Ruins of Ancient Cities (Vol. 2 of 2)

Примечание 1[86 - Fraser.]

Mr. Morier says, that on comparing Le Brun’s, Chardin’s, and Niebuhr’s drawings with the sculptures, he found them in general correct in outline, but imperfect in details of dress, arms, &c.; and that although the figures are in themselves ill-proportioned, inelegant, and deficient in anatomical drawing, they are exceedingly interesting in general character, and have not been done justice to in the works of these travellers. They, moreover, furnish the best models of what were the nations, that invaded Greece with Xerxes, and that were subdued by Alexander.

The Hall of Pillars appears to have been detached from the rest of the palace, and to have had a communication with the other parts by hollow galleries of stone. It is situated on an eminence, commanding an extensive view of the plain of Merdusht. It is strikingly grand, and conveys to the beholder the idea of a hall of audience of a powerful and warlike monarch.

The Palace of Forty Pillars (called Shehel Setoon) was the favourite residence of the latter Sophi kings. The front is entirely open to the garden, and it is sustained by a double range of columns, upwards of forty feet high, each column shooting up from the united backs of four lions of white marble. The exhaustless profusion of the splendid materials, of which this palace is internally formed, which reflect their own golden or crystal lights on each other, along with all the variegated colours of the garden, give the appearance of an entire surface, formed of polished silver and mother-of-pearl set with precious stones; a scene well fitted for an Eastern poet’s dream, or some magic vision in the tales of an Arabian Night.

This hall, travellers suppose to be the precise part, which formed the banqueting-hall where Alexander displayed his triumph; the place where the kings of Persia received the homage of their subjects, displayed their magnificence, and issued their beneficent orders; also the private palace which was appropriated to the domestic intercourse of the members of the royal family.

Sir Robert Porter says that he gazed at the ruins with wonder and delight. “Besides the admiration which the general elegance of their form, and the exquisite workmanship of their parts excited,” says he, “I never was made so sensible of the impression of perfect symmetry, comprising also in itself that of perfect beauty.”

Mr. Morier says, that on one of the highest columns is the remains of the sphinx, so common in all the ornaments of Persepolis; that he could distinguish on the summit of every one a something quite unconnected with the capitals; so that the high columns have, strictly speaking, no capitals whatever, being each a long shaft to the very summit on which the sphinx rests. The capitals, he continues, of the lower columns are of a complicated order, composed of many pieces. There are also three distinct species of base.

Deslandes imagined, that these columns never supported a roof, but idols: on which Porter says, “I am not aware of a precedent in any idolatrous country, for such a wilderness of gods as we should have found assembled here in effigy; and, least of all, could we expect to find such extravagant proofs of polytheism in a palace, that appears to have owed its origin to the immediate ancestors of Cyrus, the simple worshippers of Mithra, or the sun; and the proudest decorations of which may be dated from Darius, the follower of the philosophic Zoroaster, whose image, the god of his idolatry, is nothing grosser than the element of fire. To suppose these pillars to have been the supports of commemorating statues to the honour of the heroes of Persia, seems equally untenable; for it is not in absolute monarchies, as in republics, or in commonwealths, where kings form only one great member of the body politic, that the eminent warriors and worthies of the land have such monuments erected to them. In Persia we find the bas-reliefs of its kings and their attendants on the walls of its palaces; in Rome we find the statues of Brutus, and Cato, and Cicero, under the ruins of the forum.”

In regard to the magnificent colonnade, which occupies the terrace, “the imagination,” says Mr. Fraser, “cannot picture a sight more imposing than those vast, solitary, mutilated pillars, which, founded in an age beyond the reach of tradition, have witnessed the lapse of countless generations, and seen dynasties and empires rise, flourish, and decay, while they still rear their grey heads unchanged.”

“On ascending the platform, on which the palace of Chehelminar once stood,” says Porter, “nothing can be more striking than the view of its ruins: so vast and magnificent, so fallen, mutilated and silent; the court of Cyrus, and the scene of his bounties; the pavilion of Alexander’s triumph, and, alas! the awful memorial of the wantonness of his power. But every object, when I saw it, was beautiful as desolate; amidst the pleasing memories of the past, awakening poignant regret, that such noble works of ingenuity should be left to the desert alone; that the pile of indefatigable labour should be destined, from the vicissitudes of revolution, and the caprice, ignorance, or fanaticism of succeeding times, to be left in total neglect; or, when noticed, doomed to the predatory mallet, and every other attack of unreflecting destruction.”

