REMAINS OF THE WESTERN PORTICO, BAALBEC. 
This View, from its being simply a lateral elevation of tlie external wall of the 
Adytum, with the remains of the Portico, partly prostrate and partly standing, perhaps 
conveys a more true representation than some of the others, where the perspective 
becomes more abrupt; at the same time it is necessary to mention that the columns 
seem stunted, an effect produced by their being built up to the height of about six feet 
in a wall, when the whole structure had been turned into a place of defence. “ The 
enormous size of the marble blocks of which the columns are composed is distinctly 
shown here, even from the efforts which have been made for their overthrow; most of 
them being of two blocks, and none more than three. Between the remaining shafts 
and the wall is seen a portion of the Soffit, which connected the colonnade with the 
external wall. The intricate pattern and rich sculpture of this portion cannot be looked 
on without the highest admiration at the fancy and skill of Roman workmanship. There 
is something also that exhibits remarkable contrivance, in the fine polish of the joints of 
those pillars, while their exterior is left in the rough; the inner faces of the blocks being 
wrought so fine, that they could require no cement; the edge of a pen-knife can scarcely 
be forced between them. No cement has been used, but they have been fixed together 
by square metal cramps, of great size; an ancient means of preservation, which, though 
probably effectual against time, and even against earthquakes, has, unfortunately, tempted 
the barbarian masters of the country to destroy them, for the value of the metal. This 
mode of fixing the chief portions of the edifice seems to have been extensively employed. 
The sockets are still visible, in which were placed the bars for the support of the Pediment 
and Frieze. Had those been left in their places, the earthquakes would have probably 
spared a large proportion of its beauty; they might have shaken the building, but they 
might have failed to destroy.” 1 
The material of which the Temple is constructed is a compact limestone, resembling 
marble. In its original state, it must have been most imposing; around it was a row of 
beautiful Corinthian columns, forty-five feet high, nineteen feet in circumference, and eight 
or nine feet apart, and at the same distance from the wall; the whole surmounted by a 
noble comice seven feet high, with the interval to the wall covered by a carved ceiling of 
remarkable delicacy. Of the columns, there were originally fourteen on a side, sixteen in 
front, and eight in the rear, counting the corner ones of both numbers. Of those, nine 
still remain on the north side, with the ceiling, four on the south, and six on the west. 
Some of the columns have slipped from their pedestals, and recline unbroken against the 
wall of the Temple; the remainder have fallen over into the area below. 
A late traveller thus touchingly conveys his impressions of this noble and solemn 
scene: — “The sun was fast sinking behind Lebanon, and the shadows of the mountain 
were gradually encroaching on the silent and desert plain, when a sort of consciousness of 
1 Roberts’s Journal. 
