‘A little hyped up’: experts downplay claims over Petra archaeological find

Researchers urge caution after Jordan tomb excavation and say new clues about Nabataean culture may lie elsewhere

For one of the most famous ancient sites on the planet, there is a surprising amount about the city of Petra – and the Nabataean people who built it – that we don’t know for sure.

What exactly were their origins? How did their society operate? And why did they hand-carve such spectacular monuments into the reddish rock of the Jordanian desert?