Secret underground tomb with 12 skeletons is found in Jordan's Petra
Archaeologists found 12 human skeletons and an extensive array of grave offerings in a tomb hidden under the Treasury building in Jordan’s Petra.
The mysterious veil of the Treasury monument in Petra, Jordan, has been lifted once again.
Beneath the ancient rock-cut building, archaeologists have uncovered a hidden tomb containing 12 relatively well-preserved human skeletons, along with an extensive array of grave offerings.
Similar tombs were found more than two decades ago on the other side of the famed Treasury, also known as Al Khazneh, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
A team of researchers got permission from Jordanian authorities early this year to undertake a week of remote sensing in and around the Treasury, which was the center of a city hand-carved into the walls of a desert canyon by the people of the Nabatean Kingdom.
“There was always the thought that there might be more tombs, but none had ever been found that still contained burials,” Richard Bates, a geophysicist and professor at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in an email. “The hope was to find a tomb that was intact.”
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