One of the most remarkable features of these ruins are the beds of aqueducts which are cut into the solid rock. The great aqueduct is discovered among a confused heap of stones, almost adjoining to the ruined staircase. In some places it is so narrow, that a man is obliged to crawl through; in others it enlarges, so that he can stand upright in it.

Sir William Ouseley says, that he did not perceive among these monuments of antiquity, which the Takht exhibits: 1, any object appearing to be a vestige of the Arsacidan kings; 2, nor any vestige of the Sassanian dynasty, except two inscriptions; 3, nor any representation of a crooked sword; 4, nor any human figure with a full face; 5, nor any human figure mounted on horseback; 6, nor any figure of a woman; 7, nor any sculpture representing ships, or alluding to naval or marine affairs; 8, nor any arches; 9, nor any human figure sitting cross-legged, or resting on the knees and heels, according to modern usage in Persia; 10, nor any human figure in a state of nudity; 11, nor any vestiges either of wood or of brick; 12, nor any remains of gilding; 13, nor any insulated statue, or sculptured figure, separated from the general mass of marble, and showing in full relief the entire form of any object. Nor did he see any figure, that has ever actually been an object of idolatrous veneration. “The reader will easily believe,” says Sir William, “this catalogue of negative remarks might have been considerably augmented, when he considers the great extent of these stupendous ruins; the seeming anomalies of their plan; the extraordinary style of their architecture; the labyrinths or narrow passages, which have been excavated with much art in the adjacent mountains, and of which no traveller has yet ascertained either the termination or the mysterious design; the multiplicity of ornamental devices in the ruins; and, above all, of the human figures which their sculptures exhibit.

“That I have not exaggerated the wonders of Jemsheed’s throne,” continues this accomplished traveller and scholar, “will be evident, on a reference to the accounts, given by most respectable persons of various countries, who, in different ages, have visited its ruins. Not only youthful travellers, glowing with lively imaginations; but those of sober judgment, matured by the experience of many years, seem, as they approach the venerable monuments, to be inspired by the genius of Eastern romance; and their respective languages scarcely furnish epithets capable of expressing with adequate energy the astonishment and admiration, excited by such a stupendous object.” The learning, which Sir William has expended upon Persepolis and other cities of the East, is astonishing.

In regard to a portion of a platform, another traveller says: – “To me it seemed to tell its own story; lying like the buried body of the last Darius under the ruins of his capital, and speaking with a voice from the grave; crying, in the words of Euripides over the like desolation; ‘Oh woe, woe, woe! my country lost! and thou, boast of my noble ancestors, how art thou shrunk; – how art thou vanished!’”

There are no appearances now either of a city, or a citadel, in any direction, about Persepolis. Three quarters of a mile from Persepolis is the tomb of the Persian hero, Rustum; – four chambers hollowed out in the rock, adorned with the altar of fire, the sun, and a mystic figure. Under the sculpture of the second chamber is a gigantic equestrian figure, very perfect, with others kneeling before him, and seeming to seize his hand. On one side of this is an inscription in ancient characters, different from those at Persepolis.

A little to the north, at the foot of the rock, are two more figures of horsemen contending for a ring, and under the horses’ feet two human heads, besides other attendants. Both these horses are called Rustum, whose tomb is shown near the foot of the rock, – a square building, of blue stone, twenty feet high, with windows and niches.

In part of the rock to the east is a mutilated equestrian figure, with a horn on the left side of his forehead, called Iskunder zu el Kemeen, or Alexander, Lord of horns[87 - In allusion to the horns of Jupiter Ammon.].

In regard to the excavations, Mr. Kinneir is disposed to believe, that they could have been applied to no other use than as receptacles for the dead. The city continued to rank among the first cities of the empire, until the Mahomedan conquest, and was the burial place of many of the Sassanian kings.

The body of Yesdigird, the last of that powerful race, was transported from the distant province of Khorassan, to be interred at Persepolis, or rather, perhaps, in the cavities of Nuckshi Rustum.

