BAALBEC. 
The plain between the Libanus and Antilibanus is divided into the Bekaa, and the 
territory of Baalbec. 1 But little is known of the ancient history of this once beautiful 
City. Probably owing its wealth, if not its origin, to the traffic which was carried 
on between Tyre and Palmyra; it was, like them, an early seat of idolatry and cor¬ 
ruption. 2 But its Temple, the source of its existing fame, was due to Rome. The 
importance of the City as a military position had attracted the eye of the Imperial 
Government, and in the reign of Augustus it was made a fortress; 149 years after, 
Antoninus Pius built the present Temple, on the site of a former one. In the reign 
of Constantine, the fabric shared the general fate of the heathen shrines, and was first 
abandoned, and then consecrated as a Christian Church. The Saracen invasion at 
length threw it into the hands of Moslem. In the fluctuations of their fortune, it was 
again turned into a fortress. The frequent earthquakes of Syria added their share of 
devastation ; and the chief matter of surprise is, that, exposed to so many agents of 
ruin, any portion of this magnificent fabric should survive, to excite the curiosity, or 
delight the taste of Europe, at the end of seventeen centuries. 3 
There have been frequent descriptions of the Temple, but the limits to which we 
are necessarily confined and the changes which are constantly occurring in the buildings, 
from earthquakes, and the barbarism of the Arabs, induce us to prefer the brief, yet 
expressive and graphic, notice by the Artist himself. 
“Leaving Zahley, and continuing our course along the base of Libanus, we struck 
into the plain, and bearing N.E., for about two hours, we came in sight of Baalbec. . 
“Next day though the rain continued to fall without intermission, and though I 
was seized with fever; such was my delight and wonder at the stateliness of the 
Temple, that I could not resist visiting and examining every portion of it, until I 
became totally exhausted, and was confined to my bed for some time. 
“ I feel that, it must be difficult to convey, even with the pencil, any idea of the 
magnificence of this ruin, the beauty of its form, the exquisite richness of its ornament, 
or the vast magnitude of its dimensions. The whole is contained within an irregular 
oblong enclosure, which has once been obviously used as a place of defence; a com¬ 
paratively small portion of it being occupied by the Temple. The Portico, which, 
with two of the sides, has been thrown down, originally contained eight pillars in front 
and fourteen on each side, each pillar being six feet three inches in diameter, and thus 
’ Burckhardt, Travels, 35. Bekaa, in Hebrew, signifies a mulberry-tree ; which abounds in this 
place. This, with the common Syrian prefix, Baal, might have made the name of the City. But Pococke 
regards it as a corruption of Baalbeit (or Beth), the House of Baal. 
2 Macrob. 
3 Baalbec, like all the principal relics of Asiatic antiquity, had remained almost unknown, until the 
commencement of the last century. The existence of our mercantile factories on the Syrian coast then 
directed a considerable degree of intelligence and interest to the Cities of the interior ; and Baalbec and 
Palmyra began to be visited by European travellers. Maundrell, Pococke, Volney, Burckhardt, Irby and 
Mangles, Richardson, Lamartine, and other accomplished investigators, have given striking details of the 
architecture of Baalbec. But the folio of Dawkins and Wood, containing designs and descriptions of the 
most elaborate order, remains still the standard volume. 
