The Edomites were then replaced by the Nabateans who built one of the most significant archaeological and historical sites in the Middle East, the ancient city of Petra.

Evidence for human settlement in Ma'an Governorate dates back to at least 7000 BC, when the Neolithic village of Basta was founded.

The first newspaper in the modern day Jordan was issued in Ma'an and was named Alhaqqu Ya'lu (الحق يعلو ).

In Autumn 1996 and Spring 1997 the Al-Jafr-desert, located near Al-Jafr in the eastern part of the governorate, was the location of extensive tests of the ThrustSSC, the British-built currently fastest land vehicle in the world, which was the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier in October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, United States.

[4] The capital department is further subdivided into five subdivisions: Shoubak in Ma'an Governorate Wadi Musa