Newspaper Page Text
To Probe The Secrets °h f e StranOest City s SOOOTombs
M
- W
' x" , ■■
jflljl
Z j
ife-W WHMr i 2 ■*■«•
ltwWw< ■ ■'
*.* W
13
-•. L; r ’ | "®
HILI fl
*- ;^ r ' r>l w
lw-JnB&8
? *fT.. -Je ‘F*i ' ‘ MH
B* }
wWRf .» *aH
1
■' ; F |H
MRagRBI
The Impregnable Shaft Between
the Mountains, Which Was the
Chief Entrance to Petra.
ONE of the great mysteries of
the ages is to be explained, if
the latest German expedition
has its way. This expedition, under
the special patronage of the Kaiser,
who is tremendously interested In
anything that will clear up the his
lory of nations long dead and gone,
is to open no less than three thou
sand tombs that have remained in
violate these thirty five centuries or
more.
For the expedition is to go to Petra,
that mighty rock fortress, known in
the Bible as Sela, the Kock, and there
they will tear open the thousands of
tombs that have been hollowed out of
the living rocks, in which it is
expected that many treasures of
ancient times will he brought to
light.
This city lias been described as an
“eagle's nest" on the top of the rock,
and it was a mighty large nest with
Some very powerful eagles in it
It was the capital of the Nairn
tea us. the direct descendants of Ish
SUPERFLUOUS HAIR
FREE HELP TO CURE
Woman Tells the Secret of Her
Complete Cure So That It
Never Returned.
• i. from deep .h- :
, sjwir to jortul
. sltlst.Ull.-ll
n ur.
‘ ' x "
*-
/ with -it
f u ■ t ~u>
f '-t * Ct ■' , 'ir«r who
Iff**. KdtV ->i J<’i- '
■ kins for many yearn ista-.it whetlwr i
V uus a leading Snriety Miss' and I
Pa nhc tells Ft ■ h- i
Sht was Cured -f h>r k«t i-n Jenkin,
Bair Blemish s that - re 4-i'» B B
t'C rcturnt "f»‘* rth Build i
-
6
.wSjIMMR' EKBBI
'
'. '***&*<£,
.... _ '.. _ 'l, C; ."S -
- ■ z' z jl..■ ■' . A- .
<• - * S '—■ z ■' ijV', * i <ijgßjßß
Jr/'.'' ■ .Os
ar < * -
<0 --»■;
I Byuawnui.r/o ■■ ■* ••s‘s
mael, the brother of Isaac, who was
sent out into the desert on account
of the jealousy of Sarah, and settled
upon this mighty rock, founding a
nation that was to awe its contem
poraries in later times. Hagar, his
mother, had inspired her son with
hatrisl of all men. for she had been
treated most cruelly, sent out into the
desert with her little buy. and a jar
of water and a loaf of breau. She
had no love for mankind in her
breast, and her son was noted as a
mighty hunter among men.
II was to his uncle. Ishmael, that
Esau, the rough and wild brother of
Jacob, fled when his mother, Rebecca,
made it unpleasant for film al home,
after the flight of her favorite. Jacob,
who had dis'eived his brother and his
father, and it Is no wonder that Jacob
was afraid, when, after spending
twenty years with his maternal uncle.
Laban, he returned to face the hosts
of Ids tierce brother.
But Esau surprised him by his
brotherly feeling, and all went well
so far as he was concerned.
It was quite otherwise with the car
avans which passed between Egypt
and Assyria, whose main route lay
near the city of Sela From its
mighty fortresses the hordes came
down in haste and fell upon the treas
ures being transported from one
country to the other, never hesitating
to slay if they must, and bearing t"
their homes the gold, the silk and
wool, the ebony carvings, all that the
nierclmnts might be carrying, or that
sovereigns might be sending from
Egypt to Assyria, and vice versa.
It Is known from the Tel Amarmi
tablets, written in Assyrian, but dis
covered in Egypt, that the relations
between these great countries were
most intimate, intermarriages be
tween princes and prims'sses of both
lands being entered into to preserve
the peaix*. and many expeditions
passing near the ris k fortress during
each year.
It was in this way that the Naba
leans built up an enormous wealth,
gathering around them the wildest,
and at the same time, the most ad
venturous spirits of their day. and
preying upot] the richest commerce
of their age.
It is recorded in the Bible as one of
the great victories of Amaziah. King
of Jerusalem, in the ninth century
B C.. that he succeeiled in conquer
ing the Edomites, captured Sela, the
capital, and cast from “the steep of
the rock" ten thousand captives who
were dashed into pieces on the rocks
below. He gave a new name to Sela
at this time, as was the custom, and
it was then known as Jechteel. but
is not again mentioned by that name
in history.
The reputed wealth stored in Sela
was so great that it attracted the at
tention of Antigonus. the Syrian mon
arch, and he sent his general.
