=MARVELOUS ROCK-HEWN TEMPLES AT PETRA=--(See under Petra)]
The cliffs that enclose the valley are simply dotted all over with the
handiwork of artists of a bygone age. Here is a portion of a heathen
temple, there the remains of a palace, yonder a column, and beyond,
again, a stately portico or pediment. They stand at varying elevations.
Most of them are conspicuous, while others are hidden in the mountain
recesses. There are tombs by the hundred, and on the mountain tops many
places of sacrifice, where strange religious ceremonies were enacted.
They challenge admiration by the variety of styles they embody, and by
the exquisite hues of the sandstone from which they are hewn, varying
from the prevailing purplish-red of the mountains and cliffs to a
delicate pink and rose.
Until quite recently, this ancient city built out of rocks was seldom
visited and almost unknown. Now, however, by means of the new Damascus
to Mecca Railway, they are within easy reach. The journey from Jerusalem
to Maan may be made in less than a day. From the latter place the ruins
can be reached in six to eight hours by horseback.
=Palmyra= (_pal-mī´ra_), or =Tadmor= (_tad´môr_), a famous ancient city
situated on an oasis in the desert east of Syria, is said to have been
built by Solomon. After the decline of Petra in 105 A. D., Palmyra took
its place as the chief commercial center in northern Arabia. Its
merchant aristocracy reaped great advantage from the long-protracted
wars between Rome and Parthia by acknowledging the supremacy of Rome.
One of its chiefs, Odænathus, husband of the more famous Zenobia,
extended his power over most of the adjoining countries, from Egypt to
Asia Minor. Aurelian at length crushed in 272 the attempt of the
Palmyrenes to found an independent empire. After the Roman empire became
Christian, Palmyra was made a bishopric. When the Moslems conquered
Syria, Palmyra also submitted to them. From the fifteenth century it
began to sink into decay, along with the rest of the Orient. Magnificent
remains of the ancient city still exist, chief among them being the
great temple of the Sun (or Baal); the great colonnade, nearly one mile
long, and consisting originally of some fifteen hundred Corinthian
columns; and sepulchral towers, overlooking the city.
=Jaffa=, is a maritime city in Palestine, Syria, fifty-four miles by
rail northwest of Jerusalem, of which it was the port in King David’s
time. Extensive fruit and orange orchards surround the city. Its
fortifications were destroyed by Saladin in 1188, and, during the
Crusades, Richard the Lion-Hearted was confined here by sickness. In
1722 it was attacked by the Arabs, and in 1799 by Napoleon. The
principal exports are oranges, wheat, soap, hides, olive oil, wool, and
barley.