_Wadi-el-Araba_ had been once continued, or more connected in their
levels; because in Joshua iii. 16, and xii. 3, the former is called
"the _sea of the plain_ (even) the Salt Sea;" and in Deut. iv. 49,
only "the _sea of the plain_;" the original Hebrew expression in all
three verses is, "Yam ha Arabah;" that is, the _Sea of the Araba_; and
the Septuagint renders it hê thalassa Araba. "Ha Arabah," in Hebrew,
signifies the same as _El Arabah_ in Arabic--a "desert-plain," or a
"plain." So, likewise, we find in Deut. ii. 8, "the children of Edom"
described as dwelling "in Seir, through the way of the _Plain_ from
Elath, and from Eziongaber;" the Hebrew and Greek words for _the
plain_ are here also the same, viz., "_Arabah_." Consequently, these
passages from Scripture, shewing that _both extremes_, north and
south, of this great _plain_ or _Wadi_, bore the _same_ appellation,
prove that it was esteemed one _entire_ valley in its _whole extent_,
from the Dead, or Salt Sea, to Elath and Eziongaber on the Red Sea, or
Ælanitic Gulf, in the land of Edom (1 Kings ix. 26, and 2 Chron. viii.
17.) And, indeed, according to Dr Robertson, _no_ such _division_ of
it, as _M. De Bertou_ and some other travellers assert, into
_Wadi-el-Akaba_, and _Wadi-el-Araba_,[10] at this day exists.
Footnote 10: See _M. De Bertou's_ paper in the "Journal of the
Royal Geographical Society," vol. ix., p. 282.
After having attained the highest point, or short table-land of the
Wadi-el-Araba, the descent in fact begins in a direct line nearly due
north to the Dead Sea; it is in places more elevated, rougher, and
more sandy than in others; and its width also becomes greater.
Gebel-el-Beianeh appears the _loftiest_ of the chain on the west; but
this is scarcely two-thirds as _high_ as the east range,
Gebel-el-Shera (_Mount Seir_); the former is entirely sterile and
arid, whilst the latter is covered with herbs and occasional trees,
and seems to have a sufficiency of rain. The east _Wadis_ also, which
are numerous, are filled with trees, shrubs, and flowers; and their
eastern and _higher_ portions, being well cultivated, yield good
crops. So Strabo, calling the district "Nabathæa," states it _abounded
in pastures_; hê Nabataia polyandros ousa hê chôra kai eubotos;[11]
and being the country of Esau, it was "of the fatness of the earth,
and of the dew of heaven from above."--_Gen._ xxvii. 39.
Footnote 11: _Strabo Geog._, vol. ii., lib. 16-35, p. 1103. Edit.
_Falconer_.
The range of Mount Seir, _Gebel-el-Shera_, _i.e._, the mountains of a
"region" or "tract," under which I have only included those mountains,
commencing with Mount _Seir_ itself on the north, and extending to
Gebel-el-Ithm on the south. On the eastern side is now _sandstone_,
veined with _oxide of iron_; and those mountains still further to the
east, forming a part of the Nabathæan chain, are _limestone_ with
_flints_, of the same _cretaceous_ series as that of the Sinaic
Peninsula; they present many varied forms and shapes.
El Araba, in the approach to Wadi Gharandel, is more covered with
shifting sands, broken by innumerable undulations, and low hills; into
these sands the waters of Wadi Gharandel, which, according to
Burckhardt, have a _sulphureous_ taste, lose themselves. In the ascent
of this Wadi (Gharandel) towards Gebel Kula, a mountain is climbed
which is composed of _calcareous_ rocks, _sandstone_ and _flints_,
lying over each other in horizontal layers. Gebel Kula is covered on
its summit, with a _chalky_ surface. But in Wadi Dalegheh the
mountains are _calcareous_, with some _flints_, and perfectly bare.
