144 PROFESSOR HULL, LL.D., F.R-S. 
the ruins of Petra is the supposed “ Altar of Baal,” of which 
an excellent representation is given by an American traveller, 
Mr. Edward IT’. Wilson.* It consists of a circular basin, cut 
on the surface of an isolated rocky platform, and in a con- 
spicuous position. A perforation in the centre of the basin - 
communicates with an underground cavern, into which the 
bloed of the sacrifice may be supposed to have flowed away. 
When, in the reign of Trajan, a.p. 105, Petra fell under the 
Roman sway, and became the capital of the province of 
Palestina Tertia, it may be supposed that some of its magni- 
ficent structures became temples of the gods of Rome. To 
what extent Christianity gained a footing in Petra is uncer- 
tain. From the Excerpta ex Greeca Notitia Patriarchatewmt 
it may be inferred that the settled inhabitants of Arabia 
Petreea had generally embraced the Gospel, and that there 
were a large number of villages and churches scattered over 
that region, of which Petra was the metropolis. By the close 
of Mahomet’s life the whole of Arabia Petrza had been 
brought over to Islamism, and the only representative of 
Christianity which has survived to this day is the Greek 
convent of St. Katharine, at the foot of Mount Sinai. The 
stream of commerce which had flowed through Arabia became 
diverted by the events of the seventh century, and Petra, the 
fountain-head, fell into decay, and has ever since lain deso- 
late, except when the Bedawin condescend to pitch their 
tents amongst the ruins. The fellahin of the Wady Masa at 
the present day are of a decidedly Jewish cast of countenance. 
Islamism has even less influence with them than with the 
Bedawin themselves. According to Professor Palmer, they 
are the sons of Leith, a lineal descendant of Kacab, and a 
branch of the Kheibari Jews who resided near Mecca, and 
played an important part in the early history of Islam. The 
Kheibari are still found in large numbers about Mecca and 
Medina, and are much dreaded by the Haj caravans, as they 
invariably rob and murder unarmed travellers. Intending 
visitors to Petra should, in the first instance, come to terms 
with the head sheikh Arari. On an occasion subsequent to 
our visit to the city (in December, 1883), I had an interview 
with this redoubtable chief near the shore of the Dead Sea, 
and I was favourably impressed by his conversation and 
* The Century Magazine (New York), Nov. 1885. 
+ In the Vatican, edited by Luca Holstenio (1704). Eusebius in the 
Onomasticon, says, “ Mount Hor in quo mortuus est Aaron erat juxta urbam 
Petram.” This is a sufficient identification of the Mount known amongst 
the Arabs as “Jebel Haroun.” 
