vii
PREFACE.
ascribed  by  Ptolemy  to  Petra,  agrees  moreover  very  accurately
with  that  which  is  the  result  of  the  geographical  information  of
Burckhardt.  The  vestiges  of  opulence,  and  the  apparent  date  of
the  architecture  at  Wady  Mousa,  are  equally  conformable  with
the  remains  of  the  history  of  Petra,  found  in  Strabo,*  from  whom
it  appears  that  previous  to  the  reign  of  Augustus,  or  under  the
latter  Ptolemies,  a  very  large  portion  of  the  commerce  of  Arabia
and  India  passed  through  Petra  to  the  Mediterranean:  and  that
armies  of  camels  were  required  to  convey  the  merchandise  from
Leuce  Come,  on  the  Red  Sea,  through  Petra  to  Rhinocolura,
now  El  Arish.  But  among  the  ancient  authorities  regarding  Petra,
none  are  more  curious  than  those  of  Josephus,  Eusebius,  and
Jerom,  all  persons  well  acquainted  with  these  countries,  and  who
agree  in  proving  that  the  sepulchre  of  Aaron  in  Mount  Hor,  was
near  Petra.†  For  hence,  it  seems  evident,  that  the  present  object
of  Musulman  devotion,  under  the  name  of  the  tomb  of  Haroun,
stands  upon  the  same  spot  which  has  always  been  regarded  as  the
burying-place  of  Aaron  ;  and  there  remains  little  doubt,  therefore,
that  the  mountain  to  the  west  of  Petra,  is  the  Mount  Hor  of  the
Scriptures,  Mousa  being,  perhaps,  an  Arabic  corruption  of  Mosera, ¬
  where  Aaron  is  said  to  have  died.§
*  P.  781.
†  Leuce  Come,  on  the  coast  of  the  Nabatæi,  was  the  place  from  whence  Ælius  Gallus
set  out  on  his  unsuccessful  expedition  into  Arabia,  (Strabo,  ibid.)  Its  exact  situation
Euseb.  et  Hieron.  Onomast.  in  "Og.  Joseph.  Ant.  Jud.  1.  4.  c.  4.
is  unknown.
§  Deuter.  c.  x.  v.  6.  In  addition  to  the  proofs  of  the  site  of  Petra,  just  stated,  it  is  worthy ¬
  of  remark  that  the  distance  of  eighty-three  Roman  miles  from  Aila,  or  Alana,  to  Petra, ¬
  in  the  Table  (called  Theodosian  or  Peutinger,)  when  compared  with  the  distance  on
the  map,  gives  a  rate  of  about  %  of  a  Roman  mile  to  the  geographical  mile  in  direct
distance,  which  is  not  only  a  correct  rate,  but  accords  very  accurately  with  that  resulting
from  the  other  two  routes  leading  from  Aila  in  the  Table,  namely,  from  Aila  to  Clysma,
near  the  modern  Suez,  and  from  Aila  to  Jerusalem.  Szadeka,  which  Burckhardt  visited  to
the  south  of  Wady  Mousa,  agrees  in  distance  and  situation  as  well  as  in  name  with  the