Rose-Red City Carved From the Rock
In 1812 a Swiss-born, Cambridge-educated linguist named Johann Ludwig Burckhardt passed through the city en route from Syria to Egypt. He spent an uneasy three days there, unwelcomed as an outsider by the inhabitants, and published an account of it in his book, ‘Travels in Syria and the Holy Land.’
The book sparked new interest in Petra, and more than 2,000 other Westerners found their way there during the rest of the 19th century, drawn in part by its Holy Land location. Among the visitors were the American artist Frederic Edwin Church and the English painter and rhymist Edward Lear.”
New York Times | 17 October 2003