The entire view of the ruins of Palmyra, when seen at a
certain distance, is infinitely more striking than those of Baalbec, but
there is not any one spot in the ruins of Tedmor so imposing as the
interior view of the temple of Baalbec. The temple of the Sun at Tedmor
is upon a grander scale than that of Baalbec, but it is choked up with
Arab houses, which admit only of a view of the building in detail. The
archilecture of Baalbec is richer than that of Tedmor.
The walls of the ancient city may still be traced, and include a larger
space than the present town ever occupied, even in its most flourishing
state. Its circuit may be between three and four miles. On the E. and N.
sides the gates of the modern town, formed in the ancient wall, still
remain entire, especially the northern gate; it is a narrow arch, and
comparatively very small. I suppose it to be of Saracen origin.
[p.14] The women of Baalbec are esteemed the handsomest of the
neighbouring country, and many Damascenes marry Baalbec girls. The air
of Belad Baalbec and the Bekaa, however, is far from being healthy. The
chain of the Libanus interrupts the course of the westerly winds, which
are regular in Syria during the summer months; and the want of these
winds renders the climate extremely hot and oppressive.
September 30th.--I again visited the ruins this morning. The Emir had
been apprised of my arrival by his secretary, to whom I had a letter of
recommendation. He sent the secretary to ask whether I had any presents
for him; I answered in the negative, but delivered to him a letter,
which the Jew bankers of the Pasha of Damascus had given me for him;
these Jews being men of great influence. He contented himself with
replying that as I had no presents for him, it was not necessary that I
should pay him my respects; but he left me undisturbed in my pursuits,
which was all I wanted.
Near a well, on the S. side of the town, between the temple and the
mountain, I found upon a stone the following inscription;
C. CASSIVS ARRIANVS
MONVMENTVM SIBI
-OCO SVO VIVVS
FECIT
In the afternoon I made a tour in the invirons of Baalbec. At the foot
of the Anti-Libanus, a quarter of an hour's walk from the town, to the
south is a quarry, where the places are still visible from whence
several of the large stones in the south wall of the castle were
extracted; one large block is yet remaining, cut on three sides, ready
to be transported to the building, but it must be done by other hands
than those of the Metaweli. Two other blocks, cut in
[p.15]like manner, are standing upright at a little distance from each
other; and near them, in the rock, are two small excavated tombs, with
three niches in each, for the dead, in a style of workmanship similar to
what I saw to the north of Aleppo, in the Turkman mountains towards Deir
Samaan.
![Travels In Syria And The Holy Land By John Lewis Burckhardt
- [Cufic inscription]
Having seen, a few months before, the ruins of Tedmor, a comparison
between these two renowned remains of - Page 24](../images/travel.jpg)
