36

THE TREASURY OF PHARAOH.

activity in stepping, and sometimes leaping from one rock to another, will save the traveller from wet feet, the only danger to which he is exposed. Even at midday, the hour when I threaded this profound chasm, the sun was often concealed by the height of the cliffs. At an earlier or later hour the bottom of the gorge has, in many places, only a twinkling of light.

The Treasury of Pharaoh, the most chaste and perfect of the splendid monuments of Petra, is situated in this gorge, in the bosom of the mountain, at a point where the receding cliffs form a deep, dark glen of only a few rods in diameter. A broad incision was made in the face of the mountain, ten or twelve feet in depth, apparently for the purpose of reaching the more solid parts of the rock. This preparatory excavation left an immense projecting mass, which overhangs the edifice, and protects it against the rains. To this circumstance we are probably indebted for the good preservation and perfect freshness of this exquisite piece of architecture. Six columns of no distinct order, but most resembling the Corinthian, supported and adorned the front. One has disappeared, and five remain in their places. A graceful pediment is ornamented with some good sculpture. Another row of six beautiful columns rises above the first, forming a second and peculiarly elegant stage of this incomparable façade. Each pair of columns supports the pediment and other rich ornaments of a porch or miniature temple, in the style I have already described in speaking of the Corinthian tomb. The middle one, which is exquisitely beautiful, resembles in form the Lantern of Demosthenes at Athens. It is separated from the other two by deep niches, which seem to have contained statues. Two statues which occupied niches in the lower part of the façade are still seen, in a mutilated condition. The pinnacle of the temple, perhaps one hundred feet in height, is surmounted by a beautiful urn. The principal apartment of the interior, which is

INTERESTING VIEWS.

37

perfectly plain, is fifteen paces in length by fourteen in width, and has small, narrow recesses in three of its sides. There are two other lateral chambers, nearly as large, on the right and left of the vestibule.

Just to the right of the temple, a sort of ladder is formed from the base to the summit of the perpendicular cliff. It consists of small holes cut in the face of the rock, just sufficient to receive the hand or foot; and this seems to have been the only means by which the workmen ascended and descended. It is enough to make one's head turn to look at it. Stairs of the same kind were employed in scaling the immense heights in the quarries of Jebel Silsily.

The view of this temple which is obtained in approaching Petra from the east is much admired, and some of our party made a long and toilsome detour through the passes of the mountains in order to obtain their first glimpses of this celebrated structure from that most favourable point. I was too much pressed for time to accompany them, but did what I could to remedy the faults of an approach from the wrong direction by turning around frequently as I prosecuted my walk towards the sources of the stream, and looking back upon the temple. The gorge immediately contracts to its previous dimensions upon leaving the little area in front of the edifice; and the high, projecting rocks allow only a small part of the façade to be seen from any one point. It is dissected, if I may use the expression, into several distinct views. From one position a single column only may be visible. Another turn discloses half the front; then the whole lower story is hidden, as is also the upper part of the cliff, while the exquisitely beautiful porches, which form the second stage, are seen in a strong and clear light. Another change veils all above and below but the graceful urn upon the pinnacle, which seems to be suspended in the air. Thus the view is repeatedly and beautifully diversified in a manner as peculiar as interesting, until we finally lose VOL. II.-D

sight of the edifice. In this, I presume, consists the principal advantage of an approach from the east, and I can readily imagine that these partial glimpses and almost magical changes are much more striking to persons who have not yet seen the entire front.

The Bedouins call this beautiful monument the Treasury of Pharaoh, as the palace in the interior of the city is denominated Pharaoh's House or Castle. Here, they believe, the wealth of a rich potentate of that name was deposited, and is still concealed. The graceful urn which forms the pinnacle of the façade is now thought to contain the precious treasure which they have searched for in vain in all the accessible parts of the temple. This is secured from all approach by its great elevation, and by the overhanging rocks that rise above it, and its surface is marked by the musketry with which they vainly try to shatter the aërial casket, and bring down a shower of gold and diamonds.