“Our first, and, indeed, lasting impressions,” says Mr. Morier, “were astonishment at the immensity, and admiration at the beauties, of the ruins. Although there was nothing in the architecture of the buildings, or in the sculptures and reliefs on the rocks, which could bear a critical comparison with the delicate proportions and perfect statuary of the Greeks; yet, without trying Persepolis by a standard to which it never was amenable, we yielded at once to emotions the most lively and the most enraptured[88 - Diodorus; Plutarch; Arrian; Quintus Curtius; Pietro de la Valle; Chardin; Le Brun; Francklin, Encylop. Metropol.; Rees; Brewster; Kinneir; Morier; Porter; Malcolm; Buckingham; Ouseley; Fraser.].”

NO. XV. – PETRA (WADY MOUSA)

The whole land of Idumea, now a mountainous rocky desert, was vaguely known to be full of remains of ancient grandeur and magnificence; but the country is inhabited by fierce and intractable tribes of Arabs, who seem to have inherited the spirit of their forefathers, and to proclaim to approaching travellers, as the Edomites did to the children of Israel – “Thou shall not pass.”

“The evidence,” says Mons. De la Borde, “collected by Volney distinctly shows, that the Idumeans were a populous and powerful nation, long posterior to the delivery of the remarkable prophecies concerning them, recorded in Scripture; that they possessed a settled government; that Idumea contained many cities; that these cities have long been absolutely deserted; that Idumea was eminent as a commercial nation; and that it offered a much shorter route to India from the Mediterranean, than the one ordinarily adopted.”

Petra lies almost in a line between the Dead Sea and the gulf of Akaba, at the head of the Red Sea. “At what period of time it was founded it is impossible to determine[89 - Chambers.]. From the mention of its inhabitants, the Edomites or Idumeans, in scriptural history, as well as from the character of its monuments, it is evident, however, that the city must be of immense antiquity. The Edomites had command of ports on the Red Sea, which put the commerce of India and Ethiopia into their hands, and was the source, both at an early period of their history and in the time of the Roman empire, of all their greatness. Petra was the centre point where the caravans rested between the Asiatic seas and the Mediterranean. The book of Job, a work of great antiquity, proves distinctly the great prosperity of his countrymen, the Edomites, and their acquaintance with many civilised arts. From it we learn that they wrought mines, manufactured wire-brass, and coined money; that they possessed mirrors, used scales and the weaver’s shuttle, and had many musical instruments; and, finally, that they were well advanced in astronomy and natural history, and had correct notions of a Deity and a future state. They also cut inscriptions on tablets, and their rich men built splendid tombs. All these things betokened no mean degree of civilisation in the land of Edom at a very early date, and confirm the supposition that portions of the remains of Petra are among the oldest, if not really the oldest, existing monuments of man’s hands.”

Dr. Vincent[90 - Periplus of the Red Sea.] says, “Petra is the capital of Edom, or Seir, the Idumea, or Arabia Petræa of the Greeks, the Nabotæa, considered by geographers, historians, and poets, as the source of all the precious commodities of the East.” The whole commerce of the East, indeed, originally passed through Arabia Petræa to Phœnicia, Tyre, and Egypt. “Notwithstanding,” continues Dr. Vincent, “that the caravans decreased in proportion to the advance of navigation, still Petra was a capital of consideration in the age of the Periplus; there was still a proportion of the trade passed from Leukè Komè (the white village) to this city, and its princes maintained a rank similar to that of Herod in Judæa. In all the subsequent fluctuations of power, some commercial transactions are discoverable in this province; and if Egypt should ever be under a civilised government again, Petræa would be no longer a desert.”

“The Nabatæi,” says Pliny, “inhabited a city called Petra, in a hollow somewhat less than two miles in circumference, surrounded by inaccessible mountains, with a stream running through it. It is distant from the town of Gaza, on the coast, six hundred miles, and from the Persian Gulf, one hundred and twenty-two.”

Strabo says, “the capital of the Nabatæi is called Petra; it lies in a spot, which is itself level and plain, but fortified all round with a barrier of rocks and precipices; within, furnished with a spring of excellent quality, for the supply of water, and the irrigation of gardens; without the circuit, the country is in a great measure desert, especially towards Judæa.”

