Photo of the Day 464

Rock Carvings, Petra, Jordan

Photograph by Jodi Cobb

Hidden at the end of a long ravine, the buildings of Petra, Jordan, were carved into sandstone cliffs by the Nabataeans around 312 B.C. After annexation by the Romans in A.D. 106, the city—once a hub of commerce—became less important as trade routes developed along the Red Sea and Nile River. Petra is now protected as a World Heritage site.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Jordan: Kingdom in the Middle,” February 1984, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 365

Monastery, Petra, Jordan, 1998

Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt

The moon peeks over the imposing architecture of the Monastery (Al Deir) in Petra, Jordan. The formidable Monastery, built more than 2,000 years ago, was probably a shrine for the Nabataean people of ancient Petra.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Petra, Ancient City of Stone," December 1998, National Geographic magazine)