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says he built the castle, the only foundation for which assertion being that he repaired one that had been there for ages. Moreover, that locality does not suit the accounts given of events immediately connected with the Transfiguration as recorded by the Evangelists, though it must be confessed that these are not definite or very decisive. I would not, therefore, contend with those who prefer the old tradition in favor of Tabor, and yet I think it probable that it was somewhere in this direction, and see no good reason why it may not have been on this lofty and lonely Panium, or rather Hermon, of which it forms the southern termination.

Here also occurred that remarkable discourse with the disciples, in which Simon Peter answered our Lord's question by the solemn assertion, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, and received in reply, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church. Could the claims of Banias to this wonderful discourse be established, it might vastly enhance the interest of the place in the eyes of those who have made so much capital out of the power of the keys here conferred. We leave the hint for those whom it more immediately concerns.

There must be something about this Upper Jordan and its surroundings particularly calculated to call out and foster the religious or the superstitious propensities of our nature. Tell el Kady, four miles west, was the great seat of false worship, from the days when the Danites conquered it, and there set up their teraphim, a graven image and a molten image.2 Long after this, Jeroboam placed golden calves in Dan, which thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.3

Then this Banias itself was always celebrated for its worship of Pan, and as we follow up the country we meet with heathen temples all over these mountains. There are ruins of several at a place called Bustra, not far from Kefr Shûbah; another on the high point of Mûtaleîh, above Rashaiet el Fukhar; and one at Sed Dan, farther in the mountains. 1 Matt. xvi. 16, 17. Judg. xviii. 14-20. 3 1 Kings xii. 29, 30.

2

A short distance northeast of Rashaiet el Fukhar is the fine temple of Hibbarîyeh, with a Greek inscription, much defaced. Two miles farther north are the ruins of another, and higher up still is the temple of Ain Hershah, with Greek inscriptions. Then come those of 'Aihah, Kefr Kûk, Rakhleh, Deir 'Asheîr, Burkûsh, Bekkeh, Munseh, and several others; and across Wady et Teim, west of Rashaiet el Fokah, is the fine temple at Tilthatha, called Neby Sufah. Certainly no part of Syria was so given to idolatry as this region round the head-waters of the Jordan. These temples fronted the east, and were probably devoted to the worship of Baal. A description of one or two will answer for all. That at Hibbarîyeh is a fair specimen. It is fifty-eight feet long, thirty-one wide, and to the top of the frieze on the west side is thirty-two feet. It is built of large, well-cut stone, some of them fifteen feet long. The interior, as usual in such edifices, was divided into three parts: that of the altar, at the west end, considerably raised, and eleven feet deep; that of the temple, nave, or body of the edifice, twenty-three feet; and the portico, nearly sixteen feet, with columns in front. The temple at Rakhleh is eighty-two feet eight inches long and fifty-seven wide. The altar is semicircular, like that of ancient churches, and with apses on either side. A double row of Ionic columns extended from the altar to the entrance. This edifice is thrown down nearly to the ground. On the southeast corner is a stone belonging to the original wall, about six feet square, and having a circular wreath on the face of it five feet in diameter. Within this is another circle four feet in diameter, and this surrounds the colossal face of an image handsomely carved in bold relief. The length of the face, from the chin to the top of the hair, is three feet four inches, the width two feet four inches. It has been purposely disfigured, but the features are still very distinct and striking. It is probably an image of the god of the temple, perhaps the face of old Baal himself.

It

The temple at Deir 'Asheîr stands upon an elevated platform, ornamented with a frieze and cornice of its own. is one hundred and twenty-six feet long and sixty-nine

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wide. The length of the edifice built upon this platform is eighty-nine feet, the breadth about forty, and the height to the top of the cornice fifty-four. The interior is divided. like that at Hibbarîyeh. The style of architecture resembles the Ionic, and the egg and cup, or cup and ball ornaments occur every where, as at Baalbek. There are other ancient buildings at this Deir 'Asheîr, and the place is well worth a visit.

Proceeding farther north, there are remnants of small temples at various points along the slopes of Anti-Lebanon. At Neby Sheet is the tomb of Seth, under a vaulted room more than one hundred feet long. The tomb is about ten feet broad, extends the entire length of the vault, and is covered with a green cloth. This prophet Seth is the third son of Adam, transformed into a grand Moslem saint, with three hundred wives, and children without number. Opposite to his tomb, on the west side of the Buk'ah, is that of Noah, at Kerak. It is a little more than one hundred and thirty feet long, and even at that accommodated the tall patriarch who stepped across the Deluge only to the knees, the remainder being provided for by a deep pit sunk perpendicularly into the earth. But this entire system of fanes and temples received its grandest enunciation in the wonderful structures at Baalbek, on the eastern side of the Bŭk’ah.

Is Baalbek the Baal-gad of the Bible?

The main reasons for the support of this opinion are that the names are very similar: the first half identical in form, the other probably so in significance, and both correctly translated by Heliopolis, City of the Sun. Then, again, the notices of it in the Bible lead us to search for Baal-gad in the direction and neighborhood of Baalbek: In the valley of Lebanon, under Hermon, and the entrance into Hamath:1 these are the geographical indications. That it is in the valley of Lebanon can not be questioned; that it is under Hermon is equally certain; and that it is at or on the road to the "entrance into Hamath," my explorations in that direction have fully satisfied my own mind. This "entrance," so

Josh. xi. 17, and xiii. 5.