370 
IRRIGATION IN IDUMA5A. 
eign and intestine war occasioned tlie neglect or destruction 
of these works—traces of which still meet the traveller’s eye at 
every step,—when the reservoirs were broken and the terrace 
walls had fallen down, there was no longer water for irrigation 
in summer, the rains of winter soon washed away most of the 
thin layer of earth upon the rocks, and Palestine was reduced 
almost to the condition of a desert. 
The course of events has been the same in Idumsea. The 
observing traveller discovers everywhere about Petra, partic¬ 
ularly if he enters the city by the route of Wadi Ksheibeh, 
very extensive traces of ancient cultivation, and upon the 
neighboring ridges are the ruins of numerous cisterns evidently 
constructed to furnish a supply of water for irrigation.* In 
* One of these, upon Mount Hor, two stories in height, is still in such 
preservation that I found not less than ten feet of water in it in the month 
of June, 1851. 
The brook Ain Musa, which runs through the city of Petra and finally 
disappears in the sands of Wadi el Araba, is a considerable river in winter, 
and the inhabitants of that town were obliged to excavate a tunnel through 
the rock near the right bank, just above the upper entrance of the Sik, to 
discharge a part of its swollen current. The sagacity of Dr. Kobinson 
detected the necessity of this measure, though the tunnel, the mouth of 
which was hidden by brushwood, was not discovered till some time after 
his visit. I even noticed unequivocal remains of a sluice by which the 
water was diverted to the tunnel near the arch that crosses the Sik. Im¬ 
mense labor was also expended in widening the natural channel at several 
points below the town, to prevent the damming up and setting back of the 
water—a fact I believe not hitherto noticed by travellers. 
The Fellahheen above Petra still employ the waters of Ain Musa for 
irrigation, and in summer the superficial current is wholly diverted from 
its natural channel for that purpose. At this season, the bed of the brook, 
which is composed of pebbles, gravel, and sand, is dry in the Sik and 
through the town; but the infiltration is such that water is generally 
found by digging to a small depth in the channel. Observing these facts 
in a visit to Petra in the summer, I was curious to know whether the sub¬ 
terranean waters escaped again to daylight, and I followed the ravine 
below the town for a long distance. Not very far from the upper entrance 
of the ravine, arborescent vegetation appeared upon its bottom, and as soon 
as the ground was well shaded, a thread of water burst out. This was 
joined by others a little lower down, and, at the distance of a mile from the 
town, a strong current was formed and ran down toward Wadi el Araba. 