East of these valleys, and distant about six miles, are said to be the
vestiges of a Roman road, which probably led near Usdaka--the
_Szadeke_ of Burckhardt--to Petra. Near that place is a hill with some
considerable ruins, very possibly the remains of what the Peutingerian
Table calls _Zadagasta_; which word seems to have been corrupted into
_Zadeka_, and _Sudaka_, or _Usdaka_. A fine spring, or _Ain_, is there
much noted. Also, further north five or six miles, at Ain Mefrak, some
ruins are visible. And the same traveller noticed, a few miles north
of the present picturesque village of Eljy--situate a little east of
Petra, in a more fertile spot--the substructions of walls and paved
roads, all constructed of flints. The present road, traversed by the
_Hadj_, or pilgrims, from Syria to Mecca, passes about five miles more
eastwards, through Maan (_Maon_, Judges x. 12), placed in a rocky
district. This town is divided by two hills, on each of which stands a
portion of it. The fruits, especially pomegranates, peaches, apricots,
and grapes, are there excellent, and are much sought after by the
Syrian pilgrims. Burckhardt (p. 436), says here, "are several
_springs_, to which the town owes its _origin_;" and I presume the
word itself, Ma'an, is abbreviated by use from _Mayan_, signifying a
"fountain."
_Fourthly._--"Petra," the Greek appellation of the capital of the
ancient _Nabathæa_, or territory of the Nabathæi, and the _Edom_ of
Scripture, was called in Hebrew, _Sela_; both words meaning a "rock,"
and the first of which gave _its name_ to the country--"Arabia
_Petræa_." It is also called _Joktheel_, in 2 Kings xiv. 7. Strabo has
distinctly recorded that "Petra was the capital of the _Nabathæans who
were Idumæans_." (Lib. xvi.) The former appellation having been
bestowed upon this people as descendants of _Nebaioth_, (1 Chron. i.
29), or _Nebajoth_ (Gen. xxv. 13), who was Abraham and Hagar's
grandson, and Ishmael's first-born son. Petra is correctly described
by the same Greek geographer, as well as by the Roman naturalist. The
short account of the last I here transcribe: "Nabatæi oppidum
_includunt Petram_ nomine in _convalle_, paulo minus duum mill.
passuum amplitudinis, _circumdatum montibus_ inaccessis _amne
interfluente_."[12] I will not add here any description of the very
magnificent remains of this remarkable city, the city of the
_Rock_--or rather excavated and carved out of the _natural
rock_--whose dwellings are said to have been "in the clefts of the
_rock_," (Obadiah 3), since they are now so well known.
Footnote 12: _Plin._ Nat. Hist., Lib. vi., cap. 28.
Coming to Petra from Eljy, on the east, the body of the regular
mountain on that side is limestone, and higher than the red sandstone,
where the tombs in Wadi Mousa are excavated. The cliffs at Petra are
of _red sandstone_, which is soft and easily cut, causing the
sculptures to decay quickly, unless where they may have been
_protected_ from the weather. This formation extends far to the north
and south, and rests on the lower masses of porphyry.
The colour of the _sandstone_ rocks in Wadi Mousa is not a dull
monotonous _red_, but a variety of bright hues, "from the deepest
crimson," as Dr Robinson writes (vol. ii., p. 531), "to the softest
pink; verging also sometimes to orange and yellow. These varying
shades are often distinctly marked by waving lines, imparting to the
surface of the rock a succession of brilliant and changing tints, like
the hues of watered silk, and adding greatly to the imposing effect of
the sculptured monuments."
The site of Petra, in the high ravine, is called by the Arabs, Wadi
_Mousa_; most likely corrupted from _Moseroth_, or _Mosera_ (Deut. x.
6), "where Aaron died and was buried." It is extremely interesting,
and is well watered by a flowing stream--the _El Syk_ of Burckhardt.
The _sandstone_ rocks, with their craggy and precipitous sides, have
their summits resembling rounded peaks; peaks, probably owing to the
softness of the stone, rounded by the effects of weather. The height
of this _Wadi_ is estimated at near 2200 feet above the adjoining
Wadi-el-Araba. To the west of Petra, Mount Hor, Gebel _Harun_
constitutes the loftiest point of this _sandstone_ tract. It stands
out conspicuously, and is a _cone_ irregularly truncated with three
rugged peaks, of which that to the NE. is the _highest_, and has upon
it the Mahommetan _Wely_; or the tomb of _Aaron_, called _Neby Harun_.
