<P> By 2010 BC , some of the earliest recorded farmers had settled in Beidha , a pre-pottery settlement just north of Petra . Petra is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel , Sela or Seir . Though the city was founded relatively late , a sanctuary has existed there since very ancient times . The Jewish historian , Josephus ( ca . 37 -- 100 ) , describes the region as inhabited by the Madianite nation as early as 1340 BC , and that the nation was governed by five kings , whom he names : `` Rekem ; the city which bears his name ranks highest in the land of the Arabs and to this day is called by the whole Arabian nation , after the name of its royal founder , Rekeme : called Petra by the Greeks . '' The famed architecture of Petra , and other Nabataean sites , was built during indigenous rule in early antiquity . </P>
<P> By 2010 BC , some of the earliest recorded farmers had settled in Beidha , a pre-pottery settlement just north of Petra . Petra is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel , Sela or Seir . Though the city was founded relatively late , a sanctuary has existed there since very ancient times . The Jewish historian , Josephus ( ca . 37 -- 100 ) , describes the region as inhabited by the Madianite nation as early as 1340 BC , and that the nation was governed by five kings , whom he names : `` Rekem ; the city which bears his name ranks highest in the land of the Arabs and to this day is called by the whole Arabian nation , after the name of its royal founder , Rekeme : called Petra by the Greeks . '' The famed architecture of Petra , and other Nabataean sites , was built during indigenous rule in early antiquity . </P>
when was the lost city of petra built
when was the lost city of petra built
during indigenous rule in early antiquity
during indigenous rule in early antiquity