The old world and its ways

by William Jennings Bryan

TEMPLE AT BAALBEK

This great temple was laid out upon an immense scale. First a hill was built, filled with subterranean chambers, and upon the massive walls which separated these chambers the superstructure was reared. The temple was approached by a staircase one hundred and fifty feet wide and entered through a hexagonal court two hundred feet in diameter. Next came the great court, nearly four hundred feet square, with an altar in the center. Both of these courts were open, but had broad colonnades around the sides supported by granite pillars brought from the upper Nile. These colonnades were ornamented with carvings and contained two rows of niches, three hundred and thirty altogether, formerly occupied by images. Our guide, Mr. Alouf, whose pamphlet on Baalbek gives the results of his fifteen years' study of the ruins, insists that the great court was really a pantheon and contained all of the gods at that time worshiped by the conquerors and by the native population.

The temple of Jupiter must have been a most impressive building. It stood twenty-six feet above the courts and therefore about fifty feet above the natural level of the ground around. It measured three hundred and ten feet in length and one hundred and sixty in breadth. Its outer wall supported fifty-four columns of Corinthian style, each column being seventy feet in height, seven feet in diameter and composed of three pieces. Six of these columns are still standing, having survived three earthquakes and one mountain torrent. The six columns with the capitals and cornice give some idea of the magnificence of the temple before its decay. The stone used is taken from a limestone quarry near the city, and the carving is excellent. Enormous masses of stone lie scattered over the ground—parts of pillars, pieces of cornice, and sections of the pediment. How these huge blocks were ever lifted into place is still a matter of conjecture. No mortar was used, and yet in some places the joints are so nicely fitted and the stone so accurately cut that a knife blade can not be inserted after a lapse of nearly twenty centuries.

Stupendous as is the plan of this wonderful temple and elaborate as is its ornamentation, the most remarkable feature is the size of the stones employed. The guide first shows a number of blocks about thirty-three feet long, fourteen feet high and ten feet thick. After one's wonder has had sufficient time to express itself, three blocks are pointed out which measure sixty-four feet in length, fourteen feet in height and twelve feet in thickness. The estimated weight of one of these stones is nearly one thousand tons, and it is calculated that it would require ten thousand horse power to lift it. At the quarry about three-quarters of a mile away a companion block, seventy-two feet long and about fifteen feet in height and thickness is to be seen, chiseled from the stone about it, but not entirely separated from the stratum beneath it. This was probably intended for the sustaining wall around the temple. Whether it remained at the quarry because the work was interrupted, or because the builders despaired of being able to move it, is a secret which the living are not able to reveal. After the decline of paganism the Christians built a church in the great court, using the stones and pillars for the walls. Then came the Mohammedans and turned the courts and temple into a fortress, making use of the walls of the church.

THE GIANT STONE AT BAALBEK.

A little way distant from the great temple is a smaller temple dedicated to Bacchus, which would of itself be sufficient to distinguish a city, but for its more famous rival. This temple is about two hundred and twenty-five feet long by one hundred and ten feet wide, and a row of fifty columns, of which fourteen are fluted, surround it. These columns are sixty feet in height and about six feet in diameter. While smaller in its dimensions this temple is even more elaborately carved than the larger one. Some of the clusters of grapes are less than two inches in length but exquisitely wrought. This temple is in a much better state of preservation than the great temple and is therefore in some respects even more interesting.

Emperor William of Germany visited Baalbek in 1898 and was so impressed by the ruins that he obtained permission from the sultan to clear away the debris, and the traveling world is under obligations to him for having made it possible to inspect the foundations and the ground plan. In this connection it may be added that Emperor William seems to take a deep interest in this part of Asia. He visited Jerusalem to lay the corner stone of the German church; he sent to Damascus a beautiful bronze wreath to adorn the tomb of the great Mohammedan general, Saladin, and he has encouraged the establishment of German colonies in Palestine. There are German settlements of considerable size at Jerusalem, Joppa, and Haifa. At four places we found German hotels, and it is needless to say that they are kept with the excellence characteristic of the race.

The friendship which the emperor has shown for the sultan seems to be reciprocated, for roads were built, harbors improved and many other things done in honor of his visit. We have heard all sorts of rumors as to the kaiser's intentions, but the only thing that seems certain is that German influence in this part of Asia is increasing.