Nothing is so wonderful in this beautiful monument as its freshness and its perfect integrity, which appears in the sharpest angles, and most frail and delicate ornaments. It is less indebted to the various and exquisite colours that characterize the Petra stone than some other monuments; still the eye dwells with admiration and delight upon its roseate tints, which contrast beautifully with the sombre hue of the adjoining parts of the cliff.

Wady Syke seems to have been paved throughout its whole extent, and adapted, so far as its contracted dimensions permitted, to the objects of a great thoroughfare. Remains of the pavement appear in several places, though, for the greater part of the way, it has either been swept away by the torrent or buried under heaps of stones and sand. There is a channel cut in the southern wall of the gorge, at an elevation of about two feet from the bed of the stream, sufficiently large to convey its waters to the city in ordinary seasons; and I presume that it was only in times of

THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH.

39

freshets that an article which was here collected and preserved with so much labour and care, was allowed to flow in its natural channel, where it not only impeded travel, but must have been spoiled for domestic and many other purposes.

The remains of a conduit, made of earthen pipes, appear high in the cliff, on the north side of the ravine, which, however, must have been supplied with water from some more elevated source.

I was disappointed in the ancient Triumphal Arch which spans Wady Syke towards its eastern termination. It is certainly a highly picturesque, and even noble object, but, like some other things in Petra, has been vastly overdone in the descriptions of travellers. Instead of being two or three hundred feet high, as commonly represented, it certainly does not exceed eighty feet in height; and, even at this elevation, it is too diminutive an object to make an effective impression. This, too, it is said, must be seen from the opposite direction in order to perceive its full grandeur; and I looked back upon it from several positions, but without perceiving the peculiar advantage of this approach. I had been led to believe the ascent to the top of this part of the cliff difficult, if not impossible, but found it sufficiently easy. Passing up a small ravine or break in the cliff on the north side of the Syke, and a little east of the arch, I discovered some ancient steps cut in the rock, which were masked by a thicket of shrubs and bushes. They are much worn by use and the elements; but the foot, firmly and fearlessly planted upon this granulated sandstone, seldom slips; and I soon found myself upon the summit, looking down upon the bridge upon which I had gazed from below with so much interest. This venerable arch, which is broken away on the eastern side, seems to have been constructed solely for ornament, as there never could have been either road or aqueduct in this place. Its two ends rest upon foundations cut in the face of the rock. None, surely,

40

TOMB OF THE OBELISKS.

could be more solid or immovable, and no work of man seems more likely to endure to excite the admiration of all future generations.

The marks of human industry and art appear in these high regions of the mountain, where their utility and object are certainly not very apparent. A few rods west of the arch are marks of the chisel, employed in facing the rock, and in forming immense niches, which appear adapted to no conceivable purpose. There is one large quadrangle, sixteen paces square, cut out of the rock, which rises to a great height above. Some appearances indicate that small gardens were cultivated among the high summits of the mountain; and here, perhaps, the considerable level areas which are found among the rugged, wild rocks were once covered with a fruitful soil, long since swept away by the rains. Here, as at several other great elevations, I saw remains of gutters, cut into the rock for the purpose of collecting rain-water, it may be to irrigate these aërial gardens.

At the distance of a little more than one mile east from Petra, Wady Syke expands into a green vale of considerable width. The perpendicular cliffs assume the form and aspect of more gentle and irregular declivities, no longer quite bare, but adorned here and there with grass and shrubs. Just at the termination of the ravine, and on its southern side, a tomb is seen at the height of perhaps one hundred feet, the front ornamented with pilasters, pediment, &c., and the whole surmounted by four truncated obelisks standing in a row, and still adhering to the mountain rock. The interior consists of a spacious chamber, with a large recess in the rear and smaller ones on each side, and graves sunk in all of them. Nearer the base of the mountain and immediately below this tomb is a second, which may have had some connexion with it. It has a gallery in front, supported by six columns and flanked by chambers. Above are the usual ornaments-entablature,