ANCIENT KINGS OF ARABIA. 149 



promiscuously with its public and domestic edifices; 

 so that Petra has been truly denominated one vast 

 necropolis. It contains above two hundred and fifty 

 sepulchres, which are occasionally excavated in 

 tiers, one above the other ; and in places where the 

 side of the cliff" is so perpendicular that it seems im- 

 possible to approach the uppermost, no access what- 

 ever being visible. There are besides numerous 

 mausoleums of colossal dimensions, and in a state of 

 wonderful preservation. Near the west end of the 

 wady are the remains of a stately edifice, the Kazr 

 Benit Faraoun, or palace of Pharaoh's daughter, of 

 whichonly apart of the wall is left standing. Towards 

 the middle of the valley, on the south side, are two 

 large truncated pyramids, and a theatre, with com- 

 plete rows of benches capable of containing above 

 3000 spectators, all cut out of the solid rock. The 

 ground is covered with heaps of hewn stones, founda- 

 tions of buildings, fragments of pillars, and vestiges 

 of paved streets, — the sad memorials of departed 

 greatness. On the left bank of the river is a rising 

 ground, extending westward for about three-quarters 

 of a mile, entirely strewn with similar relics. On the 

 right bank, where the ground is more elevated, ruins 

 of the same description are to be seen. In the eastern 

 cliff there are upwards of fifty separate sepulchres 

 close to each other. There are also the remains of 

 a palace and several temples ; grottoes in vast num- 

 bers, not sepulchral ; niches, sometimes excavated 

 to the height of thirty feet, with altars for votive 

 offerings, or with pyramids, columns, and obelisks ; 

 horizontal grooves for the conveyance of water, cut 

 along the face of the rock, and even across the 

 irchitectural parts of some of the excavations ; 

 dwellings scooped out, of large dimensions, in one 

 of which is a single chamber sixty feet in length and 

 of a proportional breadth ; many other habitations 

 of inferior note, particularly numerous in one recess 

 af the city, the steep sides of which contain a sort 



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