A team of archaeologists were stunned when they stumbled upon a 2,000-year-old tomb hidden beneath a 12th-century BCE structure in the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Share this article Share this article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy link Link copied Bookmark this Comment
Archaeologists were stunned to discover a 2,000-year-old burial chamber beneath one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Carved into the pink sandstone cliffs of Petra in Jordan is a magnificent monument known as the Khazna, or Treasury, and beneath this structure, about a dozen skeletons have been found.
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The ancient city is probably best known to audiences thanks to the 1989 blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, starring Harrison Ford and Sean Connery.
Petra, with significant historical and cultural significance, is a popular tourist destination, receiving approximately one million visitors each year.
Last year, CNN reported that Dr. Pierce Paul Chrisman, executive director of the American Research Center, and a team of archaeologists had discovered 12 human skeletons beneath Khazna, the Mirror reported.
The excavations also uncovered a collection of artifacts buried beneath Petra's treasury, believed to date back two millennia.
After finding this remarkable tomb, Chrisman invited Josh Gates, host of the Discovery Channel's Expedition Unknown, to visit the site.
Gates said: “This is an extremely rare discovery – nothing like this has been found in two centuries of archaeological exploration of Petra. Even in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world, there are still more significant discoveries to come.”
Chrisman's team used modern surveying technology to search for additional burials at the site. The data his team collected matched other intelligence collected in areas where burials had previously been found.
After presenting evidence, Jordanian authorities issued permission to excavate beneath the city of Petra.
Chrisman said the artifacts found were surprisingly well preserved, although the human remains, while intact, were in a more fragile state than expected.
The deteriorating condition is believed to be due to increased humidity in Petra and seasonal flooding.
The porous sandstone inside the burial chamber also retained moisture, resulting in some skeletons being found with mold.
The discovery is remarkable because only a small number of tombs with intact burials have been found in Petra in recent decades.
Other graves were disturbed, which is primarily associated with travelers seeking shelter and housing in the desert.
About twenty years ago, archaeologists from the Jordanian Department of Antiquities discovered two burial chambers under the left side of the treasury.
According to Chrisman, partial skeletal remains were found in these tombs, but due to the lack of published data, the exact number of bodies found there remains unclear.
Chrisman added: “We were hoping to find something that could tell us more about ancient people and where they lived – human remains can be a really valuable tool in this regard. The burials in this tomb are complete, so the bones have not been moved or reworked, which is very rare.”
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