The Coolidge examiner., 1937-09-02


Of the journey.
How to Reach the Ruins.
Thus the Bedouins have kept
modern transportation from actu-
ally infringing on the silence of
long ago and preserved for Petra a
measure of its isolation.
However you travel to Petra,
whether by railroad from Damas-
Gus, a method almost disused; or
by car from Jerusalem, the most
practical way; or by air. the lat
est innovation. all routes converge
on Ma an, thriving abode village
girdled with walled gardens of
palms, figs. and vegetables, and
surrounded by fat, chalky white
desert. There is an English school
here, and visitors are often amazed
TO find that many of the Arab youths
understand and speak English.
From Ma an you drive northwest
by car, passing the spring of Ain
Musa, to Eli. Here a happy crowd
Of Bedouins, with emaciated riding
horses and pack mules, await your
arrival.
Descending first by slippery trails
over limestone rock, you follow the
bed Of Wadi Musa to a mighty bar
rier, the eastern range of the red
sandstone mountains that enclose
Petra. Wadi Musa deepens. 1t
seems that you are entering a cul-
de-sac, but here Nature has rent
the range asunder, cutting a mar
row opening. For this long slit the
Arabs have coined the name Es Siq
"a clefD.
Through it the fountain and food
waters flow in winter. and after trav-
ersing the precincts of Petra city,
find their way into Wadi ell ARABIA
by another greater gorge, the Wadi
es Siyagh.
Through Bah es Sig.
Approaching the gateway, Bah es
Sig, you pass through a small SUBJ
urb of Petra, without the precincts
Of the fortified city. This was city
OF the dead, as was most of what
is left Of Petra. Objects of interest
are tombs Of the pylon type, cut
from the solid rock, but, unlike the
facade monuments Of Petra proper,
blocked out to stand apart as build
ings.
Here, too, are scattered white
sandstone hummocks, rock domes
into which large numbers of small
chambers have been cut without
faces.
Many Of like character are found
on the less accessible mountain
tops. They are believed to be the
troglodyte homes of ancient people
who lived. on Mont Seir before the
descendants of Esau made Edom
OF it.
The Sig is 5000 feet long as the
crow flies and considerably longer
as it winds. Once it was all paved,
and channels were cut into its pre-
cipitous sides to lead the spring
water into the city. 1t is 20 feet
wide in its narrowest parts and ex-
pands to not more than two or three
times this dimension. It's sides are
stupendous, making men mere ants
by comparison.
In no place may you see far
ahead. crooks and corners prevent
ing. A streak of blue sky like a
twisted ribbon is all that is visible
of the heavens.
Your horses slip over the great
boulders that choke this ancient av-
enue, your Bedouins chanting their
weary and melancholy notes.
After 20 minutes of this bewitch-
ing seclusion, you strain your eyes
for a first glimpse Of the vision
you know awaits you. Even though
you watch, it bursts upon you as a
surprise.
The Sig ends abruptly in a cross
BOIBS. IOIll Tie AdSC VI LIle CHI
opposite the Sig mouth Ell Khazna
has been cameoed out, temple 10
an unknown deity. 1t peeps at you
at first, you see little more, and
then it bursts upon you in all its
beauty.
This cross-canyon has been called
the "Outer Siq." The name Lower
Siq'' may fit it better. It's walls
are equally precipitous. To the
south it's valley floor rises abruptly
to the mountain top on which the
Great High Place of Sacrifice is To-
Gated. Steps have been cut at no
little expenditure of energy to make
easy the ascent of the worshiper. To
the north the Outer Sig expands,
opening into the Petra basin.