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Petra – the desert marvel

Basel's museum of antiquities is currently presenting the latest results of archeological research at the ancient site of Petra in Jordan. Some 150 relics are on view, while visitors can learn how the Nabataeans were able to build and maintain a city in the middle of the desert.

On August 22, 1812, Swiss traveller and orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, aka Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah, was the first European to set eyes on the mysterious city of Petra, whose location had been lost to outsiders for nearly a 1,000 years. Burckhardt is considered the founder of modern research carried out at the site. Today, Petra is a Unesco World Heritage site and is visited by thousands of tourists.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR