FROM JERUSALEM TO ALEPPO 



101 



joints so perfect that a knife-blade can- 

 not enter between. x\round this at a dis- 

 tance of lo feet runs on the two sides 

 and ends a row of smooth columns which 

 forms the peristyle. 



These, including their capitals, are 

 about 52 feet high and are surmounted 

 by a magnificent entablature. This en- 

 tablature is connected with the walls of 

 the cella by enormous slabs of stone, 

 which are elaborately carved with the 

 heads of emperors, deities, and inter- 

 woven with floral designs, forming an 

 exquisite ceiling. 



While the walls of the cella are still 

 perfect, more than half of the columns 

 forming the peristyle have fallen, the 

 north side being the best preserved. Not- 

 withstanding the profuse ornamentation 

 of the peristyle, it is exceeded by that of 

 the portal to the temple, which is indeed 

 the gem of the entire edifice (see page 



The door posts are elegantly carved 

 with figures of Bacchus, fauns, cupids, 

 satyrs, and bacchantes, woven around 

 which are grape-vines and clusters of 

 fruit, also poppies and ears of wheat, all 

 of which are symbolical of the attributes 

 of the revelling god to whom the temple 

 is dedicated. 



This great doorway stands 43 feet 

 high and 213^2 feet wide, while the carv- 

 ing of the posts just mentioned covers a 

 space about 6 feet wide. On both sides 

 of this door stand graceful fluted col- 

 umns, forming the prostyle or portico, 

 while the plain ones of the peristyle, 

 which stand behind them, seem to re- 

 flect their beauty. 



The decorations of the walls of the 

 interior of this temple resemble the carv- 

 ings of the exedn-e of the Great Court, 

 having two rows of niches for statues 

 one above the other and divided perpen- 

 dicularly from each other by engaged 

 fluted columns. 



As already mentioned, these temples 

 stood on a raised platform resting on 

 substructures. The Great Temple lies 

 44^ feet above the level of the plain 

 and is the highest part of the entire in- 

 closure, while the Great Court was only 

 23 feet lower. 



THE EXORMOUS MONOLITHS OF BA.\L1!KK 



An inclosing wall, the mammoth stones 

 of which have been the marvel of engi- 

 neers for ages, deserves mention. The 

 lowest courses are built of stones of mod- 

 erate dimensions, but which grow rap- 

 idly in size until we come to a row of 

 three enormous stones, the shortest being 

 63 feet and the longest 65 in length, and 

 each being about 13 feet high and 10 

 feet thick. The course of which they 

 form part is some 20 feet above the sur- 

 face of the ground. 



They are the largest building blocks 

 ever known to have been used by man ; 

 and a still larger one lies in the ancient 

 near-by quarry, never having been de- 

 tached from the rock beneath. This one 

 is 70 feet long by 14 by 13 feet. 



In addition to the Acropolis, as the 

 ruins described are called, there are at 

 Baalbek several other objects of minor 

 interest, such as the Temple of \'enus. 



At the hotel in Baalbek we met a.n in- 

 teresting Turk. He was traveling, being 

 sent out by a newly established de])art- 

 ment of agriculture at Damascus, with a 

 carload of American and European farm 

 machinery for sale or exhibition to the 

 peasants. He had a very clear concep- 

 tion of the reforms needed to aid the 

 agriculturist in Turkey, and his eyes 

 snapped with delight as we drew from 

 our scanty knowledge of what the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at AX'ashington 

 had done for our American farmers. 



A short train ride northward from 

 Baalbek, first through a flat valley which 

 broadened into a plain, brought us to 

 Homs, a town of some 60,000 inhabit- 

 ants, located on the banks of the River 

 Orontes. which here flows far below the 

 level of the plain, so that the town lies 

 cradled, invisible to one approaching it, 

 until almost upon it. 



A large mound rises to some height 

 above the level of the valley, on which at 

 one time stood the citadel of the town. 

 The houses are built of unbaked bricks 

 and have flat roofs, with some better 

 edifices constructed of black basalt deco- 

 rated with white limestone. There are 

 numerous minarets, but very unlike the 



