SELA se’ lə (סֶ֫לַע֒, H6152, rock or cliff; πέτρα, G4376, living rock or cliff).

1. Compounded with Rimmon (q.v.), Etam (q.v.), and Hammahlekoth (see Sela-hammahlekoth).

2. An unidentified site in Amorite territory (Judg 1:36).

3. The Sem. name for Petra, the capital of ancient Edom (q.v.).

A. Description. Petra is approached from the E from the modern village of El Ji through the Wady Musa. Wady Musa narrows to become the “Siq,” the “Gorge,” barely six ft. wide with sheer walls rising to 260 ft. In ancient times a dam protected the Siq from flash floods. A rock-cut aqueduct on the left formerly carried water to Petra. After passing the “Treasury of Pharaoh,” the Wady opens into a valley c. 1000 yards by 400 yards where the lower city was located. Some important remains here are the “Castle of Pharaoh,” the Peripteral Temple, the Palace, and the Great Theater.

More structures of various types and styles are found in the surrounding heights and ravines. Among the most famous are the tombs and temples hewn into the walls of the ravines. The elevated places of worship are also significant, particularly the one on Zibb Atuf.

B. History. Apart from flints from cave dwellers, the earliest evidences of habitation are remains of an Edomite fortress and Edomite pottery on the height, Umm el-Biyara, which is prob. the original “Sela.” Amaziah prob. cast his Edomite prisoners from this height (2 Chron 25:12). Under the Nabateans, Petra became the focal point for land trade between Arabia and points to the NW. After annexation by Rome in a.d. 106, Palmyra assumed this role, and, by the end of the 3rd cent., Petra had lost most of its economic importance. By the 4th cent., Petra was the seat of a bishopric. For all practical purposes, the 7th-cent. Arab conquests ended its history. After the 13th cent., even the site was forgotten until rediscovered by Burchhardt in 1812.

Bibliography E. Hull, “Sela,” HDB (1902); W. A. Morton, “Umm el-Biyara,” BA, XIX (1956), 26-36; G. Larue, “Petra,” The Biblical World, ed. C. Pfeiffer (1966).