The History of Petra

In the third and fourth centuries, the roman empire would undergo some dramatic changes. The cult of jesus christ had grown to become a real threat to roman power. For a time, christianity was outlawed in the empire. And during the reign of the emperor diocletian, records show that the christians of petra were punished for their refusal to sacrifice to roman gods. Many of them were sent to die by forced labor in the nearby copper mines of feno. As pagan temples were shut down, demand for incense crashed and the price began to fall. This broader cultural and economic change came at the same time as egyptian ports began anto