Petra is home to more than 600 hypogea, tombs carved into the rocky walls of the valley. Many are simple burial chambers with loculi—niches in which to lay the dead—with no external decoration.

Petra served as the capital of the Nabataean ... where archaeologists found a tomb containing 12 skeletons in 2024. Other tombs are as simple as carved as shafts in the sandstone.

"Petra" is the Greek word for "rock." But the Arabic term, al-madina al-ward ah (rose-colored city), far better evokes the beauty of this enigmatic site. Located in western Jordan, Petra was built ...