Petra's theater was built in the 1st century AD. It is quite large, with a seating capacity of over 6,000 people. The theater's 45 rows of seats are divided horizontally by two diazomata . Its cavea faces north and east, to keep the sun out of the spectators' eyes. Above the cavea are numerous tomb fronts, which were destroyed to make way for the theater's upper tiers of seating. 
Petra's theater is cut out of solid rock, and badly deteriorated. The front of the theater, including most of the stage was badly damaged by floods.
While some people have assumed that this was built by the Romans, the theater is actually Nabataean and was constructed long before the Romans entered Petra.
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