Archeologists discover hidden monument in Petra

It measures about 56 meters (184 feet) by 49 meters (161 feet), or about the size of six professional basketball courts. It is rare to find new sites, especially ones as large as the recently discovered remains.

The Treasury Building in the ancient city of Petra in Jordan.

Researchers said the structure was near the centre of the ancient city built by the Nabateans, but hidden and hard to reach, with no parallels with other structures in the area.

This undated handout image, provided by Dr. Christopher A. Tuttle, Executive Director of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, shows US archaeologist Christopher A. Tuttle investigating the doorsill of the small building on the platform, looking southwest in Petra, Jordan.

Twitter users were enthusiastic about the find. New discoveries at Petra continue to be made long after Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt rediscovered the ancient ruins in 1812. Most of the iconic monuments in Petra were built later, at the end of the first century B.C., making the new find all the more unique.

Responding to media, Tuttle told a leading geography-based Television channel that even though people could have known about the existence of the structure during the time of excavation, it was not mentioned anywhere in the history book.

Their work has been revealed in a study published this week in the journal The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, which described the finding as “hiding in plain sight”.

The massive structure they discovered comprised a small platform surrounded by a large rectangular platform. UNESCO, the agency which oversees World Heritage sites, has called Petra “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”, and in 2014, Smithsonian Magazine featured the site on its list of the “28 Places to See Before You Die”. The structure encompasses a large ceremonial platform encircled by flagstones. This evidence revealed by these markings also indicate a once standing massive staircase near a row of columns.

The team believes that this structure may have been constructed as a site for public ceremonies.

The Jordanian city of Petra has been a tourist destination for well over 200 years, and it has also been a favorite destination of archaeologists, because of the city’s many tombs, lovely mosaics and temples.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit its buildings, hewn from the local red sandstone, each year.

A view of the ancient city of Petra January 4, 2008. During Islam, it might have served a more day-to-day goal, like as a camp site.