112 
A RECENT VISIT TO PETRA: A Lecture. By Mr. 
Arthur W. Sutton, F.L.S. Delivered at a Meeting of the 
Institute on February 3rd, 1908. (Short account by the 
Secretary.) 
T HE city of Petra, capital of Edom and emporium of com- 
merce in early times for caravans traversing the Arabian 
desert to and from the Persian Gulf to the Tyrian cities, has 
lain in desolation and ruin since the eruption of the Arabs 
under Mahomet ; but nevertheless, in its solitude it excites the 
admiration of the traveller for the marvellous beauty of its 
temples and tombs sculptured out of the native sandstone rock, 
geologically known as “ the Nubian sandstone,” rich in colours 
of red, purple and their varieties. It has generally been 
approached by western travellers either from Egypt by the 
Sinai tic mountains and the Arabah Valley, or from Jerusalem 
by way of the Dead Sea. Both ways are full of difficulty and 
some danger from the predatory Arabs which requires tact, and 
the expenditure of liberal bachsisli. But the party of Mr. 
Sutton entered the city from the eastern side by way of the 
remarkable gorge known as the Silt — a torrent bed or cleft in 
the rock, a mile and a half in length from where it descends 
from the table-land of Edom to the point where it opens out 
on the wide expanse of the city ; and where, from the obscurity 
of the lofty walls shutting out the sun, at a sudden bend is 
revealed the facade of the most beautiful of the temples called 
“ the Temple of Ghuzneh,” glistening in the sunshine, and 
displaying in its portico of Corinthian columns, and entablature 
richly sculptured, a marvellous example of architectural skill 
which strikes the beholder with wonder. But this is only the 
first of a succession of splendid facades by which the whole of this 
vast amphitheatre has been adorned byits Nabathrean inhabitants. 
This is not the proper place to attempt a description of 
Petra, which has already been done by numerous travellers ; 
and was admirably illustrated by the coloured photographs 
taken by Mr. Sutton, and thrown on the screen by the lantern, 
accompanied by his personal description of them. When the 
expeditionary party, of which the writer was a member, visited 
the city in 1883, we entered it from the Arabah Valley on the 
west,* crossing the plain at the foot of Mount TIor, which rises 
grandly in a cliff facing the western region of the Arabah and 
* An account of this visit is given in Mount Seir , Sinai and Western 
Palestine , published by the Palestine Exploration Society, p. 85 (1885). 
