Petra’s sophisticated water management was as impressive as its architecture. The Nabataeans carved extensive networks of channels, dams, and cisterns into the rock to control flash floods and store water in the arid desert, supporting a population of perhaps 20,000. This engineering mastery was key to the city's prosperity as a capital and trade hub linking Arabia, Egypt, and Syria. Its decline after ~106 AD~ Roman annexation was gradual, accelerated by shifting trade routes away from the city