In the Old Testament the name of Damascus occurs as early as the history of Abraham. After the time of David, Damascus often came into sharp collision with Israel. In the New Testament Damascus is known especially from the history of Paul.
Its chief modern glory is the Omayyad Mosque, and the ever changing color and variety of the street traffic, the costumes and the animation of the bazaars. The mosque was the subject of extravagant description by Arabian writers. In 1069 fire destroyed part of the building, and again in 1893 immense injury was done by fire; it has been restored, though it has not its ancient magnificence.
Jericho (jer´i-kō), situated west of the Jordan and fourteen miles east-northeast of Jerusalem, was destroyed by Joshua and rebuilt by Ahab. It was the residence of Herod the Great; was destroyed by Vespasian, rebuilt by Hadrian, and again destroyed by the Crusaders.
Nazareth (naz´a-reth) is celebrated as the dwelling-place of Jesus during his childhood and early manhood. The Church of the Annunciation here was founded by the empress Helena, but ruined in the middle ages, and rebuilt later. It is well proportioned, and, while much of the architecture is new, it preserves interesting memorials of the past. In the crypt is the traditional place of the Annunciation.
Petra (pē´trä).—On the northwest edge of the Arabian desert, about midway between the Gulf of Okabah and the Dead Sea, among desolate mountains, stand the remains of the rock-hewn city of Petra, best reached from Jerusalem. These ruins probably date from the time of Roman rule in 105 A. D., though some of the magnificent monuments were built by the Edomites who dwelt here before the Greeks and Romans.
This wonderful city is approached through a narrow gorge called the Sik, a kind of gateway in the rocks, like the entrance to a Roman amphitheatre.
Here one is confronted by a temple cut in the rock, with the most exquisite Corinthian columns, and entering the doorway he finds himself in the heart of the hill, surrounded by subterranean architecture of the most elaborate beauty of form and workmanship. This is called the Khaznet or Treasury of Pharaoh, which is rightly regarded as one of the wonders of the East. It is attributed to the Emperor Hadrian, who visited the place in A. D. 131, and erected here a temple to Isis. The rock wall from which it is hewn is an exquisite rose-pink. It is in a state of remarkable preservation. The imposing facade shows two rows each of six majestic columns, one row above the other, with niches in which are rock-hewn equestrian and other statues, the whole terminating above in a miniature temple crowned by a huge urn, the entire height being one hundred and two feet. Within is a bare lofty room and some chambers. The urn is said to contain treasures of Pharaoh. Neither the Coliseum at Rome, grand and interesting as it is, nor the ruins of the Acropolis at Athens, nor the Pyramids, nor the mighty temples of the Nile, present a more marvelous spectacle.
But this is only an introduction to the marvels behind. The gorge opens out into a narrow valley, some three miles in circumference, everywhere sunk deep beneath the enclosing mountains, and the walls of this valley are filled with the remains of other rock-cut temples, tombs and dwelling places. In one place are the remains of an open air theatre, the workmanship of which is Greek. Some of the structures, cut in the face of the rock, are several stories in height, while their architectural details excite the wondering admiration of the beholder. A stairway of many hundreds of steps leads to the largest of the ruins, [366] El Deir, or Convent. In design it somewhat resembles the Treasury of Pharaoh.
THE TREASURY OF PHARAOH