A beautiful city cut into red rock in the desert — lost for a thousand years.
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These are the new words for Petra. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = C (a desert) · 2 = E (rock) · 3 = B (to carve) · 4 = G (a merchant)
5 = A (a camel) · 6 = D (water) · 7 = F (narrow) · 8 = H (hidden)
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
About two thousand years ago, a people called the Nabataeans lived in the desert. This desert was between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. At first, they moved from place to place. They did not have one home. But they knew the desert very well. They knew where to find water, and they knew the safe ways to travel.
This was very useful, because merchants crossed the desert with their goods. They carried gold, spices, and sweet-smelling things to burn in temples. The merchants put the goods on camels and travelled in long lines. To cross the desert safely, they needed water and a guide — and the Nabataeans had both.
So the Nabataeans became rich. They did not make the goods. They controlled the road. Every group of merchants paid them money to pass, to get water, and to be safe. The Nabataeans built their city in the mountains, in a safe place you could only reach through a narrow way in the rock. They called it Petra. The name means "rock".
1. Why was it useful that the Nabataeans knew the desert so well?
2. How did the Nabataeans become rich?
1. Because merchants had to cross the desert with their goods. The Nabataeans knew where the water was and knew the safe ways, so they could help the merchants.
2. They controlled the road. Merchants paid them money to pass, to get water, and to be safe. They did not make the goods themselves.
The Nabataeans did something amazing with their money. They did not build their biggest buildings with stone blocks. They carved them straight into the red rock of the mountains! You reach the city through a long, narrow path between very high walls of rock. This path is called the Siq. You walk in the dark for a long time. Then, suddenly, the path opens — and in front of you is a huge, beautiful building called the Treasury. It is more than forty metres high, and it is all cut from the rock.
But the cleverest thing about Petra was the water. In the desert, there is almost no rain. When rain does come, it comes fast and can be dangerous. The Nabataeans were very clever with water. They built walls to stop the dangerous water, and they cut small channels and holes in the rock to catch the rain and keep it. In this way, thousands of people could live in the desert, with gardens and clean water.
At its best time, Petra was a busy, rich city. People came from many places — Arabia, Greece, Egypt and Rome. The red buildings were beautiful, the streets were full, and the water always came. It was a wonderful city, hidden behind the rocks.
1. How did the Nabataeans make their biggest buildings, like the Treasury?
2. Why was water so difficult in Petra, and what did the Nabataeans do about it?
1. They did not use stone blocks. They carved the buildings straight into the red rock of the mountains.
2. There was almost no rain, and rain could be dangerous. They built walls to stop the dangerous water and cut channels and holes to catch and keep the rain.
In the year 106, the Romans took Petra into their empire. For some time, the city was still rich. But then things changed. The Romans made new roads by sea, and ships could carry the goods more cheaply. So the merchants stopped crossing the desert with their camels. Petra was not so important any more.
Then there were big earthquakes. The worst one was in the year 363. The earthquakes broke many buildings, and — very badly — they broke the water system. In the desert, no water means no life. Slowly, people left the city. Over many years, Petra became empty and quiet. Only local desert people, the Bedouin, stayed near the beautiful old buildings.
For the rest of the world, Petra was lost. For a thousand years, people in Europe did not know where it was. Then, in 1812, a young man from Switzerland called Johann Ludwig Burckhardt came to the area. He dressed like a local man and asked a guide to take him through the Siq. When he saw the Treasury in the rock, he could not believe his eyes. He was the first outsider to see the city for hundreds of years. Today, Petra is famous again, and people come from all over the world to walk through the narrow rock and see it.
1. Why did Petra become less important after the Romans came?
2. How did the world learn about Petra again, and when?
1. The Romans made new sea roads, and ships carried the goods more cheaply. So merchants stopped crossing the desert, and Petra was not so important. Then earthquakes broke the buildings and the water system.
2. In 1812, a young man from Switzerland, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, dressed like a local and went through the Siq with a guide. He was the first outsider to see the city for hundreds of years.
To describe Petra, you need two things: small words that say where something is, and describing words that say what it is like.
Complete each sentence with a preposition of place: in, on, between, at, above.
1. Petra is the desert.
2. The high rock walls are both sides of the path.
3. The Treasury is the end of the Siq.
4. Petra is the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
1. in (inside the desert)
2. on (on both sides)
3. at (at the end of)
4. between (between two things)
Complete each sentence with a good adjective: narrow, red, hidden, dry, clever.
1. The buildings are cut into the rock. (it is the colour of blood or roses)
2. The Siq is a long, path. (not wide)
3. The desert is very — there is almost no rain. (no water)
4. For a thousand years, Petra was a city. (not easy to see)
1. red
2. narrow
3. dry
4. hidden
Fill each gap with a preposition (in, on, at) or an adjective (narrow, huge, beautiful). Read it aloud when you finish.
Petra is a city the desert. You walk through a long, path between high walls of rock. the end, you see a building cut into the rock. It is very old and very .
in · narrow · At · huge · beautiful
Prepositions say where (in, at). Adjectives say what it is like (narrow, huge, beautiful).
There is a real podcast about Petra. It is for native speakers, so it is fast and quite difficult — that is normal! You do not need to understand every word.
From the Noiser podcast network. About 50 minutes. It plays on the Noiser site, or search "Short History Of Petra" on Spotify.
Play on Noiser →Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of Petra in your own words. Use these steps to help you: the Nabataeans in the desert → they got rich from the merchants and the road → they carved a beautiful city in the red rock → they were very clever with water → the Romans came and the trade changed → earthquakes broke the city → it was lost, and then found again in 1812.
Try to use prepositions of place (in, on, at, between) and adjectives (red, narrow, huge, hidden), and some key words (desert, rock, carve, merchant, camel, water).
Do you like visiting old buildings and ruins? Why, or why not? Is there an old or famous place you would like to see one day? Describe it — where it is, and what it is like.
Describe a place you know well — your town, a building, or a place you like. Say where things are (prepositions) and what they are like (adjectives).
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: