BALBEC

BALBEC, a city of Asia in Syria, anciently called Heliopolis, and by the Arabians the wonder of Syria. It is situated at the foot of Anti-Lebanon, precisely on the last rising ground where the mountain terminates in the plain. As we arrive from the south we

discover the city only at the distance of a league and a half, behind a hedge of trees, over the verdant tops of which appears a white edging of domes and minarets. After an hour's journey we reach these trees, which are very fine walnuts; and soon after, crossing some ill cultivated gardens, by winding paths, arrive at the entrance of the city. We there perceive a ruined wall, flanked with square towers, which ascends the declivity to the right, and traces the precincts of the ancient city. This wall, which is only ten or twelve feet high, permits us to have a view of those void spaces and heaps of ruins which are the invariable appendage of every Turkish city; but what principally attracts our attention is a large edifice on the left, which, by its lofty walls and rich columns, manifestly appears to be one of those temples which antiquity has left for our admiration. These ruins, which are some of the most beautiful and best preserved of any in Asia, merit a particular description.

To give a just idea of them, we must suppose ourselves descending from the interior of the town. After having crossed the rubbish and huts with which it is filled, we arrive at a vacant place which appears to have been a square; there, in front, towards the west, we perceive a grand ruin, which consists of two pavilions ornamented with pilasters, joined at their bottom angle by a wall 160 feet in length. This front commands the open country from a sort of terrace, on the edge of which we distinguish with difficulty the bases of twelve columns, which formerly extended from one pavilion to the other, and formed a portico. The principal gate is obstructed by heaps of stones; but, that obstacle surmounted, we enter an empty space, which is an hexagonal court of 180 feet diameter. This court is strewed with broken columns, and decorated capitals, and the remains of pilasters, cornices, and cornices; around it is a row of ruined edifices, which display all the ornaments of the richest architecture. At the end of this court, opposite the west, is an outlet, which formerly was a gate, through which we perceive a still more extensive range of ruins, whose magnificence strongly excites curiosity. To have a full prospect of these, we must ascend a slope, up which were the steps to this gate; and we then arrive at the entrance of a square court, much more spacious than the former, being 350 feet wide and 336 in length. The eye is first attracted by the end of this court, where six enormous and majestic columns render the scene astonishingly grand and picturesque. Another object not less interesting is a second range of columns to the left, which appear to have been part of the peristyle of a temple; but before we pass thither, we cannot refuse particular attention to the edifices which inclose this court on each side. They form a sort of gallery which contains various chambers, some of which may be reckoned in each of the principal wings, viz. two in a femicircle and five in an oblong square. The bottom of these apartments still retains pediments of niches and tabernacles, the supporters of which are destroyed. On the side of the court they are open, and present only four and six columns totally destroyed. It is not easy to conceive the use of these apartments; but this does not diminish our admiration at the beauty of their pilasters and the richness of the frieze

of the entablature. Neither is it possible to avoid remarking the singular effect which results from the mixture of the garlands, the large foliage of the capitals, and the sculpture of wild plants with which they are every where ornamented. In traversing the length of the court, we find in the middle a little square esplanade, where was a pavilion, of which nothing remains but the foundation. At length we arrive at the foot of the six columns; and then first conceive all the boldness of their elevation and the richness of their workmanship. Their shafts are 21 feet eight inches in circumference and 58 high; so that the total height, including the entablature, is from 71 to 72 feet. The sight of this superb ruin, thus solitary and unaccompanied, at first strikes us with astonishment; but, on a more attentive examination, we discover a series of foundations which mark an oblong square of 268 feet in length and 146 wide, and which, it seems probable, was the peristyle of a grand temple, the primary purpose of this whole structure. It presented to the great court, that is to the east, a front of ten columns, with 19 on each side, which with the other six make in all 54. The ground on which it stood was an oblong square, on a level with this court, but narrower than it, so that there was only a terrace of 27 feet wide round the colonnade; the esplanade this produces fronts the open country toward the west, by a sloping wall of about 30 feet. This descent as you approach the city becomes less steep, so 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 raised. Such was the former state of this edifice; but the southern side of the grand temple was afterwards blocked up to build a smaller one, the peristyle and walls of which are still remaining. This temple, situated somewhat lower than the other, presents a side of 13 columns by eight in front (in all 34), which are likewise of the Corinthian order; their shafts are 15 feet eight inches in circumference, and 44 in height. The building they surround is an oblong square, the front of which, turned towards the east, is out of the line of the left wing of the great court. To reach it you must cross trunks of columns, heaps of stone, and a ruinous wall by which it is now hid. After surmounting these obstacles you arrive at the gate, where you may survey the inclosure which was once the habitation of a god; but instead of the awful scene of a prostrate people and sacrifices offered by a multitude of priests, the sky, which is open from the falling in of the roof, only lets in light to show a chaos of ruins covered with dust and weeds. The walls, formerly enriched with all the ornaments of the Corinthian order, now present nothing but pediments of niches and tabernacles, of which almost all the supporters are fallen to the ground. Between these niches is a range of fluted pilasters, whose capitals support a broken entablature; but what remains of it displays a rich frieze of foliage resting on the heads of satyrs, horses, bulls, &c. Over this entablature was the ancient roof, which was 57 feet wide and 110 in length. The walls which supported it are 34 feet high, and without a window. It is impossible to form any idea of the ornaments of this roof, except from the fragments lying on the ground; but it could not have been

Balbec. richer than the gallery of the peristyle: the principal
remaining parts contain tablets in the form of lo-
zenges, on which are represented Jupiter seated on his
eagle; Leda caressed by the swan; Diana with her
bow and crescent; and several busts which seem to be
figures of emperors and empresses. It would lead us
too far to enter more minutely into the description of
this astonishing edifice. The lovers of the arts will
find it described with the greatest truth and accuracy
in a work published at London in 1757, under the title
of Remains of Balbec. This work, compiled by Mr Ro-
bert Wood, the world owes to the attention and libe-
rality of Mr Dawkins, who in 1751 visited Balbec
and Palmyra. But several changes, however, have
taken place since their journey: for example, they
found nine large columns standing; and in 1784 Mr
Volney found but six. They reckoned 29 at the lesser
temple; but there now remain but 20; the others have
been overthrown by the earthquake of 1759. It has
likewise so shaken the walls of the lesser temple, that the
stone of the fossit, or cross stone at the top of the
gate, has slid between the two adjoining ones, and de-
scended eight inches; by which means the body of
the bird sculptured on that stone is suspended detached
from its wings and the two garlands which hung from
its beak, and terminated in two genii. Nature alone
has not effected this devastation; the Turks have had
their share in the destruction of the columns. Their
motive is to procure the iron cramps, which serve to
join the several blocks of which each column is com-
posed. These cramps answer so well the end intended,
that several of the columns are not even disjointed
by their fall; one, among others, as Mr Wood ob-
serves, has penetrated a stone of the temple wall with-
out giving way; nothing can surpass the workmanship
of these columns; they are joined without any cement,
yet there is not room for the blade of a knife between
their interstices. After so many ages, they in general
still retain their original whiteness. But what is
still more astonishing, is the enormous stones which
compose the sloping wall. To the west the second
layer is formed of stones which are from 28 to 35 feet
long, by about nine in height. Over this layer, at
the north west angle, there are three stones, which
alone occupy a space of 1751 feet; viz. the first 58
feet seven inches; the second 58 feet 11; and the third
exactly 58 feet; and each of these are 12 feet thick.
These stones are of a white granite, with large shining
flakes like gypse; there is a quarry of this kind of
stone under the whole city, and in the adjacent mount-
ain, which is open in several places, and among others
on the right, as we approach the city. There is still
lying there a stone, hewn on three sides, which is 69
feet two inches long, 12 feet 10 inches broad, and 13
feet three in thickness. By what means could the an-
cients move these enormous masses? This is doubt-
less a problem in mechanics curious to resolve. The
inhabitants of Balbec have a very commodious manner
of explaining it, by supposing these edifices to have
been constructed by Djennuz, or genii, who obeyed
the orders of King Solomon; adding, that the motive
of such immense works was to conceal in subterranean
caverns vast treasures, which still remain there. To
discover these, many have descended into the vaults

which range under the whole edifice; but the inutility
of their researches, added to the oppressions and ex-
tortions of the governors, who have made their sup-
posed discoveries a pretext, have at length disheartened
them; but they imagine the Europeans would be more
successful; nor would it be possible to persuade them
but what we are possessed of the magic art of destroy-
ing talismans. It is in vain to oppose reason to igno-
rance and prejudice: and it would be no less ridicu-
lous to attempt to prove to them, that Solomon never
was acquainted with the Corinthian order, which was
only in use under the Roman emperors. But their
tradition on the subject of this prince may suggest three
important observations. First, That all tradition re-
lative to high antiquity is as false among the Orientals
as the Europeans. With them, as with us, facts which
happened 100 years before, when not preserved in writ-
ing, are altered, mutilated, or forgotten. To expect
information from them with respect to events in the
time of David or Alexander, would be as absurd as to
make inquiries of the Flemish peasants concerning Clo-
vis or Charlemagne. Secondly, That throughout Sy-
ria, the Mahometans, as well as the Jews and Christians,
attribute every great work to Solomon: not that the
memory of him still remains by tradition in those coun-
tries, but from certain passages in the Old Testament;
which, with the gospel, is the source of almost all their
tradition, as these are the only historical 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 house of the forest of Lebanon built
by Solomon; nor do they approach nearer probability
when they attribute to that king the well of Tyre and
the buildings of Palmyra. Thirdly, That the belief
in hidden treasures has been confirmed by discoveries
which have been really made from time to time. It
is not many years since a small coffer was found at He-
bron full of gold and silver medals, with an ancient
Arabic book on medicine. In the country of the
Druzes, an individual discovered likewise, some time
since, a jar with gold coin in the form of a crescent;
but as the chiefs and governors claim a right to these
discoveries, and ruin those who have made them, under
pretext of obliging them to make restoration, those who
find any thing endeavour carefully to conceal it; they
secretly melt the antique coins, nay, frequently bury
them again in the same place where they found them,
from the same fears which caused their first concealment,
and which prove the same tyranny formerly existed in
these countries.

When we consider the extraordinary magnificence
of the temple of Balbec, we cannot but be astonished
at the silence of the Greek and Roman authors. Mr
Wood, who has carefully examined all the ancient writ-
ters, has found no mention of it, except in a fragment
of John of Antioch, who attributes the construction
of this edifice to Antoninus Pius. The inscriptions
which remain corroborate this opinion, which perfectly
accounts for the constant use of the Corinthian order,
since that order was not in general use before the
third age of Rome; but we ought by no means to al-
lege as an additional proof the bird sculptured over
the gate; for if his crooked beak, large claws, and

the caduceus he bears, give him the appearance of an eagle, the tuft of feathers on his head, like that of certain pigeons, proves that he is not the Roman eagle: besides that the same bird is found in the temple of Palmyra; and is therefore evidently an oriental eagle, consecrated to the sun, who was the divinity adored in both these temples. His worship existed at Balbee in the most remote antiquity. His statue, which resembled that of Osiris, had been transported there from the Heliopolis of Egypt, and the ceremonies with which he was worshipped there have been described by Macrobius, in his curious work intitled Saturnalia. Mr Wood supposes with reason, that the name of Balbee, which in Syriac signifies City of Bal, or of the sun, originated in this worship. The Greeks, by naming it Heliopolis, have in this instance only given a literal translation of the oriental word; a practice to which they have not always adhered. We are ignorant of the state of this city in remote antiquity; but it is to be presumed, that its situation, on the road from Tyre to Palmyra, gave it some part of the commerce of these opulent capitals. Under the Romans, in the time of Augustus, it is mentioned as a garrison-town; and there is still remaining, on the wall of the southern gate, on the right as we enter, an inscription which proves the truth of this, the words KENTURIA PRIMA, in Greek characters, being very legible. One hundred and forty years after, Antoninus built there the present temple, instead of the ancient one, which was doubtless falling into ruins: but Christianity having gained the ascendancy under Constantine, the modern temple was neglected, and afterwards converted into a church; a wall of which is now remaining, that hid the sanctuary of the idols. It continued thus until the invasion of the Arabs, when it is probable they envied the Christians so beautiful a building. The church being less frequented, fell to decay; wars succeeded; and it was converted into a place of defence; battlements were built on the wall which surrounded it, on the pavilions, and at the angles, which still subsist; and from that time, the temple, exposed to the fate of war, fell rapidly to ruin. The state of the city is not less deplorable. The wretched government of the emirs of the house of Harfoushe had already greatly impaired it; and the earthquake of 1759 completed its destruction. The wars of the Emir Yousef and Djezzar have rendered it still more deserted and ruinous. Of 5000 inhabitants, at which number they were estimated in 1751, not 1200 are now remaining; and all these poor, without industry or commerce, and cultivating nothing but a little cotton, some maize, and water-melons.