After 'The Riddle of Santa Catherina' and 'The Riddle of Isla de Pascua', Avatar is back with the next 'Riddle' album. This time, we pass over Sodom and the Dead Sea and head 45 degrees east, to the midst of the desert to a remote location, north of Aqaba, into the heart of the Nabataean kingdom: The lost city of Petra. A city carved into living rock, known to many as the 'Red Rock'.

The stunning story of Petra takes us almost 2000 years back in time, to this lost and forgotten city, considered as a myth by the western world. It was accidentally rediscovered in 1812.

'The Riddle of Petra' includes 11 new and unreleased tracks from Avatar's artists, as well as new and promising names. Together with them we will try to solve the mystery and unlock the riddle of this stunning place.

Work on this album started 2 years ago. It was challenging for us, as well as for the artists who were inspired and moved by the idea and the story of Petra. This is an exciting moment, and we invite you to come and join us on an expedition to the heart of the desert, through the narrow siq, and into the lost city.

Petra was the main topic in John Williams Burgon's poem Petra. Referring to it as the inaccessible city, which he had heard described, but had never seen. "…mach me such marvel, save in Eastern clime A rose-red city, half as old as time."