The Treasure
According to tradition, in ca. 1200 BC, the Petra area was populated by Edomites and the area was known as Edom (red). Before the Israelite incursions, the Edomites controlled the trade routes from Arabia in the south to Damascus in the north. The next chapter of history belongs to the Persian period, and it is posited that during this time the Nabataeans migrated into Edom, forcing the Edomites to move into southern Palestine. But little is known about Petra proper until about 312 BC by which time the Nabataeans, one of many Arab tribes, occupied it and made it the capital of their kingdom
