been designed for the reception of statues. There are eight pilasters in a row, and seven 
niches, exclusive of those of the Adytum. 
About eight yards from the upper end of the Temple, stood, until recently, two fine 
channelled pillars, which seem to have formed a partition, and to have supported a 
canopy over the head of the great Idol, whose place was probably in a large niche at the 
end. On those portions of the partition which remain are carvings in relievo of Neptune, 
tritons, fishes, sea-gods, Arion and his Dolphin, and other marine figures. The covering of 
the whole fabric is broken down. “But this I must say” (it is Maundrell, one of the 
most exact of travellers, who speaks), “ that it strikes the mind with an air of grandeur 
beyond anything that I ever saw before, and is an eminent proof of the magnificence of the 
ancient architecture. About fifty yards distance from the Temple is a row of Corinthian 
pillars, very great and lofty, with a most stately architrave and lintel at top. This speaks 
itself to have been part of some very august pile.” 
THE CIRCULAR TEMPLE, BAALBEC. 
About a hundred and fifty yards S.E. of the Great Temple stands a detached Temple, 
which must have been one of the most beautiful of those fine buildings in its early day. 
The entablature and cornice are supported by six columns on projecting bases, like the radii 
of a circle, forming a grand stylobate, with two columns on each side of the door. A broad 
flight of steps led to the entrance. The stylobate curves inwards between every two 
columns, thus forming a graceful corridor. It seems to have been crowned with a cupola, 
and to have been about twenty-three feet high from the ground. The study of ornament 
in all these fabrics is remarkable; wherever a wreath, a bust, or a statue, could be intro¬ 
duced, it has been placed there. In every interval between the columns, niches have been 
formed, evidently for statues, for the pedestals remain. The contrast of this Temple, in its 
diminutive size and delicate beauty, with the colossal piles in its neighbourhood, must have 
been peculiar and striking . 1 
The interior consisted of two stories, the upper surrounded with Corinthian pillars, the 
lower with Ionic; and in the time of Maundrell, it appears to have been used as a Church. 
An exact architectural description of the fabric is given in the folio of Wood and Dawkins, 
Plates XLII. &c. c Dismantled as it is, the eye is instantly captivated by its style. But, a 
few years will probably level it to the ground. The wild inhabitants have but little value 
for ruins, beyond their iron and limestone. Earthquakes are continually shaking the soil, 
and the only hope of saving the last honours of Syria is by rescuing and reviving them in 
England. 
1 G. Robinson’s Travels, ii. 100. 
2 Wood and Dawkins—Baalbec, p. 27, Plates xlii. &c. 