This peak rises to about 2700 feet above Wadi _Mousa_, or to 5300 feet
above the sea.
Captains Irby and Mangles, the _first_ Europeans who ascended Gebel
_Harun_, thus describe "the view from the summit." It "is extremely
extensive in every direction; but the eye rests on few objects which
it can clearly distinguish, and give a name to, although an excellent
idea is obtained of the general face and features of the country. The
chain of Idumean mountains, which form the western shore of the Dead
Sea, seem to run on to the south, though losing considerably in their
height. They appear in this point of view, barren and desolate. Below
them is spread out a white sandy plain, seamed with the beds of
occasional torrents, and presenting much the same features as the most
desert parts of the Ghor. Where this desert expanse approaches the
foot of Mount Hor, there arise out of it, like islands, several lower
peaks and ridges, of a purple colour, probably composed of the same
kind of _sandstone_ as that of Mount Hor itself, which, variegated as
it is in its hues, presents in the distance one uniform mass of dark
purple. Towards the Egyptian side there is an expanse of country
without features or limit, and lost in the distance. The lofty
district which we had quitted in our descent to Wadi Mousa, shuts up
the prospect on the south-east side; but there is no part of the
landscape which the eye wanders over with more curiosity and delight
than the crags of Mount Hor itself, which stand up on every side, in
the most rugged and fantastic forms, sometimes strangely piled one on
the other, and sometimes as strangely yawning in clefts of a frightful
depth."
Under the term _Nabathæan Chain_, or the chain of the mountains of
Edom, I have restricted those mountains beginning north of 30° N.
Lat., and which then tend round northward, by the east of Petra. They
are the loftiest on the east, attaining probably to an altitude of
3000 feet above the Wadi-el-Araba. This chain presents to the view, on
the east, long elevated ranges of _limestone_, sometimes with
_flints_, but of more easy slopes, _without_ precipices, being smooth
and rounded. Further still to the east, the high plateau of the Great
Eastern Desert--of which _El Nejd_ is a portion--stretches out to an
almost indefinite extent. To the west and north, and around Mount
_Hor_, lofty party-coloured _sandstone_ ridges and cliffs prevail;
then succeed high masses of _porphyry_, constituting the body of the
mountains, but _lower_ than the _sandstone_. And, lastly, more
northwards, the chain sinks down into low hills of _argillaceous_
rock, or of _limestone_.
The entire breadth of the _Seir_ range seems not to exceed eighteen
English miles, between Wadi-el-Araba and the Eastern Desert; whilst
that of the more northern, or _Nabathæan chain_, does not exceed
twenty-two miles between those districts.
Going west from Petra, the valley of the _Araba_ is again entered,
where the deeper _Wadi-el-Jeib_ is seen to wind along, very near the
middle of it, from the south, then sweeping off NW., it meets the
_Wadi-el-Jerafah_, which comes in from the SW. Afterwards, it is
called only _Wadi-el-Jeib_; and being a deep valley within a larger
valley, it forms the chief water-course of the greater portion of the
Araba, and carries down to the Dead Sea, in the wet season, an immense
body of water.
El Araba, more to the north of Gebel Harun, is much wider; in parts of
it there are _gravel_ hills; and here and there, masses of _porphyry_
lie about in the sand, having been washed down by the torrents. Eleven
or twelve miles north of that Mount (_Hor_), occurs the pass of
_Nemela_ among low hills of _limestone_, or rather a yellowish
_argillaceous_ rock, the dark steep mass of the mountain being
_porphyry_, as before described; thence the Wadi ascends between the
porphyry and limestone formations; and on the top is a little basin of
_yellow sandstone_ capping the _porphyry_.
Coming back southward through the Wadi-el-Araba, as far as
the _embouchure_ of the valley of the _Jerafah_--meaning
"gullying,"--which is about a mile wide, the mountains on this west
side are found to be composed of _chalk_ and _limestone_; and, in many
places, with large pieces of black _flint_.
