The Jordan Valley and Petra . en hundred ortw^o thousand years ago ; colored with the naturalhues of the brilliant sandstones, which add an in-describable element to the architectural beauty;flanked and surmounted by the cliff, which hadbeen carved and tinted in its turn by the powers ofnature ; approached by the mysterious defile, it isalmost overpowering in its effect. Such is the ancient entrance to the strangest cityon our planet. Along its cool, gloomy gorge, filed the 5^ The Jordan Valley and Petra caravans of antiquity, from Damascus and the East,from the desert, from Egypt and the hear
The Jordan Valley and Petra . en hundred ortw^o thousand years ago ; colored with the naturalhues of the brilliant sandstones, which add an in-describable element to the architectural beauty;flanked and surmounted by the cliff, which hadbeen carved and tinted in its turn by the powers ofnature ; approached by the mysterious defile, it isalmost overpowering in its effect. Such is the ancient entrance to the strangest cityon our planet. Along its cool, gloomy gorge, filed the 5^ The Jordan Valley and Petra caravans of antiquity, from Damascus and the East,from the desert, from Egypt and the heart of , queens, conquerors, have all marvelled at itsbeauties and at its strano-eness. Wealth untold wentin and out of it for centuries, and now for overthirteen hundred years it has been silent and de-serted. We had seen enough for one day. Outof the fading light, into the deepening gloom ofthe entrance gorge, we picked our way back to thetents among the oleanders with some impressionsthat death can hardly a o CHAPTER III EDOM AND PETRA THE scene around our camp at the entrance toPetra was one of rejoicing. Even the mule-teers awoke to the strangeness of the countrywe had entered, and were eaofer for the sights andexperiences of the mysterious city below us in theheart of the mountain. The air was mild andmoist, our tents were in a sheltered spot, comparedwith our other camping-places, and after doublingthe guard, the rest of the men turned in had reached another vantage-point in our jour-ney, and before we slept we went back in imagina-tion over the centuries of history and legend whichoverlay and interlap like the debris of ancientcities, and were represented around us in such aninteresting manner. When we crossed the Ahsa, between Kerak andTafileh, we left the land of Moab and enteredEdom, whose wild life touches that of the Childrenof Israel at so many points. This region comesinto histor}^ as Mount Seir in the days of Chedar-laomer and Abraham
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