<P> In ancient times, Petra might have been approached from the south on a track leading across the plain of Petra, around Jabal Haroun ("Aaron's Mountain"), the location of the Tomb of Aaron, said to be the burial - place of Aaron, brother of Moses . Another approach was possibly from the high plateau to the north . Today, most modern visitors approach the site from the east . The impressive eastern entrance leads steeply down through a dark, narrow gorge (in places only 3--4 m (9.8--13.1 ft) wide) called the Siq ("the shaft"), a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the sandstone rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into Wadi Musa . At the end of the narrow gorge stands Petra's most elaborate ruin, Al Khazneh (popularly known as and meaning "the Treasury"), hewn into the sandstone cliff . While remaining in remarkably preserved condition, the face of the structure is marked by hundreds of bullet holes made by the local Bedouin tribes that hoped to dislodge riches that were once rumored to be hidden within it . </P> <P> A little further from the Treasury, at the foot of the mountain called en - Nejr, is a massive theatre, positioned so as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view . At the point where the valley opens out into the plain, the site of the city is revealed with striking effect . The amphitheatre has been cut into the hillside and into several of the tombs during its construction . Rectangular gaps in the seating are still visible . Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose - colored mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers . </P> <P> By 2010 BC, some of the earliest recorded farmers had settled in Beidha, a pre-pottery settlement just north of Petra . Petra is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir . Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary has existed there since very ancient times . The Jewish historian, Josephus (ca . 37--100), describes the region as inhabited by the Madianite nation as early as 1340 BC, and that the nation was governed by five kings, whom he names: "Rekem; the city which bears his name ranks highest in the land of the Arabs and to this day is called by the whole Arabian nation, after the name of its royal founder, Rekeme: called Petra by the Greeks ." The famed architecture of Petra, and other Nabataean sites, was built during indigenous rule in early antiquity . </P> <P> The Nabataeans were one among several nomadic Bedouin tribes that roamed the Arabian Desert and moved with their herds to wherever they could find pasture and water . They became familiar with their area as seasons passed, and they struggled to survive during bad years when seasonal rainfall diminished . Although the Nabataeans were initially embedded in Aramaic culture, theories about them having Aramean roots are rejected by modern scholars . Instead, archaeological, religious and linguistic evidence confirm that they are a northern Arabian tribe . </P>

When was the lost city of petra built