On the north, and to the east of Lussan, the mountains of Idumæa are
lofty, consisting of precipitous _limestone_ ranges; the solitary
conical mount, about 600 feet above the plain, named _Gebel
Araif-el-Naka_--"the crest of a she-camel," forms a conspicuous
object; it is _calcareous_, and strewed with _flints_. Low ridges
extend from it westward and eastward; the latter terminating in a
headland or bluff, called Gebel _Makrah_.
The wide sandy _Wadi-el-Ghudhagidh_--the _Ghudhaghidh_ of Robinson--is
probably the _Gudgodah_; or, as it is written in Hebrew, _Ghudghodah_,
mentioned in Deut. x. 7, whither the Israelites journeyed from Mosera
(_Wadi Mousa_) after Aaron's death. After this valley were some low
_chalky_ cliffs, and then succeeded a barren _flinty_ tract.
Towards the NW. and W., a broad open district stretches out apparently
to _Gebel Jaraf_, said to be 1300 feet above the sea level, through
which is the course of the _Wadi Khereir_, elevated about 1000 feet at
its nearest point to that mount, and flowing northward into the large
_Wadi-el-Agaba_,--upon one side, and to _Gebel Yelak_, the "white
mountain," on the other side; but it is broken in some places by
_limestone_ or _chalk_ hills.
The Wadi Ghudhagidh, and the more southern tributaries of the Jerafah,
flow to the NE. to the Dead Sea, as already explained; and they, with
some smaller winter torrents that unite with them, are the only
water-courses in this part of _Arabia Petræa_ which supply that sea.
On the SE. of the upper Jerafah, some low _limestone_ ridges present
themselves; but, on the other side is the _sandy_ plain _El Adhbeh_:
beyond this, northwards, follows a level plain covered with pebbles
and black _flints_. The high West Desert, called by the Arabs El Tyh,
the "wandering," and so named in Edrisi and Abul-feda, near its centre
at _Nakhl_, signifying "date trees" (at which station there exists a
grove of those trees), at an elevation of near 1500 feet above the
sea, consists of vast plains, or _plateaux_ of varying, mostly higher,
altitudes, a sandy, flinty, or gravelly soil, and limestone hills of
the _cretaceous_ or secondary formation, having very irregular ridges
disposed in different directions.
The numerous _Wadis_, or water-courses, and winter torrents of this
enormous desert, all run to the N. or NW., and pour their waters into
the Mediterranean Sea; while those _Wadis_ that lie on the other side
of the Great Mountain range, which bounds the desert in its western
and southern extremities--_Gebel-el-Rahah_ and _Gebel-el-Tyh_--divide
their waters, and so supply, in part, the Gulf of _Suez_, and in part
the Gulf of _Akaba_. Of the former _Wadis_, two are the principal;
namely, _Wadi-el-Agaba_, which rises somewhat to the east of the line
of 34° E. long.; and _Wadi-el-Arish_, which Russegger and later
authors affirm as springing to the _west_ of it, and of _Gebels_
Heiyalah, Yelak, and Mishea, and of which _Wadi Nesil_ seems to me to
be only a tributary.
The chain called _Gebel-el-Egmeh_, or _El Odjme_ by Burckhardt,
appears, as he says, _chalky_; and such, also, is the soil of the
plain, and frequently covered with _black_ pebbles (_flints_); it
unites with the higher chain of the Gebel-el-Tyh, about the centre of
the Peninsula,--that is to say, of the _Peninsular Triangle_, and
where the branches North-el-Tyh and South-el-Tyh separate. There the
height of the summit of _El Tyh_ is given by Russegger as 4322 Paris
feet, or 4615 English feet, above the sea; descending thence by the
pass of Mureikhi, into the sandy plain of _Debbet-el-Ramleh_, the
elevation of that plateau, just about the middle of it, and about half
way to the head of _Wadi-el-Sheikh_, is near 4000 feet above the sea
level; Alahadar being a little to the east.
