Geology of Mount Sinai and adjacent Countries. 39 



(1 Chron. i. 29), or Nebajoth (Gen. xxv. 13), who was Abra- 

 ham and Hagar's grandson, and Ishmael's first-born son. 

 Petra is correctly described by the same Greek geographer, 

 as well as by the Roman naturalist. The short account of 

 the last I here transcribe : " Nabatsei oppidum indudunt 

 Fetram nomine in convalle, paulo minus duum mill, passuum 

 amplitudinis, circumdatum montibus inaccessis amne inter- 

 fluente.* 1 will not add here any description of the very mag- 

 nificent remains of this remarkable city, the city of the Hock 

 — or rather excavated and carved out of the natural rock-^ 

 whose dwellings are said to have been " in the clefts of the 

 rock,'" (Obadiah 3), since they are now so well known. 



Coming to Petra from Eljy, on the east, the body of the 

 regular mountain on that side is limestone, and higher than 

 the red sandstone, where the tombs in Wadi Mousa are 

 excavated. The cliffs at Petra are of red sandstone, which is 

 soft and easily cut, causing the sculptures to decay quickly, 

 unless where they may have been protected ivom. the weather. 

 This formation extends far to the north and south, and rests 

 on the lower masses of porphyry. 



The colour of the sandstone rocks in Wadi Mousa is not a 

 dull monotonous red, but a variety of bright hues, " from the 

 deepest crimson,'' as Dr Robinson writes (vol. ii., p. 531), 

 " to the softest pink ; verging also sometimes to orange and 

 yellow. These varying shades are often distinctly marked by 

 waving lines, imparting to the surface of the rock a succes- 

 sion of brilliant and changing tints, like the hues of watered 

 silk, and adding greatly to the imposing efi'ect of the sculp- 

 tured monuments." 



The site of Petra, in the high ravine, is called by the 

 Arabs, Wadi Mousa ; most likely corrupted from Moseroth, or 

 Mosera (Deut. x. 6), " where Aaron died and was buried." 

 It is extremely interesting, and is well watered by a flowing 

 stream — the El Syk of Burckhardt. The sandstone rocks, 

 with their craggy and precipitous sides, have their summits 

 resembling rounded peaks ; peaks, probably owing to the 

 softness of the stone, rounded by the effects of weather. 



* PUn. Nat. Hist., Lib. vi., cap. 28. 



