We here at Cheops Books also want to share with your the fruits of a little bit of digging about the Great War history behind Key to Lawrence Special Edition. Near the end of the novel Lawrence of Arabia’s Battle of Petra becomes very important. It was detailed in the book With Lawrence in Arabia by Lowell Thomas who interviewed Lawrence. That was our main source when writing the story. But we could never find it mentioned anywhere else and wondered if it had really happened.
Gary Cargill, the historical researcher for the series, has learned that the Battle of Petra was called the Battle of Wadi Musa. Wadi Musa stands for the Valley of Moses. He was reading History of the Syrian Arab Army published in 2000 edited by General Mustafa Tlas volume 1 1901-1948. It was produced by the Center for Military Studies in Damascus, Syria. It covers the Arab Revolt led by Lawrence and mentions a battle called Wadi Musa. When Gary looked up Wadi Musa on a map, he discovered that it was the same location as Petra. The battle also occurs on the same date and sounds very similar. In other words, the Arabs trap the Turks in the Siq and massacre them. So Petra is real after all! That is the battle where Lieutenant Edward Ware really learns his stuff as an army officer.
Gary Cargill, the historical researcher for the series, has learned that the Battle of Petra was called the Battle of Wadi Musa. Wadi Musa stands for the Valley of Moses. He was reading History of the Syrian Arab Army published in 2000 edited by General Mustafa Tlas volume 1 1901-1948. It was produced by the Center for Military Studies in Damascus, Syria. It covers the Arab Revolt led by Lawrence and mentions a battle called Wadi Musa. When Gary looked up Wadi Musa on a map, he discovered that it was the same location as Petra. The battle also occurs on the same date and sounds very similar. In other words, the Arabs trap the Turks in the Siq and massacre them. So Petra is real after all! That is the battle where Lieutenant Edward Ware really learns his stuff as an army officer.