5S4 PETRA. from it supplied the inhabitants with water. But now its banks are overspread with hyacintlis, olean- ders, and other flowers and slirubs, and overshadowed by lofty trees. Opposite to where the Slk terminates, in a se- cond ravine-like but broader valley, another mo- nument, the finest one at Petra, and periiaps in all Syria, strikes the eye of the traveller. This is the Kktizneh, — well preserved, considering its age and site, and still exhibiting its delicate chiselled work and all the freshness and beauty of its colouring. It has two rows of six columns over one another, with statues between, with capitals and sculptured pediments, the upper one of which is divided by a little round temple crowned with an urn. The Arabs imagine that the urn contains a treasure, — El Klniz- «t7j, whence the name, — which they ascribe to Pharaoh (Robinson, ii.p.519). The interiordoes not correspond with the magnificence of the faqnde, being a plain lofty hall, with a chamber adjoining each of its three sides. It was cither a mausoleum, or, mere probably, a temple. From this spot the cliffs on both sides the Wady are pierced with numerous excavations, the cham- bers of which are usually small, though the Ja- qades are occasionally of some size and magnifi- cence ; all, however, so v.arious that scarce two are exactly alike. After a gentle curve the Wady ex- pands, and here on its left side lies the theatre, en- tirely hewn out of the rock. Its diameter at the bottom is 120 feet (Irby and Mangles, p. 428), and it has thirty-three, or, according to another account, thirty-eight, rows of seats, capable of accommodating at least 3000 spectators. Strangely enough, it is entirely surrounded with tombs. One of these is in- scribed with the name of Q. Praefectus Florentinus (Laborde, p. 59), probably the governor of Arabia Petraea under Hadrian or Antoninus Pius. Another has aGreek inscription, notyet deciphered. A striking effect is produced by the bright and lively tints of the variegated stone, out of which springs the wild fig and tamarisk, while creeping plants overspread the walls, and thorns and brambles cover the pedestals and cornices {Isaiah, xxxiv. 13). Travellers are agreed that these excavations were mostly tombs, though some think they may originally have served as dwellings. A few were, doubtless, temples for the worship of Baal, but subsequently converted into Christian churches. Proceeding down the stream, at about 150 paces from the theatre, the cliffs begin to expand, and soon vanish altogether, to give place to a small plain, about a mile square, surrounded with gentle eminences. The brook, which now turns to the W., traverses the middle of this plain till it reaches a ledge of sandstone cliffs, at a distance of ratiier more than a mile. This was the site of Petra, and is still covered with heaps of hewn stones, traces of paved streets, and foundations of houses. There are remains of several larger and smaller temples, of a bridge, of a triumphal arch of degenerate architecture, and of the walls of a great public building — Kusr Faron, or the palace of Pharaoh. Oil an eminence south of this is a single column (^Zuh Faron, i. e. hasta virilis Pharaonis), con- nected with the foundation -walls of a temple whose pillars lie scattered around in broken fragments. Laborde (p. 59) thinks that the Acropolis occu- pied an isolated hill on the W. At the NW. ex- tremity of the cliffs is the Deir, or cloister, hewn in tlic rock. A ravine, like the Sik, with many PETRAS MINOR. windings, leads to it, and the approach is partly by a path 5 or 6 feet broad, with steps cut in the rock with inexpressible labour. Its Jagade is l.irger than that of the Khuzneh ; but, as in that building, the interior does not answer to it, consisting of a large square chamber, with a recess resembling the niche for the altar in Greek ecclesiastical architec- ture, and bearing evident signs of having been con- verted from a heathen into a Christian temple. The destruction of Petra. so frequently prophesied in Scripture, was .at length wrought by the Mahometans. From that time it remained unvisited, except by sonie crusading kings of Jerusalem ; and perhaps by the single European traveller, Thetmar, at the beginning of the 1 3th century. It was discovered by Burckhardt, whose account of it still continues to be the best. (Robinson, ii. p. 527.) Laborde's work is chiefly valuable for the engravings. See also Irby and Mangles, Travels, c.'m; Hohinson, Bibl.Nesearclics, vohii.p. 512, seq. [T. H. D.] 2. A town in the land of the Lazi in Colchis, founded by Joannes Tzibus, a general of Justinian, in order to keep the Lazi in subjection. It was situated upon a rock near the coast, and was very strongly fortified. (Procop. i?. Pers. ii. 15,17.) It was taken by Chosroes in A. d. 541, and its sub- sequent siege by the Romans is described by Gibbon as one of the most remarkable actions of the age. The first siege was relieved; but it was again .attacked by the Romans, and was at length taken by assault after a long protracted resistance, A. d. 551. It was then destroyed by the Romans, and from that time disappears from history. Its ruins, which are now called Oudjenar, are described by Dubois. (Procop. B. Pars. ii. 17, 20, 30, B. Goth. iv. 11,12; Gibbon, c. slii. vol. v. p. 201,ed. Smith; Dubois, Voyage aulour du Caucase, vol. iii. p. 86, seq.) 3. A very strong fortress in Sogdiana, held by Arimazes when Alexander attacked it. (Curt. vii. 11; comp. Arrian,iv. 19; Strab. xi. p. 517.) It is pro- bably the modern Kohiten, near the pass of Kohir/ha or JJerbend. [See Dict.qf Biogr. Vol. I. p. 286.] PETRAS IiIAJOK {Xlirpas 6 fidyas, Scyl. p. 45; Ptol. iv. 5. § 3 ; Stadiasin. § 33), a harbour of Marmarica, a day's sail irom Plyni Portus, and the same as the large harbour which Strabo (xvii. p. 838) places near Ardanis Prom., and describes .as lying opposite to Chersonesus of Crete, at a dis- tance of 3000 st.adia. It agrees in position with Port Bardiah, where there are springs to the W. of Marsa Soloum. [E. B. J.] PETRAS MINOR (neVpas 6 iMKp6s, Scyl. I. c. : Ptol. iv. 5. § 2 : Stadiasm. § 39), a harbour of Marmarica, half a day's sail from Antipyrgus. It has been identified with Magharab-el-Heabes, where there are a great number of catacombs remarkable for their Graeco-Aegyptian style. Thebe curious excavations, of which plans are given in Pacho ( Voyage dans la Afarmarique, Planches, pi. v.), are to be identified, according to that traveller (p. 49), with the sinuous caverns of Bombae.v (B(i/xgaia), resembling the Aegyptian " hypogaea," which the Greeks called " Syringes," mentioned by Synesius (£p. 104); but Barth {Wanderungen, p. 512) has shown that the description of thi bishop of Ptolemais cannot be applied to the.^e catacombs and their locality. A coin with the epigraph DE-PA, which Pellerin referred to this port in Marmarica is by Eckhel (iv. 116) assigned to a Cretan mint [E. B. J.]
Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/600
This page needs to be proofread.