Such are the ancient accounts of a city, which, for many centuries, has been to Europe as if it did not exist. According to this geographer it was a great and flourishing city, standing on a high rock in a plain, hemmed in and fortified all round with a barrier of rocks and precipices; and from this position it derived its name.

Very little is known of the history of this remarkable city, and of this little we have only space for a few incidents.

When Antigonus had got possession of Syria and Judæa, he sent one of his generals (Athenæus) against the people of Petra, because they had made several inroads into the country, and carried away a large booty. Athenæus succeeded so far, that he got possession of the town and likewise all the spoils deposited in it; but in his retreat the Arabs defeated his troops, regained all the spoils, and then took repossession of their city. When they had done this, they wrote a letter to Antigonus, complaining of the injustice with which Athenæus had treated them. At first Antigonus affected to disapprove of Athenæus’ proceedings; but the moment he could assemble a sufficient number of troops, he despatched his son, Demetrius, into Arabia, with orders to chastise the Petræans with the utmost severity. This, however, was easier to be said than done. Demetrius marched thither, it is true; but as he could not succeed in taking their city, he found himself compelled to make the best treaty he could, and march back again. A further account is given, by another writer: – “When Demetrius[91 - Harmonies of Nature.], by order of his father Antigonus, sate down before Petra with an army, and began an attack upon it, an Arab accosted him after the following manner: – ‘King Demetrius: what is it you would have? What madness can have induced you to invade a people, inhabiting a wilderness, where neither corn, nor wine, nor any other thing, you can subsist upon, are to be found? We inhabit these desolate plains for the sake of liberty; and submit to such inconveniences as no other people can bear in order to enjoy it. You can never force us to change our sentiments, nor way of life; therefore, we desire you to retire out of our country, as we have never injured you; to accept some presents from us; and to prevail with your father to rank us among his friends.’ Upon hearing this, Demetrius accepted their presents, and raised the siege.”

The city was, in the time of Augustus, the residence of a monarch, and considered the capital of Arabia Petræa. The country was conquered by Trajan, and annexed by him to the province of Palestine. In more recent times, Baldwin I. king of Jerusalem, having made himself also master of Petra, gave it the name of the Royal Mountain.

The probability that the ruins of Wady Mousa are those of ancient Petra, is thus stated by Colonel Leake: – “The country of the Nabatæi, of which Petra was the chief town, is well characterised by Diodorus as containing some fruitful spots, but as being, for the most part, desert and waterless. With equal accuracy, the combined information of Eratosthenes, Strabo, and Pliny, describes Petra as falling in a line drawn from the head of the Arabian gulf (Suez) to Babylon; as being at the distance of three or four days from Jericho, and of four or five from Phœnicon, which was a place now called Moyeleh, on the Nabatæan coast, near the entrance of the Ælanitic Gulf; and as situated in a valley of about two miles in length, surrounded with deserts, inclosed within precipices, and watered by a river. The latitude of 30° 20´, ascribed by Ptolemy to Petra, agrees moreover very accurately with that, which is the result of the geographical information of Burckhardt. The vestiges of opulence, and the apparent date of the architecture at Wady Mousa, are equally conformable with the remains of the history of Petra found in Strabo, from whom it appears that, previous to the reign of Augustus, or under the latter Ptolemies, a very large portion of the commerce of Arabia and India passed through Petra to the Mediterranean, and that armies of camels were required to convey the merchandise from Leuce Come [Leukè Komè], on the Red Sea, through Petra, to Rhinocolura, now El Arish. But among the ancient authorities regarding Petra, none are more curious than those of Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerome, all persons well acquainted with these countries, and who agree in proving that the sepulchre of Aaron in Mount Hor was near Petra. From hence it seems evident that the present object of Mussulman devotion, under the name of the tomb of Haroun, stands upon the same spot which has always been regarded as the burying-place of Aaron; and there remains little doubt, therefore, that the mountain to the west of Petra is the Mount Hor of the Scriptures; Mousa being, perhaps, an Arabic corruption of Movra, where Aaron is said to have died.”

