portal, &c. worthy of admiration (in itself.) Taken altogether, these ruins are certainly more remarkable, by reason of their extent, (being nearly a mile and a half in length,) than any we have hitherto met with, and they are, moreover, less encumbered by modern fabrics than any we have witnessed; for except the Arab village of Tadmor, which occupies the court of the Temple of the Sun, and the Turkish burying place, there are no obstructions whatever to the antiquities.

"We found the tombs very interesting; their construction is different from anything we had elsewhere seen. They consist of a number of square towers, three, four, and five stories high; they are situated without the walls of the ancient city. The best remaining are on each side of the valley which leads to Homs and Hamah. There are generally five sepulchral chambers, one over the other, and on each side are eight recesses, each divided into four or five parts for the reception of corpses. The best of these lower apartments which we saw, are very handsome; the ceiling, on which the paint is still very perfect, is ornamented with the heads of different heathen deities. We were much interested by the remains of some of the mummies and mummy cloths, which appear to have been preserved very much after the manner of the Egyptians. The lines of the streets and foundations of the houses of Palmyra, are very distinguishable in some places. On one building there is a Hebrew inscription. There is a great quantity of salt in the desert adjoining Tadmor, which forms a lucrative branch of commerce to the present natives."-See IRBY and MANGLES.

BAALBEC, PROBABLY THE BAAL-GAD AND BAAL-HAMON OF SCRIPTURE.

[Josh. xi. 17; xii. 7; xiii. 5. Cant. viii. 11.]

"WE hired a guide to conduct us over Lebanon into the valley in which Baalbec is situated. Leaving the cedars about an hour after sunrise, we ascended to the crest of Lebanon, where we had an extensive view over the hills at its S.E. foot, into the valley, with Baalbec in the distance and beheld also, to the westward, the sea for a considerable distance.

:

"The valley of Baalbec has an excessively rich soil, but it is put to little advantage, being very partially cultivated, and having no trees except in the immediate neighbourhood of Baalbec itself, which are chiefly the fig and walnut. The valley is bounded on the northwest side by Lebanon, and on its south-east by AntiLebanon its breadth may be about ten miles, while its

length extends as far as the eye can reach. The river Kasmia has its source to the north of Baalbec, and, running through the plain, discharges itself into the sea a little to the north of Tyre. How deplorable that so luxuriant a spot, with a fine loamy soil, should lay waste and desolate! and what ideas of former wealth and magnificence do the splendid ruins of Baalbec call to the mind!

"In descending from the summit of Lebanon, the road was excessively steep and rugged; we dismounted, and walked our horses down it; the sides of the mountain abound in partridges, all red-legged, and other game. At the south-east foot of this part of Lebanon is the source of a fine clear rivulet, which finally unites with the Kasmia. From hence we proceeded over some rugged hills covered with shrubs; a species of oak, the myrtle, and the almond-tree, are all remarkable. They have a tradition that there were formerly gardens here, and the almond and pear-trees seem to confirm the idea. . .

"Early next morning we arrived at Baalbec, and employed the whole day in visiting the antiquities...I cannot help making a few observations on one mass of ruins, the imposing grandeur of which particularly struck us. I allude to that remnant of a colonnade where there are six columns standing; the beauty and elegance of these pillars are surprising... We imagine these pillars to have been the remains of an avenue of twenty columns on each side, forming an approach to the Temple... There are remarkably large stones used in the buildings of the various edifices.

We mea

sured a single stone of sixty-six feet in length, and twelve in breadth and thickness. The whole of these buildings, together with the walls, are of coarse marble, excessively hard.

66

'The inhabitants of the valley are a particular sect of

This valley is also called that of the Kasmia, and Bekaa, and forms part of the district of Cœlo-Syria.

Mahometans-more hostile to Christians than any of the natives of Syria: they were (however) to us, quiet and well disposed."-IRBY and MANGLES, pp. 212-216.

"About a mile from Baalbec, in one of the quarries which furnished the materials for the construction of its temples, lies prostrate that wonderful block of stone which has excited as much astonishment, and almost as much admiration, as the ruins themselves. It measures 68 feet in length, 17 feet 8 inches in width, and 13 feet 10 inches in thickness. In what remote period it was hewn from the parent rock, why it never was made use of, and what cause arrested its removal when in a state of completion" (are and must remain mysteries.)-MRS. ROMER.

"Between seven and eight in the evening we were encamped on the eastern side of these celebrated re

mains; and when the moon rose, they presented one of the most charming pictures I ever beheld; but I was too weary to enjoy it, and soon betook myself to my couch for the night, after drinking abundantly of the clear cool waters which flow profusely round the walls of Baalbec, and gladden with their joyous music the weary traveller during every wakeful hour of the night. The tents were pitched in a fine grove of fig-trees. Our horses were tethered around us; and soon sleep cast her mantle over the wanderers in a far land.

...

"I cannot venture on a minute description of Baalbec It left on my mind a sense of overpowering vastness... The first thing that arrested my attention was the positive state of tumbled ruin in which the greater part of Baal's temple lay ... All its parts are of gigantic, yet most graceful proportion . . . All lie in dire confusion, yet as fresh almost as if just from the artist's chisel... Enough, both of the great temple, and the Temple of the Sun, remains, to convey an accurate notion of the whole design. .

"I can and do admire Baalbec for the magnificence of its design, the severe and massive simplicity of its style, and the delicacy of its details. I remember it as a noble specimen of ancient art and genius; but apart from all things beside, I behold in it an imperishable memorial of God's righteous dealing towards those who would rob Him of his glory, and transfer it to the creature. Every yet erect column, and every fallen capital over which the lizard rushes, or about which the serpent twines, speaks eloquently to men of all climes who muse and meditate in the silence of these majestic ruins. In this point of view every ruined heathen temple is valuable. Oh the costliness which idolatry has lavished upon ruinous error! Little did the adorers of gods

1

1 "Great numbers of lizards, graceful creatures, may be seen sporting and darting along at every step; and we found part of the cast skin of a serpent several feet in length. It must have belonged to a reptile of great size."