SHR Main Page | Opera Propria | Vestiges in Sand Introduction
When I first came to write this section of Vestiges in Sand, I intended to produce a long article describing Petra and giving further details on the covenant of Urbs Rubra, described in Blood and Sand, pages 113-4. However, while doing some research I realised that numerous resources on Petra are available on the World Wide Web, and that to write such an article would simply involve repeating information that any enterprising storyguide can easily access for themselves. Therefore, this article will merely provide a brief ramble on how the "Rose Red City" or parts thereof might be incorporated into Ars Magica sagas, along with a brief bibliography and links to a number of the resources on Petra on the internet.
Note: Number references given below are to locations found on this map.
In Blood and Sand I described Urbs Rubra as a winter covenant, inhabited by two ancient magi of House Criamon, Fade and Wraith, to whom magi of the Order of Hermes had been unable to gain access for several years, due to the fact that access to Petra was blocked by a number of unco-operative jinn. The exact fates of Fade and Wraith are unknown, but should the player characters be able to find a way into Petra, here are some of the situations they might discover.
Or deemest thou that the People of the Cave and the Inscription are a wonder among Our portents?
When the young men fled for refuge to the Cave and said: Our Lord! Give us mercy from Thy presence, and shape for us right conduct in our plight.
Then we sealed up their hearing in the Cave for a number of years.
And afterward We raised them up that We might know which of the two parties would best calculate the time that they had tarried.
We narrate unto thee their story with truth. Lo! they were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance.Qur'an 18 (Al-Kahf [The Cave]): 9-13
It is told that during the reign of the Roman emperor, Decius (r. 249-51), who persecuted Christians, seven noble young men, preparing to give themselves up for martyrdom, went into a cave to pray together for the last time. There they fell asleep. Upon hearing that the men were sleeping in the cave, the emperor ordered it sealed so that they were buried alive. Some 150 years later, after the Roman Empire had become Christian and while the Christians were engaged in a dispute over the reality of the resurrection of the body, a rich landowner had the cave opened so that he could use it as a cattle stall. The young men awoke and sent one of their number to buy food from the nearby city. The people of the city were amazed to see the young man's antique coins, while he was equally astonished to see the churches with their crosses. Eventually all seven of the sleepers were summoned before the emperor (either Theodosius the Great [r. 379-95] or Theodosius the Younger [r. 408-450]), to whom they told their story. The people rejoiced at this proof of resurrection of the body, while the sleepers died praising God and were buried in the cave.
The location for these events is usually regarded as being Ephesus, in Asia Minor, but according to some traditions the true location was Petra. If this is true, it may be that the cave may yet be found. If it exists, it would surely be a holy site, and who knows, perhaps if they are disturbed the sleepers may rise yet again.
The Nabateans, the original inhabitants of Petra, worshipped a number of pagan gods, most of whom were associated with fertility and abundance. These included the following:
Needless to say, it is a long time since these deities were worshipped in this place. Or is it? Perhaps in a hidden cave, the rites of the old deities are still celebrated. Perhaps the deities themselves hear the prayers of their worshippers. Perhaps the deities are building up their strength, waiting for an appropriate time to return to the world. Perhaps that time is now...
And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water for the people to drink.
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore [is] this [that] thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?Exodus 17: 1-7
It is said that Petra is the place where God enabled Moses to draw water from rock in response to the complaints of the Israelites. Indeed, the nearby massif of Umm al-Biyara (33) contains many cisterns carved out of the rock. Perhaps it is here that the event took place, and maybe the original spot where Moses struck the rock may be found by those who are truly pious or very determined.
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, [Is] not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, [even] he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.Exodus 4: 14-16
To the south-west of Umm al-Biyara is Jabal al-Barra, a twin-peaked mountain. On the higher of the two peaks is the tomb of Aaron, the elder brother of and spokesman for Moses. After Aaron died, he was buried here by his younger brother. In 1220 Aaron's tomb is tended by Greek monks, but soon it will pass into Muslim hands, and the small chapel over Aaron's grave will become a mosque and a major pilgrimage site for the Muslims. Later the mosque will be restored by the Mamluk Sultan, Qalawun (r. 1279-90).