In the Wadi _El Sheikh_, meaning the "Valley of the Elder," or
"Chief," which is one of the principal valleys in the Peninsula,
before coming to "Moses' seat" (_Mokad Seidna Mousa_), occurs a range
of low hills of a substance called _Taffal_, chiefly a detritus of the
_felspar_ of _granite_, like pipe clay. The easiest approach to the
present Sinaic district is by the east side of this Wadi, which leads
into the wider Wadi, or plain _El Raha_, _i.e._, a "plain surrounded
by hills." The view of Gebels _El Deir_ ("The Convent"), the
now-termed _Horeb_, _Humer_ (red), and others, from thence is very
striking. The lower granitic mountains of the present _Sinai_ are more
regularly shaped than the upper; being less rugged, they have _no_
insulated _peaks_; and their summits terminate in smooth _curves_.
Whilst in the ascent to the higher mountains, _peaks on peaks arise_,
of the form of sharp cones, and of various altitudes. _Gebel Mousa_,
or "Moses' Mount," is of _red granite_ for about half-way up; all the
rest being a _yellowish granite_, with small _black_ grains, and from
_Wadi Leja_ ("asylum"), these colours appear most distinct. The height
of the apex of G. _Mousa_ peak, which does not exceed fifty yards in
width, was ascertained by Lieutenant Wellsted, from the _mean_ of
observations, to be 7505 feet above the sea of Akaba; and that late,
able, and lamented officer, who was upon that summit in _January_, and
"enjoyed the advantage of a clear serene atmosphere," which, in a more
advanced season of the year, would have been hazy, with a blue mist,
arising from the powerful sun, "was thereby enabled, by means of
angles taken to the hills on the Arabian coast, ninety miles distant,
to correctly fix the geographical position of the mountain." He has
also well described the most extensive view from that peak, as
follows:--
"The Gulfs of Suez and Akaba are distinctly visible; from the
dark-blue waters of the latter, the island of _Tiran_, considered
by the ancient geographers as sacred to _Isis_,[13] rears itself.
Mount Agrib (_Garib_), on the other hand, points out 'the land of
bondage.' Before me is St _Catherine_, its bare, conical peak now
capped with snow. In magnificence and striking effect, few parts
of the world can surpass the wild, naked scenery everywhere met
with in the mountain-chain which girds the sea-coast of Arabia."
... The monkish "Mount _Sinai_ itself, and the hills which compose
the district in its immediate vicinity, rise in sharp, isolated,
conical peaks. From their steep and shattered sides huge masses
have been splintered, leaving fissures rather than valleys between
their remaining portions. These form the highest part of the range
of mountains that spread out over the Peninsula, and are very
generally, in the winter months, covered with snow, the melting of
which occasions the torrents which everywhere devastate the plains
below. The peculiarities of its _conical_ formation, render this
district yet more distinct from the adjoining heights that appear
in successive ridges beyond it, while the valleys which intersect
them are so narrow that few can be perceived. No villages and
castles, as in Europe, here animate the picture; no forests,
lakes, or falls of water, break the silence and monotony of the
scene. All has the appearance of a vast and desolate wilderness,
either grey, darkly-brown, or wholly black."[14]
Footnote 13: _Isis_ is supposed to be the same as _Io_, and the
island of Tiran is evidently, as I have already stated in a
preceding note, that which Procopius names Iôtabê, _Iotabe_. This
word is probably derived from Ious ta abata,--the _shrine_, or
sacred place, of _Io_.
Footnote 14: Travels in Arabia, vol. ii., p. 97.
And Dr Lepsius remarks on this mountain, that--
"Although it is certainly a high mountain, still it is a
_secondary_ one, and almost eclipsed by others of the Great
Southern Chain, the geographical centre of which is neither in
_Gebel Mousa_, nor the loftier _Gebel Katherin_, but in the more
southern, and considerably more elevated _Gebel-um-Schomar_."
_Gebel Katherin_, composed principally of a coarse _red granite_,
presents the same _conical peaks_. But in Wadi _Owasz_, S. by W., from
the last mountain, Burckhardt noticed "a small chain of _white_ and
_red sandstone_ hills in the midst of _granite_."
