Evening star., 1935-01-27

strange to say, about Petra. Perhaps
Scheherezade, telling her thousand and
one tales to Calf Shahryar was saving
this fantastic history for an emergency
that never arose. For it Is hardly possible
that this remarkably well informed princess
did not know about the enchanted city of
Petra, the most wonderful and beautiful city
in all the Arab world, which fell under magic
spell 600 years before SchehereZadeS time, put
stood in all its glory and still bewitched, even
while she beguiled the Calf with less romantic
fantasies.
save this thousand and second tale of Arabian
magic particularly as the subject of 1t remains
intact today-still wonderful, still beautiful,
stin enchanted.
Two thousand years ago tribe OF Arab
shepherds, driving their f1ocks across the Land
of Edom, 100 miles south Of the Dead Sea,
came to the spring which Moses brought forth
from the rocks by means of blow with his
miraculous rod. The stream flowing from this
spring rippled down q barren valley and then
suddenly turned at right angles and disap-
peared, apparently, straight into the pre-
Cipitous mountain wall.
The shepherds, puzzled, looked closer and
discovered that the stream had found a cleft
In the mountainside, cleft so narrow and
so well hidden that one might have passed
close by and never seen 1t. Into the dark
and uninviting entrance the shepherds hesi-
taLeQ TO 60, Dub LI1tlE curiosity OfCICdHC GcH
fears and they found courage to follow the
stream into what seemed the corridor to Hades.
Tor nearly mile the cleft wound between
the two overhangng cliffs of rock which
scared above for nearly a thousand feet Yet
In places the passage grew so narrow that the
shepherds could stretch out their arms and
touch both walls. Into the bottom of this
crack the sun never shone, so that even at
noon the explorers had only twilight to guide
them.
As UNEXPECTEDLY as the cleft cut into the
mountain side 1t emerged, Just as Unexpectedly,
into an ancient lake bed miles across and
completely inclosed by sandstone precipices
hundreds of feet high. The floor of the great
sink seemed to have only the one entrance,
which was in turn its only exit. The stream,
never containing any great volume of water
and dry half the time, having led the shepherds
into this new and secret pasture land, sank
into the ground.
The discoverers Immediately realized that
they had found q stronghold of enormous
strategic value, for enemies, unable to climb
down the surrounding palisades, could ap-
proach only via the cleft, and here defenders
could block 1000.
Inevitably settlement sprung up inside this
rocky amphitheater, grew into a town and into
the celebrated city OF Petra, a city adorned
with temples and palaces so remarkable that
they set all the ancient world to talking.
That simple shepherds developed into such
inspired builders was due, so local legends tell,
to their king, who by means of a magic talisman
had been able to gain dominion over the jinns.
It was with the aid Of these jinns that he
turned his shepherd settlement into sand
stone capital which has remained throughout
the centuries one Of the marvels Of archaeology,
for each one of the kings magnificent tombs
and palaces was carved with hammer and
chisel right out of the solid rock.
But the King of Petra did not spend all his
time building tombs and palaces. Besides being
the lord over the jinns, he also became the
most dreaded robber in Arabia. Sallying forth
from the hidden canyon his shepherds, turned
into robber bands, would drive the passing cara
vans into the impregnable fortress. nor could
any revengeful army pursue them through the
narrow cleft. The city became vast fortified
Btorehouse where gold and pearls and silk were
piled in fabulous array.
Gorged with wealth and power, the arro-
gance of the people of Petra knew no bounds
They conquered all the neighboring nations. Its
rulers dragged captive artists and sculptors even
from Athens. Grander and grander grew their
temples, conceived in gigantic scale and exe-
cuted with miraculous perfection by Greek
genius, all in the solid sandstone cliffs.