146 PROFESSOR HULL, LL.D., F.R.S. 
a blaze of sunshine, being set off in high relief when seen from 
the deeply-shaded recesses of this narrow cleft. This temple, 
like others, has been hewn out of the face of the solid sand- 
stone cliff; and from.the arrangement of the upper part of the 
facade above the portico into nine spaces or niches, containing 
originally as many figures, Professor Palmer-came to the 
conclusion that this ‘‘ mysterious excavation” is nothing but 
the Museum of Petra,j—not what the Turks would eall an 
« Antiquity House,” but the * Philharmonic Institution of the 
lace. 
What constitutes the special wonder of Petra is the fact that 
with few exceptions its public buildings are hewn out of the 
living rock. Elsewhere I have hazarded the view that Nature 
herself first suggested the adoption of this plan, as the massive 
cliffs and vertical faces of sandstone which line the sides of the 
Wady Musa naturally assume, in some cases, the forms of 
artificial structures.* However this may be, all the great 
temples and tombs are hewn from the stone in situ, of which, 
besides the Khazneh, may be cited ‘‘ the Temple of the Urn,” 
another great temple surmounted by two tiers of Corinthian 
columns, and the Dier (or Convent). The Roman Theatre, 
though peculiarly exposed, is in a condition of remarkable 
preservation ; but the hand of man, earthquake shocks, the 
rains, and torrents from the mountains are slowly wasting the 
wonderful and beautiful structures which adorn the Wady 
Musa, and which through nearly two decades of centuries 
have in some instances come down to our time as monu- 
ments of the taste, industry, and power of the Idumean 
inhabitants. 
“ And this is Petra—this the lofty boast 
Of Edom’s once unconquerable coast ! 
These the gay halls through which in days of old 
The tide of life so rapturously roll’d ; 
These the proud streets where wealth with lavish hand, 
Pour’d the rich spoils of every Orient land ; 
All that the seaman’s timid barque beguiles. 
From Cush and Ophir, Tarshish and the Isles ; 
Afric’s red gold—Arabia’s spicy store— 
And pearl and plume from India’s farthest shore! 
How changed—how fallen !—all her glory fled, 
The widow’d city mourns her many dead. 
Like some fond heart which gaunt disease has left 
Of all it lived for—all it loved, bereft ; 
Mute in its anguish! Struck with pangs too deep 
For words to utter, or for tears to weep.” 
* The art of fashioning the rock in sitw was not uncommon in very 
ancient times in India, Persia, and other Asiatic countries. 
