Wildflowers bloom in front of the rose-colored sandstone that makes up Petra. An ancient city that welcomed caravans from Arabia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, Petra was the capital of the Nabataeans, who ruled this part of the Middle East for more than four centuries.

(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Petra: An Ancient City of Stone," December 1998, National Geographic magazine)