Till within these few years, these ruins have been to Europeans, as if they did not exist. In 1807, M. Seetzen, travelling under the name of Morse, made an excursion into Arabia Petræa, as far as what he calls the frontiers of Idumea, but he did not approach the ruins of the capital[92 - He is supposed to have been poisoned at Akaba, where he died.]. The first traveller, who gave to modern Europe any knowledge of this city, was Burckhardt. In this journey, made in the summer of 1812, he encountered many dangers and difficulties; not so much from the inaccessible nature of the country, as from the rapacity and prejudices of the Arabs, who conceive that their ruined towns are all filled with hidden treasures; and that European visitors come for the sole purpose of carrying these away. “I see now clearly,” said his guide, “that you are an infidel, who have some particular business among the ruins of the city of our forefathers; but, depend upon it, we shall not suffer you to take out a single para of all the treasures hidden therein; for they are in our territory, and belong to us.” With these difficulties, Burckhardt had little opportunity of doing more than merely ascertaining, that such ruins as those of Petra did actually exist. “I was particularly anxious,” says he, in his journal, under date of August 22, “of visiting Wady Mousa, of the antiquities of which I had heard the country people speak in terms of great admiration; and from thence I had hoped to cross the desert in a straight line to Cairo; but my guide was afraid of the hazards of a journey through the desert. I therefore pretended to have made a vow to slaughter a goat in honour of Haroun (Aaron), whose tomb I knew was situated at the extremity of the valley; and by this stratagem I thought that I should have the means of seeing the valley in my way to the tomb. To this my guide had nothing to oppose; the dread of drawing upon himself, by resistance, the wrath of Haroun, completely silenced him.” Farther on, speaking of the antiquities of Wady Mousa, the same traveller says, “Of these I regret that I am not able to give a very complete account. I well knew the character of the people around me. I was without protection in the midst of a desert, where no traveller had ever before been seen; and a close examination of these works of the infidels, as they are called, would have excited suspicions that I was a magician in search of treasures. I should at least have been detained, and prevented from prosecuting my journey to Egypt, and in all probability should have been stripped of the little money which I possessed, and, what was infinitely more valuable to me, of my journal-book. Future travellers may visit the spot under the protection of an armed force; the inhabitants will become more accustomed to the researches of strangers, and the antiquities of Wady Mousa will then be found to rank amongst the most curious remains of ancient art.”

We shall now give some account of the travels of Mr. Banks, and the party by whom he was accompanied.[93 - See Month. Mag. No. 367.] Having quitted the tents of the Bedouins, with whom they had sojourned for a few days, they passed into the valley of Ellasar, where they noticed some relics of antiquity, which they conjectured were of Roman origin. Here they rested with a tribe of Arabs. The next day they pursued their journey, partly over a road paved with lava, and which, by its appearance, was evidently a Roman work, and stopped that evening at Shuback, a fortress in a commanding situation; but incapable, by decay, of any effectual defence against European tactics.

In the neighbourhood of this place they encountered some difficulties from the Arabs, but which, by their spirit and firmness, they overcame, and proceeded unmolested till they reached the tents of a chieftain called Eben Raschib, who took them under his protection. This encampment was situated on the edge of a precipice, from which they had a magnificent view of Mount Gebel-Nebe-Haroun, the hill of the prophet Aaron (Mount Hor); and a distant prospect of Gebel-Tour (Mount Sinai), was also pointed out to them. In the fore-ground, on the plain below, they saw the tents of the hostile Arabs, who were determined to oppose their passage to Wady Mousa, the ruins of which were also in sight.

Perceiving themselves thus as it were waylaid, they sent a messenger to the chief, requesting permission to pass; but he returned for answer, that they should neither cross his lands, nor taste his water. They were in fact in the land of Edom, to the king of which Moses sent messengers from Kadish. “Let us pass,” said he, “I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards; neither will we drink of the waters of the well: we will go by the king’s highway; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.” But Edom said unto him, “Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.” – Numbers xx. 17, 18.

The travellers, after some captious negotiation, at last obtained permission to pass; but not to drink the waters. They did not, however, very faithfully observe this stipulation; for on reaching the borders of a clear bright sparkling rivulet, their horse would taste the cooling freshness of its waters; and Eben Raschib, their protector, insisted also that the horses should be gratified. On crossing this stream they entered on the wonders of Wady Mousa.