The entrance to Petra is guarded by three massive carved stone cubes, each approximately 40 ft high and 25 ft wide on each side. These are the homes of a tribe of jinn. It is these jinn who have prevented the Order from discovering what has happened to the magi of Urbs Rubra. In addition to guarding this main entrance, the jinn also maintain a watch on the other entrances to the complex. Needless to say, they will not allow anybody to enter Petra under any circumstances. Attempts to scry on the complex have also proved to be unsuccessful, so it would appear that either the covenant's magi or the jinn have enacted magics to thwart such forms of investigation.
Petra is entered through a narrow winding gorge known as al-Siq. The gorge itself bears an enchantment, here described by the amir, Usama ibn Munqidh (1095-1188), who visited Petra in the first half of the 12th century:
I passed through al-Kahf [...] and made a stop there. I entered the mosque and prayed in it; but the cleft in it I did not go through. One of the Turkish amirs, however, who were in my company, named Barshak, came with the intention of entering through that narrow cleft. I said to him, "What art thou doing here? Pray outside of it." "There is no god but Allah," he replied. "I must then be a bastard if I cannot enter through that narrow cleft!" "What is this that thou art saying?" I asked. "This is a place," he replied, "though which no son of adultery can enter. He cannot possibly enter therein." This statement made me rise and enter in that place. I prayed in it and came out without, as Allah knows, believing what he had said. Most of the troops, thereupon, came, went in and recited their prayers. But one of my officers, Baruq al-Zubaydi, had a black slave, devout and assiduous in prayer. The same, though one of the leanest and tallest of men, came in turn to that place, exerted every effort to get in, but could not do it. The poor fellow came back crying, moaning and sighing for having failed to get in through the cleft.
What is the nature of the enchantment? Does it really do what it appears to do, or has it been placed there by the Evil One to sow discord among humans?
Al-Khazna is a set of square chambers cut into the red sandstone rock face. The main entrance chamber is plain and unadorned, with another smaller, equally bare chamber off each of its three sides. However, the facade of the structure is of much greater interest; it is two storeys high, and carved in a mix of Classical and Nabatean style. On the lower level, six Corinthian capitals support a pediment, while on the upper level a second set of engaged columns and a pediment are bisected by a carving of a tholos, a circular temple with a domed roof. On top of the dome is an ornately carved stone urn, in which it is said that a great treasure might be found, if only the seeker were able to find a way to open it. Exactly who placed the treasure there in the first place is a mystery; according to some, it was brigands who preyed upon travellers on the roads nearby, while others say that it was placed there by Pharaoh after his failure to capture Moses and the Israelites at the Red Sea.
The Qasr al-Bint is the only building in the Petra complex not carved from the rock. Instead it consists of a rectangular building made of stone, which contains three rectangular rooms. One enters into the central chamber, with the lateral rooms being found on the left and right of the main room. According to legend, this building was once the palace of an Egyptian princess who promised to marry the man who could supply her home with water. It is not known if her desire was ever fulfilled; perhaps on some level of regio the princess is still waiting.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, [here] I [am].
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.Genesis 22: 1-2
The High Place of Sacrifice is located at the top of a ridge of the Jebel Madbah. It is divided into two parts. On the southern side there are two obelisks, said to represent the Nabatean deities Dushara and Allat. On the northern side is a fort protecting a large stone altar. It is said by some that it was here that Abraham was instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac, rather than Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. The altar itself has a square hollow on the top, where a meteorite symbolising Dushara was placed. The blood of sacrifices was allowed to spill over this meteorite before it drained away in channels cut into the rock for this purpose, and this process was believed to direct the power of the god into the blood. Around the altar is a carved courtyard with seating for observers. In front of the altar is another platform only a few centimetres high, which was used for bloodless sacrifices.
Copyright © Niall Christie 2003.
