Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-11-05


Hidden away in the rocky region
south of the Dead sea, midway be-
tween that deep depression and the
Gulf of Akaba, is one of the strangest,
most beautiful, and most enchanting
spots upon this earth-the Rock City
of Petra.
The Bible throws light on the gene
sis of Petra, for it was founded by
the Edomites, descendants of Esau,
after his angry parting from Jacob.
In the days of the Nabatheans,
Petra became the central point to
which the caravans from the interior
Of Arabia, Persia and India came
laden with all the precious commodi-
ties of the East, and from which these
commodities were distributed through
Egypt, Palestine, Syria and all the
countries bordering the Mediterra-
mean, for even Tyre and Sidon de-
rived many of their precious wares
and dyes from Petra
Petra was at that time the Suez of
this part of the world, the place where
the East and West met to trade and
barter. 1t was also, in fact, a great
"safe deposit" into which the cara
vans poured after the vicissitudes and
dangers of the desert It's wealth be-
came fabulous, and 1t is not without
some good reason that the first rock
structure one sees in Petra, guard
Ing the mysterious entrance, is still
called "Pharaoh's Treasury" 1t
must have been the Nabatheans who
developed the natural beauties of the
situation and increased the rock-cut
dwellings and temples and tombs to
the almost interminable extent in
which they are found today.
The palmy period of the Ma
batheans extended from $50 B. G. to
LOG A. D., when the Romans con-
4uered the country and city, extended
two Roman roads into it, and estab-
hshed the province of Arabia Petra.
The Rock City was always to these
regions and peoples what Rome was
to the Romans and Jerusalem to the
Jews. Horites, Edomites Nabatheans
and Romans have all rejoiced and
boosted in the possession of this
unique stronghold and most remark
able city of antiquity.
Lost for Thousand Years.
When Rome's power waned and the
fortified camps on the edge of the
desert were abandoned, no doubt the
soldiers were withdrawn from such
cities as Petra. Then the Romanized
Nabatheans or Nabatheanized Romans
held their own against the desert
hordes as long as they could, and
went down probably about the same
time as the Greek cities of Decapo-
lis 1886 A. d.. From that time on
ward Petra's history became more
obscure, and for more than thou
sand years EdOm's ancient capital
was completely lost to the civilized
world. Until its discovery by Burck-
hardt in 1912, its site seems to have
been unknown except to the wander
ing Bedouin.
1t is scarcely an exaggeration to
say that the entrance to the Rock
0lll Is the uOSl' gateway "
any city on our planet. 1t is mar
row rift or defile. bisecting mountain
of many-hueG sandstone, winding
through the rock as though it was
the most plastic of clay. This six,
or defile, is nearly two miles long. Its
general contour is a wide semicircu-
lar swing from the right to the left,
with innumerable short bends, hav-
ing sharp curves and corners in its
general course.
Pharaohs Treasury.
The width of the six varies from II
feet at it's narrowest point to 80 or
40 feet at other places. Where the
gloomy walls actually overhang the
roadway nd almost shut out the
blue ribbon of sky, it seems narrow
er, and perhaps at many points
above the stream the walls do come
closer than II feet. Photographs OF
these narrower and darker portions
VI The dedle are impossible.
On ones first journey into this