Camels Waiting For Tourists at Petra, Jordan

At Petra as the temperature climbs two saddled camels rest on the red desert sand before Petra's ancient rock-cut stone facades, with colourful woven blankets and gift sellers walking in the background.

The Nabataeans started as nomadic desert traders who eventually settled and turned Petra into a major hub for luxury trade. They controlled lucrative caravan routes carrying frankincense, spices, silk, and myrrh between Arabia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean.

They also built an intricate system of rock-cut channels, dams, cisterns, and terracotta pipes to harvest desert rainfall and channel springwater, supporting up to 20,000–30,000 residents. They carved monumental facades—such as Al-Khazneh (The Treasury) - see earlier picture and the Al-Deir (The Monastery)—directly into the pink sandstone cliffs, blending Hellenistic and Arabian designs