According to CNN, a team of archeology researchers have discovered a tomb that was hidden beneath the iconic Treasury building in the Nabataean ruins of Petra, Jordan.
The team of archaeologists, led by Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research, used ground-penetrating radar technology to find the tomb earlier this year. However, she had to wait for authorization from the Jordanian government before beginning her excavations.
Archaeologists, who are accompanied by a film crew from the Discovery Channel television series “Expedition Unknown,” began digging up the tomb in August.
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Unlike the other tombs that have been discovered in Petra – they were mostly empty – the one that has just been found was filled with ancient objects and at least 12 human remains which, according to researchers, date back to is over 2,000 years old.
“This is an extremely rare find,” said Josh Gates, host of the Discovery Channel show. “While archaeologists have been studying Petra for two centuries, nothing like this has been found before.”
Researchers said it was perhaps the largest discovery of human remains in a single location, in Petra.
Tourists look at the Treasury in the Petra Archaeological Park in Jordan, February 13, 2017. (AP Photo / Sam McNeil, File)
While it is one of the best-known archaeological sites in the Middle East, Gates said “there are still enormous discoveries to be made.”
Often considered one of the wonders of the world, the Petra Treasury Building was made famous by Steven Spielberg’s 1989 hit film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, with the iconic ruin serving as the setting for the high point of the film.
The building was built by the ancient Nabataeans, a semi-nomadic Arab people who lived in the desert of what is now Jordan, Israel, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia.
Tourists visit the obelisk tomb site in the ruins of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, southern Jordan, on September 28, 2022. (Credit: Daniel SLIM / AFP)
At the height of Nabataean civilization, from the 4th century BCE until the 1st century CE, the Nabataeans had built their capital, Petra, and a series of massive buildings strongly reminiscent of the Greek architectural style were excavated in sandstone canyons.
Archaeologists believe Petra’s population probably peaked at more than 20,000, making it an important city in a barren and inhospitable Arabian desert.
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