Athenes. to take it captive (312 B. C.i
There was only one way in which
he could capture this fortress, stand
ing as it did hundreds of feet above
the plain, and accessible only by
steep defiles through the rocks, ami
that was to watch until the men
were away. This he did. but no
sooner had he taken possession titan
the men returned, ami. aided by their
better knowhslge of the place, lie in
turn was surprised and his entire
force massai red. The Nabateans then
sent magnificent presents to the mon
arch, begging that they be allowed to
continue their commerce and agns'
ing to pay a heavy tax.
The son of Antigonus. Demetrius,
tried, too. to capture I’etra. as it was
now called, but he failed miserably,
the tax was no longer paid, ami a
mighty kingdom was fornusi once
more under the headship of the
Nabateans, with I’etra as the capital.
It ineltided all of what is known as
Arabia Felix ami the Hauran. that
part of Palestine lying east of the
River Jordan
The first king of this great power
was Aretas I . who is mentioned in
the book of 11. Maccabees, and was
sm-cetsled by three kings of the same
name, and by other monarchs up to
—\X
the end of the independent existence
of the government 110t> A. D.). It
was the third Aretas who had fallen
lit love with the art of the Greeks
and Romans and gave this character
to the art of the capital city, Petra.
He is res|H>nsible for the most mag
aiticent of the architectural remains,
which have been most remarkably
pieserved on account of their shelt
ered position. The palaces and tern
pies were hewn out of the living rock
along the sides of the steep ascent to
the city pr<q>er. and being thus pro
tected from storm and sun the col
mniis stand to-day almost as if hewn
out last year, or ten years ago at
most.
The city Was surrounded by natu
ral walls of rocky mountains, watertsl
by a perpetual stream The chief en
trance was from the east down a
dark gorge, only ten or twelve feet
wide, tidied the Sik. or Shaft, being
really a split in the huge sandstone
rocks. Here was hewn out that won
derful "Treasury of Pharaoh," so-
called, because at
one time it held [
many of the great 1
treasures of Egypt, r
and the explorers
are of the opinion
that far back in its
rocky recesses there
are still many of
these treasures, if
they can only find
them. Further along
this gulch is the I
great theatre, also
hollowed out of the I
mountain side, and
all around are the
thousands of tombs,
each ending in a
tower, when they
belong to the earlier
period.
The capital itself
must have occupied
a space of about one 1
and three - quarter
square miles, giving
room for a numer
ous population, and
one that grew very
wealthy out - of the
spoils of the then
civilized world.
Preliminary e x ■
ploration has shown
that originally the
inhabitants of this
district were cave-dwellers, and for
many ages the people were satisfied
with these homes dug into the sides
ot the mountains. But as they be
came more civilized they built houses
like the surrounding tribes, and the
ives became the tombs of the dead.
The Ramparts Around “The
Great High Place,” and, in the
Foreground, the Ancient Altar,
with the Suggested Crypt of
Sacrifice.
They could not forget that these were
once homes, and, in fact, they must
have believed hi a kind of resurrec
tion. for they made the tombs look
like houses as much as possible. The
most ancient Naltatean tombs have
the familiar pylons, the door set in a
tower, and all crowned by a parapet
ornament, Just like a house for the
living.
In what is termed the second period
we find the tombs with semi-circular
arches, which resemble the tombs of
Northern Syria, and in the most mod
ern period we find the elaborate fa
cades of the Roman temples. In the
second jsTiotl the shape of the tombs,
being a combination of Syrian, Greek
and Egyptian, helps to fix their date
as of the time when Hie Ptolemies
ruled In Egypt, toward the end of the
s<vmid century B. C.
Petra was definitely annexed to the
Roman realm 106 A. It., and coins
are found bearing the inscription.
Adriatic Petra, as a tribute to the
complacency of the Emperor Hadrian
toward this city. It was at this time,
dcuhtless, toe most beautiful of the
temples erected to Isis was built.
After this time Hie building of the
tombs stops, for it is now only the
Province of Arabia, to be later di
vided 12951 into two parts, with
Petra as the southern capital. The
history thenceforward is of little in
terest.
Among the latest discoveries made
nt Petra, however, are some so as
tounding that they are the cause of
the formation of this new expedition.
The great "High-place" has been laid
bare, with its great altar for burnt
offerings, a mighty rock-hewn altar,
and near it a place for killing the
victims, as well as a shallow court in
front. In which the water was prob
ably kept.
It is known now from some of the
Nabatean inscriptions which have
been deciphered that the chief god
of Petra was Dhu’shara. the Lord
and owner of Shara, as the mountain
was called, and that side by side
with him was a great feminine god
dess. Allat. really the ancient goddess
of the Arabs.
