A team of archeology researchers has unearthed a previously hidden tomb underneath the iconic treasury building of the Nabatean ruins at Petra, Jordan, according to CNN.
The team of archeologists, led by Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, the executive director of the American Center of Research, had used ground-penetrating radar technology to discover the tomb earlier this year but had to wait for permission from the Jordanian government before starting their dig.
The archeologists, alongside a film crew from the Discovery Channel’s “Expedition Unknown” TV series, began unearthing the tomb in August.
Unlike other tombs found in Petra, which were largely empty, the newly discovered one was filled with ancient artifacts and at least 12 human remains, believed to be over 2,000 years old.
“This is a hugely rare discovery,” said Josh Gates, the host of the Discovery Channel show. “In the two centuries that Petra has been investigated by archaeologists, nothing like this has been found before.”
The researchers said this may be the largest discovery of human remains within any single site in Petra.
While it is one of the most well-known archeological sites in the Middle East, Gates says “there are still huge discoveries to be made.”
Often considered one of the wonders of the world, Petra’s treasury building was made world famous by Stephen Spielberg’s 1989 hit sequel “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” as the iconic ruin was used as the setting for the film’s climax.
The building was built by the ancient Nabateans, a semi-nomadic Arab people who lived in the desert of what is currently Jordan, Israel, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and Saudi Arabia.
At the height of Nabatean civilization, from the fourth century BCE to the first century CE, they built their capital Petra, and a series of massive Hellenistic-style buildings were carved into the sandstone canyons.
Archeologists believe that Petra’s population likely peaked at over 20,000, which would have made it stand out as a major city in an otherwise desolate and inhospitable Arabian desert.