The road from Maan and from Wady Mousa to
Ghaza, leads by the tomb, and is much frequented by the people of Maan
and the Bedouins; on the other side of Haroun the road descends into the
great valley.
In comparing the testimonies of the authors cited in Reland’s
Palaestina, it appears very probable that the ruins in Wady Mousa are
those of the ancient Petra, and it is remarkable that Eusebius says the
tomb of Aaron was shewn near Petra. Of this at least I am persuaded,
from all the information I procured, that there is no other ruin between
the extremities of the Dead sea and Red sea, of sufficient importance to
answer to that city. Whether or not I have discovered the remains of the
capital of Arabia Petræa, I leave to the decision of Greek scholars, and
shall only subjoin a few notes on these ruins.
The rocks, through which the river of Wady Mousa has worked its
extraordinary passage, and in which all the tombs and mausolea
[p.432] of the city have been excavated, as high as the tomb of Haroun,
are sand-stone of a reddish colour. The rocks above Eldjy are
calcareous, and the sand-stone does not begin until the point where the
first tombs are excavated.
