The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [107]
The woman at the counter looked surprised. ‘Oh, yes. They did claim that at one time. In fact the second President of Israel – Isaac ben-Zvi – even went as far as to claim that the Bedul had retained aspects of Israelite culture and language.’
Daniel smiled, remembering what Aryeh Tsedaka had told him about the Samaritan community in Holon.
‘But that view isn’t supported by serious historians,’ the woman continued. ‘There certainly isn’t any written record to suggest it.’
‘So they came… when?’ asked Goliath. ‘The time of the Muslim conquest? The seventh century AD?’
‘Oh no, they pre-date the Islamic era, but probably not by all that much. Of course, their ancestors converted to Islam many centuries ago.’
‘So when did they arrive in this area?’
‘Well, their main claim is that they’re descended from the Nabateans who built Petra.’
‘Is there any possibility that we could persuade this Talal Ibrahim to give us a tour?’ asked Goliath. ‘We’re only here for one day and—’
‘Wait a minute – are you asking about Sheikh Ibrahim?’ asked another woman behind the counter.
‘Yes.’
‘He is here today. He actually had a group booked for a tour, but their coach broke down and they had to cancel. I think he’s still here. I can page him.’
Half an hour later they were walking along the Bab as Siq – sometimes called the ‘outer siq’ – a road bordered by slopes that ran by the side of Wadi Musa between the visitor centre and the entrance to the inner siq that most tourists took to get into Petra City.
‘The inner siq,’ Ibrahim explained, literally “the shaft”, is a long, narrow passage through the red rock leading into the actual city of Petra. It was created not by man, but by nature and it stretches for two kilometres, bending and twisting this way and that along the way. It is barely three metres wide, sometimes less than that.’
Two things had struck Daniel within a few minutes of each other: the advanced age of the sheikh – it was hard to tell exactly how old he was – and the magnificent mountains and steep hills that surrounded them.
‘I thought the rock was red,’ said Daniel in his naivety.
‘That’s further in,’ said Ibrahim. ‘Out here it is white.’
The valley began to narrow.
‘What’s that?’ asked Daniel, pointing to three square towers carved into the rock.
‘In Arabic we call them sahreej, which means cistern. However, the name is misleading because they have nothing to do with channelling or storing water. Most English speakers call them djinn blocks, using the Arabic word for an evil spirit, which I believe you sometimes call a genie.’
‘Were they carved by the Nabateans?’ Daniel asked.
‘So it is believed. This is a theory that they represent the Nabatean god Dushara. They are also believed to be tombs. And these are not the only ones. More than twenty of these djinn blocks have been found in Petra.’
A little further down, Sheikh Ibrahim stopped and pointed to a small entrance cut into the rock on the other side of the road from the djinn blocks.
‘That is the entrance to the Snake Tomb.’
It was so unobtrusive that they could have gone right past it without noticing it. He walked in, followed by the others, who formed a nervous huddle just behind him.
‘There are twelve graves here,’ the sheikh began.
‘Why is it called the Snake Tomb?’ asked Daniel, thinking about Moses and the fiery snakes.
Sheikh Ibrahim switched on a torch and aimed it at the floor. He moved the torch and directed its beam on to the wall where a carved relief image of a pair of snakes attacking a dog or jackal was illuminated. Above it and to the left was a relief of a horse mounted by some indeterminate figure.
‘Not many people know about this place. It isn’t considered important, but I presumed that as you wanted someone with deeper knowledge than usual, you might like to see this. A little tomb that most tourists don’t bother with.’
They went outside and drank some water to cool off.
‘There is something I wanted to ask you,’ Goliath said to the sheikh.
Daniel tensed up, wondering if Goliath was about