The first object that attracted their attention was a mausoleum, at the entrance of which stood two colossal animals; but whether lions or sphinxes they could not ascertain, as they were much defaced and mutilated. They then, advancing towards the principal ruins, entered a narrow pass, varying from fifteen to twenty feet in width, overhung by precipices, which rose to the general height of two hundred, sometimes reaching five hundred feet, and darkening the path by their projecting ledges. In some places niches were sculptured in the sides of this stupendous gallery, and here and there rude masses stood forward, that bore a remote and mysterious resemblance to the figures of living things, but over which, time and oblivion had drawn an inscrutable and everlasting veil. About a mile within this pass, they rode under an arch, which connected the two sides together; and they noticed several earthen pipes, which had formerly distributed water.

Having continued to explore the gloomy windings of this awful corridor for about two miles, the front of a superb temple burst on their view. A statue of Victory, with wings, filled the centre of an aperture in the upper part, and groups of colossal figures, representing a centaur, and a young man, stood on each side of the lofty portico. This magnificent structure is entirely excavated from the solid rock, and preserved from the ravages of the weather by the projections of the overhanging precipices. About three hundred yards beyond this temple, they met with other astonishing excavations; and, on reaching the termination of the rock on their left, they found an amphitheatre, which had also been excavated, with the exception of the proscenium; and this had fallen into ruins. On all sides the rocks were hollowed into innumerable chambers and sepulchres; and a silent waste of desolated palaces, and the remains of constructed edifices, filled the area to which the pass led.

Since this, Captains Irby and Mangles, who accompanied Mr. Banks, have published an account of their journey: – “Our defile brought us directly down into the valley of Wady Mousa, whose name had become so familiar to us. It is, at the point where we entered it, a stony but cultivated valley, of moderate size, without much character or beauty, running in a direction from east to west. A lesser hollow, sloping down to it from the southward, meets it at an angle. At the upper end of the latter valley is the village seen over stages of hanging fruit-grounds, which are watered by a spring. * * Some hundred yards below this spring begin the outskirts of the vast necropolis of Petra. * * As we advanced, the natural features of the defile grew more and more imposing at every step, and the excavations and sculpture more frequent on both sides, till it presented at last a continued street of tombs, beyond which the rocks, gradually approaching each other, seemed all at once to close without any outlet. There is, however, one frightful chasm for the passage of the stream, which furnishes, as it did anciently, the only avenue to Petra on this side (the eastern).

“It is impossible,” continues Captain Irby, “to conceive any thing more awful and sublime than the eastern approach to Petra. The width is not more than just sufficient for the passage of two horsemen abreast; the sides are in all parts perpendicular, varying from four hundred to seven hundred feet in height; and they often overhang to such a degree, that, without their absolutely meeting, the sky is intercepted, and completely shut out for one hundred yards together, and there is little more light than in a cavern.” This half subterranean passage is more than two miles in length, and retains throughout the same extraordinary character.

“After passing the Khasne, the defile becomes contracted again for three hundred yards, when suddenly the ruins of the city burst on the view in their full grandeur, shut in on the opposite side by barren craggy precipices, from which numerous ravines and valleys, like those we had passed, branch out in all directions. (All of these ravines, however, that were explored, were found to terminate in a wall of rock, admitting of no passage outwards or inwards.) The sides of the mountains, covered with an endless variety of excavated tombs and private dwellings, presented altogether the most singular scene we ever beheld. We must despair to give the reader an idea of the peculiar effect of the rocks, tinted with most extraordinary hues, whose summits present us with Nature in her most savage and romantic form; whilst their bases are worked out in all the symmetry and regularity of art, with colonnades and pediments, and ranges of corridors adhering to the perpendicular surface.”

The next party that visited Petra were Messrs. Laborde and Linant. After traversing Wada Araba, they entered the Wady Mousa, the “mysterious valley of Petra.” Laborde confesses that, notwithstanding the perfect good feeling which existed between the travellers and their conductors, he felt an indefinable kind of fear that the grand object of their journey – the minute investigation of Petra – might, after all, be defeated. The “Fellahs of Wady Mousa” were yet to be reconciled to their plan of operations.

