920 



SYRIA, OR EGYPTIAN ASIA. 



Ruins of Palmyra, or Tadmor in the Desert. 



imagine anything more strik- 

 ing than the general view. 

 When examined in detail, 

 the ruins lose much of their 

 interest. None oi" the col- 

 umns exceed 40 feet in 

 height, or 4 in diameter, 

 and they are composed of 7 

 or S pieces of stone ; while at 

 Baalbec, the columns are of 

 3 pieces only, about 60 feet 

 high, and support a beautiful 

 epistylum of 20 feet more. 

 There is at Palmyra great 

 sameness in the architectui^ft^ 

 and the sculptures and orna- 

 ments are coarse and insigni- 

 ficant. The ruins are nearly 

 a raiJe and a half in length. 

 At Baalbec, on the site of the ancient 

 Heliopolis, "the grand ruin," to which 

 the jilace owes its celebrity, is near the 

 foot of the Anti-Libanus. The portico 

 has maible pillars, of the Corinthian or- 

 der, more than 6 feet in diameter, and 45 

 feet in height, composed of 3 stones each. 

 They are 9 feet apart, and tlse same from 

 llie walls of the temple ; there are 14 of 

 these pillars on each side of the temple, 

 and S at the end. A stately architrave, 

 richly carved, runs all round the capitals. 

 I'here are many exquisitely sculptured 

 figures ; all the ornaments are in the best 

 taste. There are other temples and frag 

 ments of the walls which inclose them. 

 The stones are of almost incredible size. 

 Three of the larger ones exceed 67 feet 

 in height. They are 9 feet deep, and 14 

 in breadth. The mass of stones in the 

 walls are enormous, and some 60 feet 

 long, and 12 broad and deep, are raised 

 in the wall 20 feet from the ground. A 

 whole wall, 400 feet on a side, was con- 

 structed of these blocks, from 30 to 60 

 feet long. In the pyramids of Egypt, 

 there are one or two stones 18 feet long. 

 There are other temples and various ruins 

 at Baalbec. 



At Nazareth, is a church wrought out of 

 a cave, in the form of a cross, and shown 

 to travelers as the spot where the Blessed 

 Virgin received the message of the angel, as related in the first chapter of St. Luke. The 

 original church was built by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine. Some of the re- 

 mains of this edifice may be observed in the forms of subverted columns, which, with the frag- 

 ments of their capitals and bases, he near the modern building ; the present church and con- 

 vent are of recent structure, in the same town, is shown the synagogue in which our Savior 

 read the Scriptures to the .Tews. Two miles from Nazareth, is the Mount of Precipitation, 

 down which the Nazarencs attempted to cast him headlong. 



Palmyra. 



