THE RUINS OF ANCIENT PETRA 



275 



Petra, or "Sela" — The Rock — were 

 the Nabatseans, a people of ancient 

 Arabia who seem to have occiipied the 

 country evacuated by the Edoniites 

 when the hitter pressed forward into 

 southern Jiuhea, and to have succeeded 

 to its commercial prosperity as a center 

 for the trade routes from Egypt. The 

 importance of the city under Nabatiean 

 rule increased until, during the reign of 

 king Aretas III, surnamed "Friend of 

 the Greeks," royal coins appeared. The 

 city nmst then have had a large popu- 

 lation and have presented a general 

 Grecian appearance. 



In A. D. lOG, Arabia Petrsea became 

 part of the Roman Empire, and the 

 Nabatsean, or native dynasty, came to an 

 end, but the city continued to flourish. 

 In A. D. 131, Hadrian, that indefatigable 

 traveler, visited the city, and it is proba- 

 ble that the superb Khazneh and the 

 Deir were built at this time. A centiuy 

 later, when the city was at the height of 

 its splendor and power, some sudden 

 catastrophe put an end to the issue of 

 coinage and the building of sumptuous 

 tombs. The activity of Palmyra and 

 of the Persians diverted the trade routes, 

 thus removing the great raison d'etre of 

 Petra's power. When no longer a great 

 storehouse of precious goods and a safe 

 retreat for passing caravans, Petra 

 rapidly dwindled in population and im- 

 portance, although it still remained a 

 religious center. 



Christianity found its way there at 

 an early date, Athanasius mentioning a 

 Bishop of Petra; but, as in all of north- 

 ern Arabia, Christianity was swept away 

 by the Mohammedan conquest in A. D. 

 629-632. The Crusaders were the last 

 to hold the city, Baldwin the First form- 

 ing of it a baronial fief, known as the 

 Chateau de la Valee de Sela. In 1189 

 the Crusaders left, but remnants of their 

 citadel still remain. 



The extraordinary ruins of Petra were 

 an object of curiosity to eastern rulers 

 during the middle ages, but after the 

 ( rusaders' departure, nearly seven hun- 

 dred years elapsed before another Euro- 

 pean, Burckhardt, visited them in 1812. 

 Owing to the wildness of the natives, 

 who had no one to keep them in sub- 

 jection, few Europeans visited the place 

 diu'ing the nineteenth century, and then 

 only with large escorts of soldiers, in 

 some cases even artillery. The Turkish 

 Government, however, has changed con- 

 ditions within the ten years, so that now, 

 except from chance brigands, there is 

 nothing to fear. As far as I know, very 

 little has been published in English on 

 the marvels of Petra, and this combined 

 with its inaccessibility, probably ac- 

 counts for the fact that very few persons 

 have seen what must certainly be reck- 

 oned as one of the wonders of the world. 



We slowly made our way over the 

 rocky bed of the Musa, our horses having 

 difficulty in finding a sure footing, and 

 presently came near to the towering 

 painted cliffs, where we saw the first 

 evidences of ancient civilization. Cut 

 into the rock, here of a cream color, was 

 a tomb, perhaps twenty feet square, its 

 entire face protected by a portico of 

 circular arches, with columns cut from 

 the rock and left in situ. Doors opened 

 into the mountain from this tomb, and 

 in the pitch-black vaults lived families 

 of the wretched natives, who now in- 

 habit some of the outlying tombs. A 

 little farther on were two immense 

 pillars of yellow rock, formed by hewing 

 two of the mushroom-shaped formations, 

 wliich are a peculiarity of this district. 



The surroundings were so uncanny, 

 due to the work both of nature and man, 

 that our whole party became silent. 

 Tiu"ning a corner, we came to the face 

 of the cliffs and saw the entrance to the 

 famous eastern sik or gorge. Imagine 



