PALMYRA. 299 
difcoyered by tliofe who firft traverfed the defertin which 
it is fituated, a fettlement was made there, for the purpofe 
of carrying on the trade of India, and preferving an in- 
tercourfe between the Mediterranean and Red Sea. This 
trade, which flourifhed long before the Chriftian era, ac¬ 
counts not only for its fituation, but alfo for its wealth. 
As it lay between Egypt, Perlia, and Greece, it was na¬ 
tural to expedl that traces of the manners and fciences of 
thole nations fhould be difcovered among the Palmy¬ 
renes; who, according!}', appear to have imitated the'Egyp¬ 
tians in their funeral rites, the Perfians in their luxury, 
and the Greeks in their buildings; and therefore the 
buildings, which now lie in ruins, were probably neither 
the works of Solomon, nor of the Seleucidae, nor, few ex¬ 
cepted, of the Roman emperors, but of the Palmyrenes 
themfelves. 
Palmyra was formerly encompafled by palms and fig- 
trees, and covered an extent of ground, according to the 
Arabs, near ten miles in circumference; and might pro¬ 
bably have been reduced to its prefent confined and ruined 
Hate by quantities of fand, driven over it by whirlwinds. 
The walls of the city are flanked fquare towers; and it is 
probable, by their general direction, that they included 
the great temple, and are three miles in circumference. 
But, of all the monuments of art and magnificence in this 
city, the moll confiderable is the Temple of the Sun. The 
whole fpac.e containing its ruins, is a fquare of 2.20 yards, 
encompafled with a ftately wall, and adorned with pilaf- 
ters within and without, to the number of fixty-two on a 
fide. Within the court are the remains of two rows of 
very noble marble pillars, thirty-feven feet high, with 
their capitals of moll; exquifite workmanfhip. Of thefe 
only fifty-eight remain entire ; but there mult have been 
many more, for they appear to have gone round the whole 
court, and to have lupported a double piazza. The walks 
on the fide of that piazza which is oppofite to the front of 
of the cattle, feem to have been the molt fpacious and 
beautiful. At each end of.this line are two niches for 
ilatues, with their pedeitals, borders, fupporters, and 
canopies, carved with the utmolt propriety and elegance. 
The fpace within this inclofure, which is now filled with 
about thirty of the dirty huts of the inhabitants, feems 
to have been an open court, in the middle of which flood 
the temple, encompafled with another row' of pillars of a 
different order, and much taller, being 50 feet high; but 
of thefe, fixteen only remain. The whole fpace contained 
within thefe pillars is 59 yards in length, and near 28 in 
breadth. The temple is no more than 33 yards in length, 
and 13 or 14. in breadth. 
The temple points north and fouth 5 and, exaflly oppo¬ 
fite the middle of the building, on the well fide, is a moll 
magnificent arch, on the remains of which are fome vines 
and clufters of grapes, carved in the moll bold and maf- 
terly- imitation of nature that can be conceived. Juft 
over the’door are difcerned a pair of wings, which extend 
its whole breadth : the body to which they belonged is 
totally deftroyed ; and it cannot now certainly be known 
, whether it was that of an eagle or a cherub, feveral repre- 
fentations of both being vifible on other fragments of the 
building. It is obferved of the windows of this build¬ 
ing, which were not large, that they were narrower at the 
top than below. The north end of the building is adorned 
with the moll curious fret-work and bas-relief; and in the 
middle there is a dome or cupola, about ten feet diameter, 
which appears to have been either hewn out of the rock, 
or moulded tofome compofition which, by time, is grown 
equally hard. 
