DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0245
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
three to four thousand spectators. The view from the highest tier is magnificent, and
embraces almost all the excavated parts of the valley (see page 213). In the wall of rock
behind the theatre are some boxes, or loculi, which, perhaps, existed as caves in the
face of the rock before the amphitheatre was excavated. Immediately opposite to the
theatre are some tombs with beautifully executed fronts, the first of which contains a
curious arrangement of graves, or loculi. These are cut in the floor of the cave, and are
so placed as to make the most of the room, no regard being paid to the direction in which
they lie. On the wall to the left are some rudely cut representations of the sepulchral
THE ROCK-HEWN AMPHITHEATRE, PETRA.
Thirty-three tiers of seats rise one above another, and above the seats there are chambers hewn in the rock. The brook of 'Ain Musa, bordered
with verdure, flows across the arena.
monuments in favour with the Nabathseans, something between an obelisk and a pyramid, and
beneath these are two inscriptions in the Nabathsean character. A little farther on is a finely
carved temple, which originally contained six caves or recesses ; these have since been made
into three, and fashioned into apses at the end so as to form a Greek church of the usual
pattern. A Greek inscription in red paint records the fact of its consecration, but the date
is unfortunately illegible. Each tomb or cave has its owner, who dwells there with his family
in the cold or wet weather.
three to four thousand spectators. The view from the highest tier is magnificent, and
embraces almost all the excavated parts of the valley (see page 213). In the wall of rock
behind the theatre are some boxes, or loculi, which, perhaps, existed as caves in the
face of the rock before the amphitheatre was excavated. Immediately opposite to the
theatre are some tombs with beautifully executed fronts, the first of which contains a
curious arrangement of graves, or loculi. These are cut in the floor of the cave, and are
so placed as to make the most of the room, no regard being paid to the direction in which
they lie. On the wall to the left are some rudely cut representations of the sepulchral
THE ROCK-HEWN AMPHITHEATRE, PETRA.
Thirty-three tiers of seats rise one above another, and above the seats there are chambers hewn in the rock. The brook of 'Ain Musa, bordered
with verdure, flows across the arena.
monuments in favour with the Nabathseans, something between an obelisk and a pyramid, and
beneath these are two inscriptions in the Nabathsean character. A little farther on is a finely
carved temple, which originally contained six caves or recesses ; these have since been made
into three, and fashioned into apses at the end so as to form a Greek church of the usual
pattern. A Greek inscription in red paint records the fact of its consecration, but the date
is unfortunately illegible. Each tomb or cave has its owner, who dwells there with his family
in the cold or wet weather.