ANTI-LEBANON AND ITS TEMPLES. 237 XVI. Dawkins. They visited Baalbek in 1751; but, though thus old, they are far CHAPTER more elaborate and minute than any others. Of written descriptions there are countless numbers, but the only way to become really possessed of Baalbek is to visit, explore, and study it for yourself. Dr. Robinson's admirable chapter on Baalbek, in his last volume of "Researches," is the best and most comprehensive epitome of all that has been or can be said about these wonderful remains, and I advise you to study it attentively. The cause of greatest perplexity arises from the many Saracenic castles and towers with which these barbarians have encumbered and disfigured every part of the grand platform. The entire length from east to west is about eight hundred and eighty feet, and the width across the central court nearly four hundred. To picture the whole magnificent group of portico, courts, towers, and temples, as they once appeared to the proud citizens of Baalbek, one should stand some little distance in front of the main entrance, and restore, in imagination, the portico, one hundred and eighty feet long, adorned by twelve splendid columns, reached by a noble flight of steps. Landing among these columns, and stopping to admire the highly ornamented pavilions The at each end, the visitor passes through the deep portals into the main court temples of the temple, nearly four hundred feet square, and surrounded on all sides by chapels, oratories, niches, and statues, of exquisite workmanship. All these, however, will be unheeded at first, for at the south end of the vast court towers the peerless temple itself, with its statues, golden gates, and colonnades rising to the sky. This is a study by itself, and we shall let each one prosecute it as he likes. The smaller temple was an after-thought, perhaps erected from the ruins of the other; both, however, are of the same pale white limestone from the adjacent hills, which, though hard and durable, does not take a high polish. The architecture, as the drawings have taught all the world, is Corinthian, and the carving and ornamental tracing is rich and elaborate. The best specimens of this are seen in the entrance to the smaller temple. There are other remains about Baalbek which would merit and receive attention anywhere else, but in the presence of these gigantic works they are passed by unnoticed, nor can we spend time now in describing them. The visitor is surprised to see the fragments of granite columns scattered about the ruins, which must have been brought from Egypt, and transported over the mountains to this central and elevated spot by machinery, and along roads every trace of which has long since disappeared from the country. temples in This is quite enough about Baal-gad and ancient heathen temples; but the Abundiscussion has abundantly confirmed the remark made at the outset, that dance of either there is something in the structure of these cliffs and valleys of old AntiHermon peculiarly suggestive of religious, or rather superstitious edification, Lebanon or that there was something remarkably devotional in the character of the inhabitants of this mountain. All these temples belong to Anti-Lebanon, while Lebanon proper, though the more magnificent of the two, had scarcely any, and none that have become historic. There was a small one at Bisry, on PART II. the Owely; another at Deir el Kulah, above Beirût; one at Fakhrah, near Northern ACCORDING to your location of the "entrance into Hamath" in our conversa boundary tion of last night, I suppose you make the northern end of the Buk'ah * the of land of limit of Israel's inheritance in that direction ? Israel. Kamua- a Syrian monument. I do not mean to be led into a discussion of this vexed question, as difficult to settle as any other boundary-line which has perplexed the politicians of Europe and America; but when I have stood at the Kamua Hermel, and looked out northward and eastward over the vast expanded plain of Hamath, I have felt assured that I stood near that celebrated "entrance ;" and a careful study of all the passages in the Bible which deal with this question has confirmed the impression made by the eye and the scene. What is this Kamûa, which you have mentioned more than once? It is the most singular monument now standing in this part of Syria, and was probably erected by some of the Seleucidæ, kings of Antioch; but this is not certain. It seems to represent hunting scenes, and some of them were sufficiently fond of the chase to lead them to seek immortality in connection with its trophies. What else it was intended to commemorate cannot now be ascertained, for the tablets of inscription, if ever there were any, are gone. The south-west corner has fallen down, showing the fact that the entire structure is built solid throughout. It is nearly thirty feet square, and about sixty-five high, the latter fifteen of which is a regular pyramid; the remaining * [El Buk'ah, or Bukáa, is the modern name of the celebrated valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon-the Cole-Syria of ancient history.