Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-09-02
Petra Is Of the Beaten Path.
Old Petra Now Accessible to Travellers
After ManY Centuries Of Oblivion
Petra Is OF the Beaten Path.
Prepared by National Geographic Society.
WASHINGTON n C-WNIJ Service

Prepared by National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C.-WNU Service.
DETRA, silent city of the for
i gotten past, halfway between
the Dead Sea and the Gulf Of
Aqaba, exerts a magic spell
upon the minds of those fortu-
nate enough to know it. Its sim
gle and weird approach,
through a deep rock cleft
more than a mile long; it's
temples, numbering nearly a
thousand, cut into the living
rock Of stupendous cliffs and
showing Babylonian, Egyptian,
Greek and Roman influence;
it's high places, courts, hbation
basins and affairs where the
ancients worshiped; its amaz-
ing color, the work of Nature
lavish with ocher and all shades
of red-all these are mysteri-
GUS, enthralling.
tThe rose-red city, half as old as
time" has history that began long
before histories were written. Near
it have been found worked hints of
the Late Chellean period, nillenni-
ums before recorded dates.
It's first written history is found
in the Bible; for the land about it
was Mount SER of old (now Esh
Shera), home of the Horites, cave
jewellers whose progenitor was Hori,
the grandson of SER. These Horites
are first mentioned at the time of
Abraham in connection with the
subjugation of the land by Chedor-
laomer.
For centuries Petra was rich
caravan city, a veritable crossroads
of the ancient world. The Arabian
peninsula was network of caravan
routes, over which passed the prod
ucts of Africa, Arabia, and India
to the valley of the Nile, Palestine,
Phoenicia, and the Euphrates-Tigris
valley.
Deserted When Rome Fell.
Goods were brought to Petra for
storage and for trans-shipment in
every direction. So important was
the city that the Romans built two
roads to tap it's wealth. When Rome
fell, however, it's doom was sealed.
Abandoned save for few desert
tribesmen, who lived miserably in
it's caves, as some of them still live,
Petra passed from the notice of the
outside world, remaining in oblivion
for more than thousand years.
In 1912 the Swiss traveller, John
Lewis Burckhardt, disguised as
Bedouin sheik, reached it and re-
turned to tell of it's mysteries. It
had then become sacred ground to
the Arabs, and danger menaced any
infdel who approached it.
In the century after Burckhardt
few explorers attempted to visit it.
Not, indeed, until after the World
war was it accessible to any save
the most intrepid; and even now Wis.,
itors cannot enter it save under
protection of armed guards. With
comfortable camp for accommoda-
ton of guests during the summer
months, Petra at last is open to Sc
rious travellers.
The trip from Jerusalem to Petra
and back once required about a
month of arduous caravan travel
through country infested with law
less Bedouins. Construction of the
Mecca railway from Damascus to
the sacred city of Medina was a first
step toward opening the country,
and later a highway from Jerusa-
lem to Ma'an and a smooth dirt
road from Ma'an to Eli brought
motor vehicles within two miles of
the ancient city. Airplanes, too, now
carry passengers to Ma'an, bound
for Petra.
When the British cleared the way
for automobiles between Ma Fan and
Eli, the Bedouins rose in open re-
volt, complaining that the road
would deprive them of their income
from renting saddle animals to
Petra visitors.
Warfare ensued, several persons
of both sides losing their lives. After
the government had crushed the re-
bellion by armed force, the Bed
ouins received assurance that the
road would not be extended beyond
Eli, and that their horses and
mules would be hired under govern
ment supervision for the last part
of the journey.