PETRA (i = the rock), a ruined site, 3o° 19' N. and 35° 31' E., in Trans-Jordan, lying in a rock basin on the eastern side of the Wadi el-Araba, the great valley that continues the rift of Jordan southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. The descriptions of Strabo (xvi. p. 779), Pliny (N.H. vi. 32) and other writers leave no doubt as to the identity of this site with the famous capital of the Nabataeans (q.v.) and the centre of their caravan trade. Petra commanded routes to Gaza in the west, to Bosra and Damascus in the north, to Elath and Leuce Come on the Red sea, and across the desert to the Persian gulf.
The country around is assigned by tradition to the Horites, i.e., probably "cave-dwellers," the predecessors of the Edomites (Gen. xiv. 6; xxxvi. 20-30; Deut. ii. 12). But that Petra itself is mentioned in the Old Testament cannot be affirmed with cer tainty, although some have tried to identify it with the name Sela, which also means a rock. Eusebius and Jerome, apparently on the authority of Josephus (Ant. iv. 7, ; 4, 7), assert that Rekem was the native name, but this also presents many serious difficulties. Others think that the reference to petra by Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94-97), where the expeditions of Antigonus against the Nabataeans (312 B.c.) are described, refers to Petra. But petra, referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge, cannot be a proper name. The tombs at Petra offer some evidence of the early Nabataean settlement. Two types of tombs may be distinguished, the Nabataean and the Graeco-Roman. The former start from the simple pylon-tomb of pre-Hellenic age (round about the 6th century B.c.) ; they then pass through vari ous stages evolving to the full Nabataean type, which retains all the native features and at the same time shows character istics which are partly Egyptian and partly Greek. There are close parallels of this type, with inscriptions, at el Hejr in north Arabia. The next stage in the evolution of the tombs gives tomb fronts terminating in a semi-circular arch, a feature derived from North Syria, and there finally appear the elaborate facades from which all trace of native style has vanished, copied from the front of a Roman temple. This particular evolution suggests that Petra had cultural relations with many different groups at this time, as is to be expected from its position as a great trade focus. After the period of the pre-Hellenic tombs we notice a period which combined Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly point ing to the age of the Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century B.c., when the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean kingdom came to the front; under Aretas III. Philhellene (c. 85-60 B.c.) the royal coins began; at this time probably the theatre was excavated and Petra must have assumed the aspect of a Hellenistic city. It is to the long and prosperous reign of Aretas IV. Philopatris (9 B.C.—A.D. 4o) that the fine tombs of the el Hejr type may be dated, and perhaps also the High-place. Then the city became more and more Roman
ized. In A.D. 106 Arabia Petraea ("Arabia belonging to Petra") was absorbed into the Roman empire, and the native dynasty came to an end. When the city was more prosperous than ever, at the time of Alexander Severus (A.D. 222-235) , the issue of coin age came suddenly to an end. This was possibly due to a desert raid on a large scale, associated, perhaps, with the neo-Persian power under the Sassanid dynasty. Meanwhile, Palmyra was growing in importance, and attracted much of the Arabian trade away from Petra, and the latter declined. It seems, however, to have lingered on as a religious centre, for we are told by Epiphanius (c. A.D. 315-403) that in his time a feast was held there on Dec. 25 in honour of the virgin, Chaabou, and her off spring, Dusares (Haer. 51.). The chief god of Petra was Dhu shard am), i.e., the lord or owner of Shard; he was wor shipped under the form of a black rectangular stone, a sort of Petraean Ka`ba. Associated with DU-shard was Alla, the chief goddess of the ancient Arabs. Christianity found its way into Petra in early times; Athanasius mentions a bishop of Petra named Asterius, and at least one of the tombs was used as a church, with an inscription recording its consecration "in the time of the most holy Bishop Jason" (A.D. 447). The Christianity of Petra, as of north Arabia, was swept away by the Moham medan conquest in A.D. 629-632. Under the Latin kingdom, Petra was occupied by Baldwin I. ; it was held by the Franks till 1189; fragments of the Crusaders' citadel are still standing.
The present ruins are extensive and are usually approached by a track which leads round Jebel Hdriin (Mt. Hor) and enters the plain of Petra from the south. Another entrance is from the east, through a narrow gorge called the Sik, also the water way of the Wadi Musa. Near the end of the defile stands the most elaborate of the ruins, el-Hazne, or "the Treasury of Pharaoh," hewn out of the cliff. A little further on, at the foot of en-Nejr, comes the theatre. On en-Nejr is the great High place, consisting of a rock-hewn altar of burnt offering. Not far off are two obelisks cut out of the solid rock; these were either images of Dhil-shard and Alla, or, more probably, marked the limits of the haram or the sanctuary. There are other places of sacrifice around. It seems probable that en-Nejr must have been the sacred mountain, the original sanctuary of Petra. The mountain walls around the city are lined with rock-cut tombs in the form of towers. ,,The city itself covered a space of about 14 sq.m., on fairly level ground on either bank of the Wadi Musa. Among the ruins on the south bank stand the fragments of a temple called Kasr Fireaun, of late Roman date.
See Briinnow and Domaszewski, Die Provincia Arabia (1904) ; Dal man, Petra and seine Felsheiligtiimer (1908) ; Musil, Arabia Petraea (1907-08). See also the Corpus Inscr. Sem., ii. 305 sqq.; Baedeker Socin's, Palestina (7th ed.) and Revue biblique (1897-98 and 1903).