-ED.] XVII. fifty feet is divided into two storeys, with a pedestal of three feet and a half. CHAPTER There are square pilasters at the corners of the lower storey, and additional ones in the centre of the upper storey. Upon a broad belt of well-smoothed stones, near the top of the first storey, are the animals and hunting implements, drawn at about full size. The execution, though graphic and bold, looks toward the burlesque. From its elevated position, I saw this curious monument, when coming from Aleppo in 1846, for a day and a half before I got to it, and wondered all the while what it could be, as no traveller had visited it or the region about it. Since then it has become a favourite detour from the regular route to the cedars from Baalbek, and I would advise all who can to make it, not merely to see the Kamûa, but also the sources of the Orontes at Lebweh, ’Ain, and Mugharet er Rahib, near Hermel. The ride to the cedars from this fountain, up Wady el Farr, is one of the most romantic in Syria or anywhere else. But it is high time we were in the saddle, for we have a smart ride, and plenty to see before us to occupy one day. You had a long ramble this morning, or at least you forsook the pillow and the tent at a very early hour. Banias, I am too deeply interested in these scenes to waste the morning hours in Rambles sleep. My first visit was to the fountain, to bathe and drink. I shall not lose through the memory of that hour, should I live a thousand years. Then I followed the brook, crossed over to the western side, and strolled away, I know not how far, among those venerable oaks. Returning, I climbed to the top of the castle on the north-west corner of the city, and looked into the wilderness of bushes and briers that hides the brawling river at its base. Descending to some mills I forced my way through sharp thorns to the south-west corner, and then followed up the wall to the gate and bridge over the ravine called Sāāry, which, I suppose, formed the southern fosse of the city. From the south-eastern corner I followed the ditch, which brought me back here to the tent. You have made the entire circuit of the city, which, indeed, is not great; but as it was entirely surrounded by deep ravines, or by a ditch which could be filled with water from the great fountain, it must have been a very strong place. This, however, was merely the citadel: the city spread out on all sides far beyond these narrow limits. The traces of this extension are found not only among the oak groves on the north and west, but also south of the brook es Saary, and on the plain to the east, as we shall see along our road to the Phiala.* This is the extent of our excursion for to-day. This lake, now called Burket Ram, is two hours nearly due east, and for the * [Lake Phiala, so called by Josephus from its resemblance to a cup, is now called Burket Ram. "It lies," says Dr. Robinson, "at the bottom of a deep bowl, apparently an ancient crater, not less than from 150 to 200 feet below the level of the surrounding tract. The form is an irregular circle, the diameter of the water being a mile and perhaps more. This lake is not mentioned in Scripture.-ED.] FART II. Road to first hour, to 'Ain Künyeh, the ascent is quite steep, and over vast formations of trap rock, and this whole region is of the same volcanic character down to the River Jermuk, south-east of the Lake of Tiberias. This brook, es Sāāry, has cut a deep channel in the trap rock, verifying the proverb of Job that the waters wear the stones,1 even the hardest of them. The country hereabouts is very fertile, and, at the proper season, clothed with luxuriant harvests. Those olive-trees which climb the steep declivities on our left, quite up to the castle, I have seen bowing to the earth under a heavy load of oily berries, and every one is delighted with the variety and beauty of the wild flowers which in spring adorn these ravines; even now they begin to appear in profusion. This 'Ain Kunyeh shows evident traces of antiquity. Is anything known in regard to its past history? Not that I am aware of. It was probably the country residence and healthretreat for the citizens of Cæsarea, and is, in fact, still celebrated for its good climate. There is yet another hour to the Phiala, and our path lies along the mountain side, above this noisy Sāāry. This oak wood