North of this place is an obelilk, confifting of feven 
large ftones, befides its capital and the wreathed work 
about it. It is about 50 feet high ; and, juft above the 
pedeftal, is 12 feet in circumference. There was pro¬ 
bably a ftatue upon it, which the Turks, in their zeal 
againft idolatry, deftroyed. At about the diftance of a 
quarter of a mile from this pillar, to the eaft and weft, 
are two others, befides the fragment of a third; fo that 
perhaps they were originally a continued row. About 
a hundred paces from the middle obelilk, ftraight fpr- 
ward, is a magnificent entry to a piazza, which is 40 feet 
broad, and more than half a mile in length, inclofed 
with two rows of marble pillars, 26 feet high, and 8 or 9 
feet in compafs. Of thefe there ftill remain 129; and, by 
a moderate computation, there could not originally have 
been lefs than 560. The upper end of the piazza w r as 
fliut-in by a row of pillars. Handing fomewhat clofer than, 
thofe on each fide, A little to the left are the ruins of a 
ftately building, which appears to have been a banquet- 
ing-houfe. It is built of better marble, and is finifhed 
with yet greater elegance, than the piazza. The pillars 
which fupported it were of one entire Hone, which is fo 
ftrong, that one of them, which is fallen down, has re¬ 
ceived no injury : it meafures 22 feet in length, and in 
compafs 8 feet 9 inches. In the weft fide of the piazza are 
feveral apertures for gates into the court of the palace. 
Each of thefe was adorned with four porphyry pillars, 
not Handing in a line with thofe of the wall, but placed 
by couples in the front of the gate facing the palace, two 
on each fide. Two of thefe only remain entire, and but 
one Handing in its place. They are 30 feet long, and 9 in 
circumference. O11 the eaft fide of the piazza Hands a 
a great number of marble pillars, fome perfect, but the, 
greater part mutilated. In one place eleven are ranged 
together in a fquare: the fpace which they inclofe is 
paved with broad flat ftones, but there are no remains of 
a roof. At a little diftance are '■he remains of a fntall 
temple, which is alfo without a roof, and the walls are 
much defaced. Before the entry, which looks to the 
fouth, is a piazza fupported by fix pillars, two on each 
fide of the door, and one at each end. The pedeftals of 
thofe in front have been filled with infcriptions both in 
the Greek and Palmyrene languages, which are become 
totally illegible. 
Among thefe ruins are many fepulchres: they are 
ranged on each fide of a hollow way, towards the north 
part of the city, and extend more than a mile. They are 
all fquare towers, four or five (lories, high. But, though 
they are alike in form, yet they differ greatly in magni¬ 
tude and fplendour. The outfide is of common Hone; 
but the floors and partitions of each (lory are marble. 
There is a walk acrofs the w'hole building, juft in the 
middle; and the fpace on each hand is fubdivided into 
fix partitions by thick walls. The fpace between the 
partitions is wide enough to receive the larged corpfe ; 
and in thefe niches there are fix or feven piled upon one 
another. 
We are indebted for an account of thefe very magnifi¬ 
cent remains of antiquity, partly to fome Engliftt mer¬ 
chants who vifited them in 1678 and 1691, (Phil. Tranf. 
N° 217, 218. or Lowthorp’s Abr. vol. iii.) but chiefly to 
M. Bouverie and Mr. Dawkins, accompanied by Mr. R. 
Wood, who travelled thither in 1751. The refult of their 
oblervations was publiftied in 1753, in the form of an 
atlas, containing fifty-feven copper plates, admirably ex¬ 
ecuted. From this (plendid w'ork, mod of our books of 
travels have copied fome pidturefque fcene, dr curious 
remain. The Gentleman’s Magazine, fo early as March 
1754, gave a reprefentation of the beautiful arch which 
Hands weft of the Temple of the Sun. The annexed 
Engraving, from the fame work, prefen ts a General View 
of the Ruins, including as many objedls as we could con¬ 
veniently place on one quarto page. 
Palmyra was vifited by Mr. Bruce before his journey 
into Abyflinia ; but, on account of the many publications 
concerning thefe celebrated ruins, he has declined faying 
much concerning them. He informs us, that, Jtefore he 
came in fight of the ruins, he afcended a hill of white 
gritty ftone, in a very narrow winding road, fuch as is 
called a pafs 5 but, on getting up fo the top, his eyes were 
ftruck with the moll ftupendous fight which, he believes, 
ever mortal faw. The whole plain below, which is very 
extenfive, was fo covered with magnificent buildings, that 
1 they 
