B A L B E C. 64$ 
remains InU the foundation- .At length we arrive at the 
foot of the fix columns; and then firfi conceive all the 
boldnefs of their elevation, and the richnefs of their work- 
manfiiip. Their (hafts are twenty-one feet eight inches in 
circumference, and fifty-eight feet high; fo that the total 
height, including the entablature, is from feventy-one to 
feventy-two feet. The fight of this fuperb ruin, thus fo- 
litary and unaccompanied, at firfi (trikes us with aftonifh- 
ment; but, on a more attentive examination, we difcover 
a feries of foundations which mark an oblong fquare of 
26 S feet in length and 146.wi.de, and which, it feems pro¬ 
bable, was the perifiyle of a grand temple, the primary 
purpofe of this whole firufture. It prel'ented to the great 
court, that is to the eaft, a front of ten columns, -with 
nineteen on each fide, which with the other fix make in all 
fifty-four. The ground on which it (food w.as an oblong 
fquare, on a level with this court, but narrower, fo that 
there was only a terrac.e of twenty-feven feet wide round 
the colonnade; theefplanade this produces fronts the open 
country toward the well, by .a (loping wall of about thirty 
feet. This defcent, as.you approach the city, becomes lefs 
deep, fo that the foundation of the pavilion is on a level 
.with the termination of the hill; whence it is evident, 
that the whole ground of the courts has been artificially 
raifed. Such was the former (late of this edifice; but the 
fouthern fide of the grand temple was afterwards blocked 
up to build a fmaller one, the perifiyle and walls of which 
are (bill remaining. This temple, fituated fomewhat low¬ 
er than the other, prefents a fide of thirteen columns by 
eight in front (in all thirty-four), which are likewife of the 
Corinthian order; their (hafts are fifteen feet eight inches 
in circumference, and forty-four in height. The building 
they furround is an oblong fquare, the front of which, 
turned towards the eaft, is out of the line of the left wing 
of the great court. To reach it you mult crofs trunks of 
columns, heaps of (lone, and a ruinous wall by which it is 
now hid. After furmounting thefe obftacles, you arrive 
at the gate, where you may furvey the inclofure which 
was once the habitation of ..a god ; but, inftead of the aw¬ 
ful fcene of a proftrate people and facrifices offered by a 
multitude of priefis, the fky, which is open from the fall¬ 
ing in of the roof, only lets in light to (hew a chaos of ru¬ 
ins covered with dirt and weeds. The walls, formerly en¬ 
riched with all the ornaments of the Corinthian order, 
now prefent nothing but pediments of niches and taberna¬ 
cles, of which almoft all the fupporters are fallen to the 
ground. Between thefe niches is a range of fluted pilaf- 
ters, whofe capitals fupport a broken entablature; but 
what remains of it difplays a rich frize of foliage reding 
on the heads of fatyrs, horfes, bulls, &c. Over this enta¬ 
blature was the ancient roof, which was fifty-feven feet 
wide and no in length. The walls which fupported it 
are thirty-one feet high, and without a window. It is im- 
podible to form any idea of the ornaments of this roof, 
except .from the fragments lying on the ground; but it 
could not have been richer than the gallery of the perif- 
tyle : the principal remaining parts contain tablets in the 
form of lozenges, on which are reprefented Jupiter feated 
on his eagle ; Leda careded by the fwan ; Diana with her 
bow and crefcent; and feveral bufts which feem to be fi¬ 
gures of emperors and emprefles. It would lead us too 
far to enter more minutely into the defcription of this afto. 
nifhing edifice. The lovers of the arts will find it defcri- 
-bed with the greateft accuracy in a work publi(hed in 1757, 
under the title of Ruins of Balbec. This work, compiled 
by Mr. Robert Wood, the world owes to the attention and 
liberality of Mr. Dawkins, who in 1751 vifited Balbec and 
Palmyra. But feveral changes have taken place fince their 
journey; for example, they found nine large columns 
Handing, and in 1784 Mr. Volney found but fix. They 
reckoned twenty-nine at the letfer temple, but there now 
remain but twenty; the others were overthrown by the 
earthquake of 1759. It has likewife fo fhaken the walls 
of the lefler temple, that the (lone of the foffit, or crofs- 
fione at the top.of the gate, has (lid between the two ad- 
VoL. II. No. 94. 