on our right extends far south, and is a favourite resort for the flocks of those Arabs which occupy the western borders of the Jaulân. It is not particularly safe to explore this neighbourhood, but I hear of no special danger at present; and the number of people from the lower villages who are out on the border of the forest burning and carrying coal, is a pretty certain indication that we can go to the lake Wild and without interruption. It is a wild and lawless region, however, and I never stay at Phiala longer than is necessary for my purpose. We must here cross the Saary at this mazar, called Mesâdy. The brook comes down from the southern extremity of Jebel es Sheikh, and across that plain of Yafûry on our left; so named from a saint, whose white-domed mazar is seen on the edge of it, about a mile north of Phiala. And here is the lake itself, round like a bowl, motionless as a molten mirror, but alive with frogs, ducks, and hawks. We must guide our horses carefully along the rim of this strange volcanic basin to some slope sufficiently gradual to allow us to descend to the water. There is an air of mysterious solitude and desolation quite oppressive about this mountain lake. lawless region. Frogs and leeches. Shall we ride round it? As you please. How great is the circumference? That we shall know better after we get back. I have never made the circuit, and am not quite sure we shall find a practicable track all the way. Large parts of its surface are covered with a sort of sea-weed, and upon it and all round the margin, "These loud-piping frogs make the marshes to ring. It seems to be the very metropolis of frogdom. 1 Job xiv. 19. XVII. Yes, and upon this grass feed countless millions of leeches. The Phiala, in chapter fact, has long furnished the chief supply of that insatiable mother, whose two daughters ever cry, Give, give! Solomon says so.1 What are those large hawks after? They swoop down like a bolt from the Hawks. clouds, just graze the surface, and rebound, as it were, again to the sky. Don't you see how the frogs hush their clamour and dive under when this their great enemy makes a descent in their vicinity? My muleteer shot one of them on a former visit, which fell into the lake near the shore, and he attempted to wade in for it, but got entangled in this interminable grass, and we were glad to get him back in safety. Without a boat it is impossible to explore the lake to any considerable distance from the shore. the lake. Do you believe that this water covers the bottom of an extinct crater? It resembles one in all respects, and is like nothing else that I know of. SinguThis Phiala has neither inlet nor outlet; that is, no stream runs into it, and larity of none leaves it. There must be large fountains, however, beneath the surface, for the evaporation in this hot climate is very rapid, and yet the lake is equally full at all times, or so nearly so as to sanction the native accounts to that effect. What think you of the opinion of Josephus, that this is the more distant source of the fountain at Banias? with And that Philip proved the fact by casting chaff into the Phiala, which came out at Banias? I don't believe it, and I wish it were the only absurd thing to be found in his history. He thinks it worth while to mention a tradition that the fountain of Capernaum (probably that of Tabigah) comes from the Nile, because it produces fish similar to the coracinus of the lake near Alexandria, The Moslems about Tyre will assure you that Ras el'Ain comes from the same river, and there are many other such stories equally absurd. In regard to this Phiala, it is impossible, from the geological construction of Not conthis region, that its waters could flow down to Banias. Then, also, this water nected is dark-coloured and insipid, and abounds in leeches, while the Banias has Banias. none of them-is bright as sunlight, and deliciously cool and sweet. And still more to the point is the fact, that the river which gushes out at Banias would exhaust this lake in forty-eight hours. And now we have made the circuit in fifty-five minutes; the lake is, therefore, full three miles in circumference. I had judged it to be at least that, merely from appearance. Our next point is the castle of Banias, and the path leads over the mountain to the north-west. This large village on onr right is Mejdel es Shems, inhabitated by Druses, a fierce, warlike race, sufficiently numerous to keep the Bedawîn Arabs at a respectful distance. We may stop in safety under these splendid oaks to rest and lunch. This is certainly the finest grove of the kind I have seen. A solemn still- Oak ness reigns within it; and what a soft, religious light struggles down through grove. 1 Prov. xxx. 13. |