It is a common belief amongst the Arabs, that immense treasures are buried beneath the ruins that strew the rocky desert of Idumea; and it is, of course, a natural inference, that the object of Europeans in visiting the country is, by magic or superior craft, to obtain access to those treasures, the possession of which belongs to the lords of the soil. But in drawing near to the city, a danger, says M. Laborde, on which the travellers had not reckoned, proved a cause of their security. The plague had been brought from the shores of the Mediterranean into the secluded Wady Mousa, and the Fellahs had fled from its violence. The travellers, during their inspection of the city, were comparatively free from annoyance: but they would have staid longer if their Arab conductors, who were afraid of the plague, had not teased them to return; and the fact of their residence in Petra was beginning to spread.

Messrs. Laborde and Linant arrived in Petra from the south; and on reaching a point from which they could see the extent of the town, they were struck with amazement at the immense mass of ruins strewed around, and the extensive circle of rocks inclosing the place, pierced with an innumerable quantity of excavations. In fact, words are inadequate to convey a clear idea of the ruins of Petra.

In Laborde’s plan of Petra, the town is exhibited as completely encircled by huge rocks. These rocks are excavated in every variety of form. The only entrance to the town is from the south-west, by the windings of a narrow ravine, through which flows the river, or rather stream, of Wady Mousa[94 - Wady signifies a valley; Wady Mousa is the valley of Moses.].

“We wound round a peak,” says M. Laborde, “surmounted by a single tree. The view from this point exhibited a vast frightful desert; a chaotic sea, the waves of which were petrified. Following the beaten road, we saw before us Mount Hor, crowned by the tomb of the prophet, if we are to credit the ancient tradition, preserved by the people of that country. Several large and ruinous excavations, which are seen in the way, may arrest the attention of a traveller who is interested by such objects, and has no notion of those, still concealed from his view by the curtain of rocks which extends before him; but at length the rock leads him to the heights above one more ravine; whence he discovers within his horizon the most singular spectacle, the most enchanting picture, which Nature has wrought in her grandest mood of creation; which men, influenced by the vainest dreams of ambition, have yet bequeathed to the generations that were to follow them. At Palmyra, Nature renders the works of man insignificant by her own immensity and her boundless horizon, within which some hundreds of columns seem entirely lost. Here, on the contrary, she seems delighted to set, in her most noble frame-work, his productions, which aspire, and not unsuccessfully, to harmonize with her own majestic, yet fantastic, appearance. The spectator hesitates for a moment, as to which of the two he is the more impelled to admire; whether he is to accord the preference to Nature, who invites his attention to her matchless girdle of rocks, wondrous as well for their colour as their forms; or to the men who feared not to mingle the works of their genius with such splendid efforts of creative power.”

We now give an abstract of what has been written of this city, mainly taken from a very intelligent periodical journal, published at Edinburgh (Chambers’s Journal).

Nearly at the spot where the defile opens into the site of the city, one excavation in the site of the pass arrests the attention of the traveller. This is a vast circular theatre hewn out of the solid rock, consisting of thirty-three seats of stone sloping upwards, and surmounted, and in some degree sheltered, by the rocks above. The countless tombs in the immediate vicinity of this ruined edifice led M. Laborde to remark on the extraordinary taste of the people of Petra, in selecting a place of amusement, encircled on all sides by the mansions and memorials of death!

It is unnecessary to enter into a minute description of the excavated tombs and sepulchres, studding the rocky walls around Petra. The basis of the architecture, in almost all cases, is Grecian, mingled with Roman; though in many instances a style is apparent, which must be regarded as Egyptian, or rather the native style of Petra. Many of the chambers within the tombs are so immense, that their real character might be doubted; were it not for the recesses they contain, destined, it is plain, for the reception of bodies. How enormous must have been the labour and expense, necessary for the excavation of these sepulchres, some of which are large enough to stable the horses of a whole tribe of Arabs! It is impossible to conceive that such resting-places could have been appropriated to any other persons than rulers or rich men, and great, indeed, as Mr. Burckhardt remarks, “must have been the opulence of a city, which could dedicate such monuments to the memory of its rulers.” Some of the finest mausoleums, as we have already seen, are not in the main valley, but in the ravines leading from it, where their multiplicity is beyond conception. In a ravine on the north-west, M. Laborde beheld one, called by the natives El-Deir, or the Convent, of much larger dimensions than the Khasne, and, like it, sculptured out of the rock, though not in a style so perfect.