During the era of Christ and the Apostles, one of the largest trading centers in the eastern Mediterranean was located in Petra, the capital of the carved Kingdom of Anbat in the Rock. Petra flourished during Anbat's rule, from the third century BC. Until the early 2nd century AD, when it was occupied by the Roman Emperor Tarajan.

Petra is a unique city with its location, the diversity of its monuments, and the beauty of the colors of its rocks. It attracts visitors from all over the world, and its name is associated with the Nabateans, who made it their capital. The Nabateans left northern Arabia and a part of them reached the Petra region and coexisted with the Edomites. They were seduced by the commercial life because of the material gain that it contained, so they abandoned the Bedouin life and became merchants.

Exiting from Sinai, Moses and the Sons of Israel crossed from Petra in the region of Edom. The local tradition says that the spring in Wadi Musa, outside Petra, is the place where Moses struck the rock and brought out the water (Numbers 20: 10-11). The Maccabean Jews were at first a friendly and cordial relationship with the Nabateans (cf. 1 Maccabees 5:25). It is almost certain that Petra was a stopover for the three wise men who presented gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12). King Al-Harith, mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the second letter from the Corinthians (2 Cor 11:32), was one of the Nabatean kings who ruled Petra.

During the rule of the Byzantines, the city of Petra had an episcopal chair, and monks and hermits lived in it, and its residents turned some graves into churches, and we may not find a trace of the Byzantine civilization, perhaps because its residents began to abandon it in search of commercial gains.

Among the important monuments in Petra:

1. The Siq: Its length is about 1200 meters, its width in some places is 2 meters, and its height ranges from 80-100 meters. The word “Siq” is Syriac, and means crack, alley, entrance, and vestibule.
2. Pharaoh's Treasury: The building is 39 meters high and 28 meters wide. It was called Pharaoh's Treasury because the residents of this area believed that Pharaoh had put his treasures in the jar on the second floor.
3. The Roman Amphitheater: It was reconstructed during the time of the Nabatean King Al-Harith IV, 8-40 BC. It consists of 33 carved rows that can accommodate more than three thousand spectators.
4. Qasr al-Bint: A structure built by the Nabateans in the first century BC in honor of the god Dhu al-Shura. The name Qasr al-Bint goes back to a myth that the princess used to live in that palace and was suffering from the lack of running water in it, and she promised that she would marry someone who will provide her with her needs.
5. The monastery: In the monastery there is a small room dug into the rock and inhabited by the hermits, and a tomb bearing on its facades a drawing of two lions inscribed on it and called it the Lion's Tomb. As for the monastery, it was nothing but a structure with a very huge facade, 47 meters wide and 40 meters high.
6. Graves: The Nabateans took care of the graves and decorated them with beautiful inscriptions in honor of their dead. In the year 447, the tomb of Al-Jara was transformed into a cathedral during the time of Bishop Jasnos.
7. Jebel al-Madhbah (mountain of the altar): a wide courtyard with a length of 4 thousand and sixty meters and a width of 20 meters. In this courtyard, the Nabateans dug a well to clean the altar, and the temple is located on the western side.