_Gebel-um-Schomar_ ("Mount Mother _Schomar_"), also consists chiefly
of _granite_; the lower part _red_, but the top is almost _white_. In
its middle, between the granite, occur broad layers of brittle _black
slate_, mixed with veins of _quartz_ and _felspar_, and with
_micaceous schist_. Its extreme _peak_, about 8800 feet above the sea,
is sharp pointed, and seems to be inaccessible, owing to its
perpendicular and smooth sides. Burckhardt, in his attempt to ascend
it, was obliged to halt at about 200 feet below it. This was, until
recently, esteemed the _highest_ point in the Peninsula; but,
according to Herr Russegger, two or three other peaks, to the south of
it, are about 500 feet more lofty; the _extreme_ elevation of this
last group, which seems not to bear any distinct appellation, he
estimates at 9300 English feet.
I here add, after the latter author, a sketch of the _granite peaks_
of the high Modern-Sinaic mountains, from north to south, as they
present so interesting and remarkable an appearance.
[Illustration: Sketch of granite peaks]
In the narrow valley, a little south of _Gebel Mohala_, which is all
granite, on the east side of, or opposite to, the Schomar, is a spring
named _Tabakat_, where beautiful porphyry is observed.
The south side of Mount _Schomar_ is very abrupt, and there is _no_
secondary chain between it and the other lofty southern mountains, and
the long gravelly plain _El Kaa_.
From that plain, entering _Wadi Hebron_--a ravine about 100 yards
wide--fragments of rocks, principally of _granite_ and _porphyry_
washed down by torrents, are frequent; a small stream is seen flowing
among them; in spots, some date trees occur, and likewise the
manna-producing tamarisk. Continuing to ascend, a moderately-steep
pass is reached; afterwards, a descent of about 700 feet leads into
the sandy _Wadi Solaf_ "wine valley;" and then, gaining, with some
difficulty, the summit of a steeper pass, the north-west angle of the
extensive _Wadi Raha_ is come to. Here, again, the present Sinaic
group, beyond the plain, exhibits its rugged mountains of dark
_granite_, with "stern, naked, splintered _peaks_, and ridges of
indescribable grandeur."
Next, turning to the north down the narrow declivity called _Nakb
Hawi_, the "windy pass," of which the stupendous _granite_ walls or
cliffs elevate themselves to about 800 feet, passing to the west end
of _Wadi Solaf_, where it meets _Wadi Firan_ and _Wadi-el-Sheikh_, and
following the last valley as far as _El Szaleib_, that ascent is
attained. There the formation consists of _granite_, on the upper beds
of which run layers of _red felspar_. North-east of _Wadi-el-Ush_ is
situate _Gebel Sheyger_, which affords some native _cinnabar_. The
three principal passes leading from the sandy Debbet-el-Ramleh on to
the great desert over the Tyh range, are, _El Mureikhi_ near the
centre and near _Gebel-el-Egmeh_; then _El Warsah_, said to be of too
rapid an ascent for caravans; and the third, which is most to the
west, _El Rakineh_ (the painted.) Afterwards, at some distance to the
NW., is the valley opening past _Ras Wadi Gharandel_, that has already
been described.
Proceeding, again, across the plain El Ramleh, and over the pass
Mureikhi on to the Desert-el-Tyh, in the approach to the castle of
_Nakhl_, on the east, a few miles off, low _chalky_ hills appeared;
and in places there were holes wherein _rock-salt_ had been dug. The
water at Nakhl is brackish, and the ground chalky, covered with loose
pebbles. _Wadi Nesil_ was observed to be overgrown with green shrubs.
_Gebel-el-Thughar_, signifying "the mouths," presents a mountainous
tract, in which followed a valley with _calcareous_ hills: here deep
sands were lodged, and large insulated rocks of a porous _tufa_,
called by Burckhardt _tufwacke_, lie scattered in many places.
"The termination of the vast gravelly plain we had been crossing
from _Nakhl_ was now at hand; but we could yet see it spreading
out wide to our left, the mirage giving its distant portions the
appearance of a succession of blue lakes; directly in front were
the mountains which close it in; and far to the right we could
see, stretching away, a still higher range running to the north,
and on the left the tops of the mountains about Wadi Gharandel,
the _Taset_ (cup) _Soddur_ being conspicuous afar. We entered
these mountains by a slight ascent, which struck soon after the
head of a long winding valley descending towards Suez: the immense
plain we had traversed, floated away in mist, and we had now done
with the plateau of the Great Desert."[15]