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PETRA (r)
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See also:PETRA (r) Ilb-pa= the See also:rock), a ruined site, 30°19' N. and 35° 31' E., lying in a See also:basin among the mountains which See also:form the eastern flank of See also:Wadi el-'Araba, the See also:great valley See also:running from the Dead See also:Sea to the Gulf of 'AM a. The descriptions of See also:Strabo (xvi. p. 779), See also:Pliny (N.H. vi. 32) and other writers leave no doubt as to the identity of this site with the famous See also:capital of the See also:Nabataeans (q.v.) and the centre of their See also:caravan See also:trade. Walled in by towering rocks and watered by a perennial stream, Petra not only possessed the advantages of a fortress but controlled the See also:main commercial routes which passed through it to See also:Gaza in the See also:west, to Bostra and See also:Damascus in the See also:north, to Elath and Leuce Come on the Red Sea, and across the See also:desert to the See also:Persian Gulf. From the `Araba travellers approach by a track which leads See also:round See also:Jebel See also:Harlan (Mt See also:Hor) and enters the See also:plain of Petra from the See also:south; it is just possible to find a way in from the high See also:plateau on the north; but the most impressive entrance is from the See also:east, down a dark and narrow See also:gorge, in places only 10 or 12 ft. wide, called the S115., i.e. the See also:shaft, a split in the huge See also:sandstone rocks which serves as the waterway of the Wadi Musa. Near the end of the See also:defile stands the most elaborate of the ruins, el-Hazne or " the See also:Treasury of See also:Pharaoh," not built but hewn out of the cliff; a little farther on, at the See also:foot of the See also:mountain called en-Nejr, comes the See also:theatre, so placed as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view; and at the point where the valley opens out into the plain the site of the See also:city is revealed with striking effect. Almost enclosing it on three sides are See also:rose-coloured mountain walls, divided into See also:groups by deep fissures, and lined with rock-cut tombs in the form of towers. The stream of Wadi Musa crosses the plain and disappears among the mountains opposite; on either See also:bank, where the ground is fairly level, the city was built, covering a space of about r4 sq. m. Among the ruins on the south bank stand the fragments of a See also:temple called J(asr See also:Fir'aun of See also:late See also:Roman date; just beyond this rises a rocky height which is usually regarded as the See also:acropolis. A position of such natural strength must have been occupied See also:early, but we have no means of telling exactly when the See also:history of Petra began; the See also:evidence seems to show that the city was of relatively late See also:foundation, though a See also:sanctuary (see below) may have existed there from very See also:ancient times. This See also:part of the See also:country was assigned by tradition to the Horites, i.e. probably " See also:cave-dwellers," the predecessors of the Edomites (Gen. xiv. 6, See also:xxxvi. 20—30; Deut. ii. 12) ; the habits of the See also:original natives may have influenced the Nabataean See also:custom of burying the dead and offering See also:worship in See also:half-excavated caves.' But that Petra itself is mentioned in the Old Testament cannot be affirmed with certainty; for though Petra is usually identified with Sela' 2 which also means " a rock," the reference in See also:Judges i. 36; Isa. xvi. 1, xlii. r 1; Obad. 3, is far from clear. 2 See also:Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more explicit; in the parallel passage, however, Seta' is understood to mean simply " the rock" (2 Chr. See also:xxv. 12, see LXX). Hence many authorities doubt whether any See also:town named Sela` is mentioned in the Old Testament.3 What, then, did the Semitic Buhl, Gesch. der Edomiter (1893), p. 52. 'E.g. by See also:Driver, Deut. p. 38; See also:Noldeke, Ency. Bibl. See also:col. 1185; Ed. See also:Meyer, See also:Die Israeliten u. ihre Nachbarstamme, p. 357. 3 Buhl, p. 35 sqq., G. F. See also:Moore, Judges, p. 55 seq., See also:Oxford Ilebr. Lex. s. v. T. K. See also:Cheyne, Ency. Baba. s. v. Seta; A. Jeremias, Das A. T. See also:im Lichte d. See also:alien Orients, p. 457. inhabitants See also:call their city? See also:Eusebius and See also:Jerome (Onom. sacr. 286, 71. 145, 9; 228, 55. 287, 94), apparently on the authority of See also:Josephus (See also:Ant. iv. 7, I; 4, 7), assert that Rekem was the native name. But in the Aramaic versions Rekem is the name of Kadesh; Josephus may have confused the two places. Some-times the Aramaic versions give the form Rekem-Geya, which recalls the name of the See also:village El-ji, south-east of Petra; the capital, however, would hardly be defined by the name of a neighbouring village. The Semitic name of the city, if it was not Sela', must remain unknown.' The passage in Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94-97) which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 B.C. IS generally understood to throw some See also:light upon the history of Petra, though it must be admitted that the Petra referred to as a natural fortress and See also:place of See also:refuge cannot be a proper name, and the description at any See also:rate implies that the town was not yet in existence. See also:Brunnow thinks that " the rock " in question was the sacred mountain en-Nejr (above); but Buhl suggests a conspicuous height about r6 m. north of Petra, Shobak, the Mont-royal of the Crusaders.' More satisfactory evidence of the date at which the earliest Nabataean See also:settlement began is to be obtained from an examination of the tombs. Two types may be distinguished broadly, the