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Petra: Lost City of Stone | NOVA

Ornate building carved into rock
Providence Pictures
/
PBS
The Monastary has some of the most complicated architecture in all of Petra, relying heavily on Hellenistic and Greco-Roman influences for its style.

Wed. Nov. 11 at 9pm on WKAR-HD 23.1 & STREAMING | Follow an archaeologist and sculptors to learn how the people of Petra built their city of stone.

More than 2,000 years ago, the thriving city of Petra rose up in the bone-dry desert of what is now Jordan. An oasis of culture and abundance, the city was built by wealthy merchants who carved spectacular temple-tombs into its cliffs, raised a monumental Great Temple and devised an ingenious system that channeled water to vineyards, bathhouses, fountains and pools.

However, following a catastrophic earthquake and a slump in its desert trade routes, Petra's unique culture faded and was lost to most of the world for nearly 1,000 years. Now, in a daring experiment, an archaeologist and sculptors team up to carve an iconic temple-tomb to find out how the ancient people of Petra built their city of stone.

Watch the special at video.wkar.org before or after the premiere date.  

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