joining ones, and defeended eight inches; by which means 
the body of the bird fculptured on that (lone is fufpended, 
detached from its wings and the two garlands which hung 
from its beak, and terminated in two genii. Nature alone 
has not effected this devafiation; the Turks have had their 
(hare in the deftruction of the columns. Their motive is 
to procure the iron cramps, which ferve to join the feve¬ 
ral blocks of whicli each column is compofed. Thefe 
cramps anfwer fo well the end intended, that feveral of the 
columns are not even disjointed by their fall; one, among 
others, as Mr. Wood obferves, has penetrated a (lone of 
the temple wall without giving way. Nothing can fur pa's 
the workmanlhip of thefe columns ; they are joined with¬ 
out any cement, yet there is not room for the blade of a 
knife between their interftices. After fo many ages, they 
in general frill retain their original whitenefs. But What 
is.(till more afionifiiing, is the enormous (tones which com- 
pofe the' (loping wall. To the weft the fecond layer rs 
'formed of (tones which are from twenty-eight to thirty- 
five feet long, by about nine in height. Over this layer, 
at the north-weft angle, there are three (tones which alone 
occupy a fggee of 175^ feet, viz. the firfi fifty-eight feet 
feven inches, the fecond fifty-eight feet eleven, and the 
third exactly fifty-eight feet; and each of thefe are twelve 
feet thick. Thefe (tones are of a white granite, with large 
fliining flakes like gypfe ; there is a quarry of this kind of 
(tone under the whole city and in the adjacent mountain, 
which is open in feveral places, and among others on the 
right, as we approach the city. There is (till remaining a 
(lone, hewn on three fides, which is fixty-nine feet two 
inches long, twelve feet ten inches broad, and thirteen feet 
three in thicknefs. By what means could the ancients 
move thefe enormous mafies ? This is doubtlefs a problem 
in mechanics difficult to refolve. The inhabitants of Bal¬ 
bec, however, have a very eafy manner of explaining it, 
by (uppofing thefe edifices to have been conftrutted by 
djenoun, or ‘genii,’ who obeyed the orders of king Solo¬ 
mon ; adding, that the motive of fuch immenfe works was 
to conceal in fubterraneous cav.erns vaft treafures, which 
dill remain there. To difcover thefe, many have defeend¬ 
ed into the vaults which range under the whole edifice; 
but the inutility of their refearches, added to the o.ppref- 
fions and extortions of their governors, who have made 
their fuppofed difeoveries a pretext, have at length di(— 
heartened them; but they imagine the Europeans would 
be more fuccefsful, nor would it be pofiible to.perfuade 
them but that we are poftefted of the magic art of deftroy- 
ing talilmans. It is in vain to oppofe reafon to ignorance 
and prejudice: and it would be no lefs ridiculous to .at¬ 
tempt to prove to them that Solomon never was acquainted 
with the Corinthian order, which was only in life under 
the Roman emperors. But their tradition on the fubje6t 
o( this prince may fugged,three important obfervations. 
Firfi, That all tradition relative to high antiquity is as falfe 
among the Orientals as the Europeans. With them, as 
with 11s, fa£ts which happened 100 years before, when not 
preferyed in writing, are altered, mutilated, or forgotten. 
To expedfi information from them with refpe£t to events 
in the tinte of David or Alexander, would be as abfurd 
as to make inquiries of the Flemidi peafants concerning 
Clovis or Charlemagne. Secondly, That throughout Sy¬ 
ria, the Mahometans, as.well as the Jews and Chriftians, 
attribute every great work to Solomon : not that the me¬ 
mory of him (till remains by tradition in thofe countries, 
but from certain paftages in the Old Teftament; which, 
with the gofpcl, is the fource of almofi all their tradition, 
as thefe are the only hifiorical books read or known; but, 
as their expounders are very ignorant, their applications 
of what they are told are generally very remote from truth : 
by an error of this kind they pretend Balbec is the houje of 
theforejl of Lebanon built by Solomon; nor do they ap¬ 
proach nearer probability when they attribute to that king 
the well of Tyre and the buildings of Palmyra. Third¬ 
ly, That the belief in hidden treafures has been confirmed 
by difeoveries which have been really made from time to 
# B time. 
