgs 14:7).
• Petra was the capital of the Nabataeans who controlled the northwestern part of Arabia and the Transjordan from the end of the fourth century B.C. to A.D. 105, when the Romans conquered them.
• The city is noted for the Nabataean and Roman buildings and tombs carved in the dark red sandstone cliffs.
• Aretas, king of Petra (9 B.C. to A.D. 40), ruled Damascus at the time of Paul’s conversion and sought to arrest the apostle there (2 Cor 11:32-33).

Bibliography

1. Heicksen, M.H. "Petra" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
2. Lockyer, Sr., Herbert, ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986.
3. Van Elderen, B. "Nabataeans" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.