Wonder of the World

Last night Petra was announced as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. In a year long campaign in which votes from around the world were registered online and via mobile phone, it received the second highest number of votes, behind only the Great Wall of China. The other new wonders are Chichen Itza, Mayan ruins in Mexico; a 105 foot tall statue of Jesus that overlooks Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Roman Colosseum; Machu Picchu, Incan ruins in Peru; and the Taj Mahal in India.

There has been a lot of publicity here the past few months to get people to vote for Petra, and last night there were live, televised celebrations around Amman and in Petra itself celebrating it being named a wonder. This meant there were lots of fireworks and gunshots piercing the night air here when the results were announced. It seems that this is a designation that a lot of people here really wanted to receive and it was fun to be part of the celebration!

But what is Petra? A city over 2000 years old, Petra is sometimes called the "rose-red city" because it was carved into red sandstone rock in the desert about three hours south of Amman. The inhabitants were the Nabateans--Arabs who lived in Jordan during pre-Roman times and who made the city their capital. Petra remained hidden from the outside world until it was rediscovered in 1812, and it is said that just 5% of Petra has been excavated so far, so there is still so much more to be discovered.

We've been to Petra a number of times, and for us it never gets old and never ceases to amaze us. So, we're ready to be tour guides for any of our friends who want to come and say they have been to see Petra, one of the newest wonders of the world!