Dliu-shara was worshipped under
X rRXOzgBI ■
'\' z it Ml 1
n * Mi jaw
wk IM
One of the 3,000 Tombs on the Cliffs of Petra.
the form of a great black rectangular
stone, just like the Kaftba of the
Arabs, and his Holy Place was care
fully guardetl and marked off. At
the borders were two great obelisks,
possibly idols of the two divinities,
but certainly marking the boundary
(py right. 191t>. by the Star Company. Great Britain Rights Reserved.
The Mysteries of Rock-Hewn
Petra, Whither Ishma - 1 and
Esau Fled, into Which
Flowed for Hundreds of
Years the Treasures of
the .Ancient World, to Be
Solved Through Its Dead
^ s
mESmBBhK; SBSEBESS9
- * Ur i ' -f
■-Im Jt IL H U* bit
fW-I (kb*. T-f-'z.--. > "s;■;
ttw Hl—, wm. iw rr f -t ‘''
- HE
.t will < i iWMp
k-JiiiHy,, ' - f ' Ife
- -• ...
.. 11. - v '’
z ■ -v
The Colossal Ruins Known as “Pharaoh’s Treasury. Hewn Outs ide of the Mountain, It Held the
Wealth of Egypt for Ages. It Islso Feet High.
How to Cultivate Good Manners in Childhood
By Mrs. FRANK LEARNED
Author of “The Etiquette of New
York To-day."
A LAWYER w-ho was harassed
with anxious problems made
a rule in bis family that each
one should come to the table with a
pleasant greeting and contribute
his share of cheerful talk. For his
own part he made the hours at meals
delightful by his conversation and
powers of charm. Children realized
that grievances, ill-temper, rudeness,
discourtesy or contradictions were
offences to be punished gently, but
firmly, for the simple reason that the
feelings and rights of others must be
res|iected and the great law of un
selfishness and making others happy
must be understood. Self-control was
taught by the example of the parents,
who tried to preserve patience and
calmness and not to reprove irritably.
Home is the great moral school
where- real character is mostly
of the Haram, or sacred place, into which
none but the priests might enter.
With the discovery of ths great altar
conies another notable find, which may go
far toward explaining the mysteries con
nected with the awful worship of Dhu-shara. x
Below this altar there seems to have been a
crypt, going far into the bowels of the moun
tain, and in it was thrown the remains of
the victims sacrificed to the god and his
cruel mate. Whether human sacrifices were
offered is not known, but the exploration of
this crypt will tell us much of the distant
past.
Most light upon that past is expected from
the opening of the tombs, which number
three thousand or more. If ten a day are
opened it will take more than three years to
formed. All the minor moralities of
life may be made easy to a child.
Habits of being courteous, prompt,
considerate, neat, should be taught
early in childhood. Good habits may
be incorporated with the character
and will be spontaneous and pro
ceed from almost unconscious
sources. It must be remembered,
however, that "bundles of habits”
are not in themselves character.
The small acts of courtesy prac
tised at home will become, in a
measure, automatic, but there must
be in the character the cultiva
tion of true kindness, which prompts
one to do the pleasant or the unself
ish thing naturally and simply, be
cause it would be an unhappiness to
do a disagreeable thing.
The relationship of the family
must exist in all worthiness before
the eyes of children, if there is to be
high development of character, be
cause children judge only by what
they observe; what they see is the
pattern for their imitation. So much
may be done by parents in the per
sistent, patient example of sweet-
complete the work, but it is doubtful if this
number can be averaged without a host of
workmeh, for all are in the faces of the
cliffs, and scaffolding will have to be erect
ed to reach most of them. When they are
forced open, by pick and dynamite, what
treasures of ancient times may be brought
to light none can well imagine or picture.
All are awaiting the results with bated
breath, for the history of the Nabateans is
so closely interwoven with that of the He
brews, of the Egyptians and the Babylon
ians, that we may have a flood of light upon
all the civilization of ancient times, simply
by the opening of these tombs —but it i? a
tremendous task, which will consume years
and cost fortunes, though the results will
certainly repay all efforts.
ness of temper, cheerfulness and
courtesy. The father in a household
may show chivalric treatment of the
mother in so beautiful away that
the children will naturally imitate
his unfailing consideration and ten
derness toward her.
Those who are scrupulously atten
tive to every conventional rule
among strangers and who are
thoughtful of the comfort and con
venience of the households where
they may be visiting sometimes ig
nore courtesy when at home. They
seem to think that at home tljey
may have the privilege to be late at
meals. They never apologize for
tardiness; they do not hesitate to
find fault with the food. In fact,
some persons assume that they have
a certain right not to consult the
comfort of others at home.
It is well to make a rule to cornel
to breakfast with a cheerful greet-i
ing. An amiable "Good - morning”
is a hopeful beginning for the day.
It is worth while never to talk about
food at all unless to say something
pleasant about it.