Nabataean and the Graeco-Roman. The Nabataean type starts from the See also:simple pylon-See also:tomb with a See also:door set in a See also:tower crowned by a See also:parapet See also:ornament, in See also:imitation of the front of a dwelling-See also:house; then, after passing through various stages, the full Nabataean type is reached, retaining all the native features and at the same See also:time exhibiting characteristics which are partly See also:Egyptian and partly See also:Greek. Of this type there exist See also:close See also:parallels in the tomb-towers at el-I3ejr in north See also:Arabia, which See also:bear See also:long Nabataean See also:inscriptions,3 and so See also:supply a date for the corresponding monuments at Petra. Then comes a See also:series of tomb-fronts which terminate in a semicircular See also:arch, a feature derived from north See also:Syria, and finally the elaborate facades, from which all trace of native See also:style has vanished, copied from the front of a Roman temple. The exact See also:dates of the stages in this development cannot be fixed, for strangely enough few inscriptions of any length have been found at Petra,' perhaps because they have perished with the See also:stucco or See also:cement which was used upon many of the buildings. We have, then, as evidence for the earliest See also:period, the simple pylon-tombs, which belong to the pre-Hellenic See also:age; how far back in this See also:stage the Nabataean settlement goes we do not know, but not farther than the 6th See also:century B.C. A period follows in which the dominant See also:civilization combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly pointing to the age of the See also:Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century B.C., when the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean See also:kingdom came to the front; under See also:Aretas III. Philhellene, c. 85-6o B.C., the royal coins begin; at this time probably the theatre was excavated, and Petra must have assumed the aspect of a Hellenistic city. In the long and prosperous reign of Aretas IV. See also:Philopatris, 9 B.C.—A.D. 40, the See also:fine tombs of the el-IJejr type may be dated, perhaps also the great High-place. Then the city became more and more Romanized. In A.D. ro6, when See also:Cornelius See also:Palma was See also:governor of Syria, "Arabia belonging to Petra,"' was absorbed into the Roman See also:Empire, and the native See also:dynasty came to an end. But the city continued to flourish. It was visited in A.D. 131 by See also:Hadrian, and stamped Adriane Petra on its coins in gratitude for the See also:emperor's benefactions; the superb IIazne, probably a temple for the worship of See also:Isis, and the Der, which resembles the Ilazne in See also:design, belong to this period. A century later, in the time of See also: 250, n = CIS. ii. 349, 16th See also:year of Aretas III., i.e. B.C. 70, so also CIS. ii. 442; NSI. 94 and 95 CIS. ii. 350 and 354, the latter dated the 29th year of Aretas IV., i.e. A.D. 20. The other Nabat. inscrr. are mostly graffiti, scratched on the rocks by visitors or worshippers at the See also:holy places; CIS. ii. 355-441' 444-464. 5 This is the meaning of Arabia Petraea. Dio See also:Cass. lxviii. 14.
See also:Severus (A.D. 222-235), when the city was at the height of its splendour, the issue of coinage comes to an end, and there is no more See also:building of sumptuous tombs, owing apparently to some sudden See also:catastrophe, such as an invasion by the neo-Persian See also:power under the See also:Sassanid dynasty. Meanwhile as See also:Palmyra (ft. A.D. 130—270) See also:grew in importance and attracted the Arabian trade away from Petra, the latter declined; it seems, however, to have lingered on as a religious centre; for we are told by See also:Epiphanius (c. A.D. 315-403) that in his time a feast was held there on the 25th of See also:December in See also:honour of the virgin Chaabou and her offspring Dusares (Haer. 51).
The See also:chief See also:god of Petra was Dhu-shara (Dovvapa7s), i.e. the See also:lord or owner of Shard;' he was worshipped under the form of a See also:black rectangular See also: Epiphan. above). Associated with Dhu-shara was Allat, the chief goddess of the ancient See also:Arabs. Sanctuary See also:chambers may be seen at various points in the site of Petra, and many places of See also:sacrifice open to the See also:sky are met with among the tombs, marked by remains of altars. But most eminent of all was the great High-place which has recently been discovered on en-Nejr (or Zibb `atuf). It consists of a rock-hewn See also:altar of burnt-offering with a place for killing the victims beside it and a shallow See also:court, perhaps intended to hold See also:water, in front: the most See also:complete specimen of an ancient Semitic sanctuary that is known? Not far off are two obelisks cut out of the solid rock which has been removed to the level of their bases; these were either idols of Dhu-shara and Allat, or more probably were designed to See also:mark the limits of the learam of the sanctuary. West of the obelisks are three other places of sacrifice; and on the rocks below worshippers have carved their names (CIS. ii. 390-404). En-Nejr, with the theatre at its foot, must have been the sacred mountain, the original sanctuary of Petra, perhaps " the very high mountain of Arabia called Dusare after the god Dusares " referred to by Steph. Byz. (s.v. Dovvaprt). See also:Christianity found its way into Petra in early times; See also:Athanasius mentions a See also:bishop of Petra (Herpmv T7'7s 'Apa(3ias, ad See also:Antioch. lo) named Asterius; at least one of the tombs (the " tomb with the See also:urn") was used as a See also: A. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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