Newport weekly independent., 1902-06-06
CITY BUILT BY CAIN.
Ancient Baalbek Was the Home of th
 Mighty Hunter Nimrod.

eral few places are more interesting than the little town of Baa]bck. Syria, for several reason., writes W. E. Cur tis, ill Chicago Rccord-Herald. It is supposed to have been founded by Cain. the son of Adam, when he fled from the murde: of Abel. and here he erected the first of all Notifications to defend himself against possible pursuit. He named the place in honor of his son Henok and peoplcd it with giants, who. from their stronghold, carried on warfare against the inhab- itants of the surrounding country un- til they perished in the flood. Nim- rod, "thc mighty hunter,' was ono of the carly settlers at Baalbck, and certain historians identify the place with the scriptural Babel, where that audacious man attempted to defy the gods and reach Heaven by means of a high tower. Nimrod has the credit of being the founder of idolatry and Baalbek the scene of the first wor- ship of idols.
 There arc many other interesting traditions and legends connected with the place. and the extraordinary size of the blocks of stone used in the
  construction of the temples to Baal and other heathen gods has excited the interest of mathematiCians and philosophers of all generations who have exercised their ingenuity in the orizing about the physical phenomena they find here. One of the interest ing theories is that the temples at Baalbek were constructed in the days of the mastodon. because no other animals could possibly have hauled the mighty pillars from the quarry to their present places ill the walls.
 Abraham spent some time at Baalbek, and other patriarchs, proph- cts, judges and kings made it their home. Baalbek was half way be- tween Tyre and Palmyra, and was one of the depots for trade which Solo, mon established between the Es- pirates and Egypt. As Damascus refused to submit to his domination, that wise king of Israel erected here rival city, and, in order to please his concubines, he built splendid castle and a magnificent temple in honor of Baal. in the town which bore the name of that God, Baalbek means ''seat of Baal," and is believed 10 have been the headquarters of his worshipers, who were mostly Phoc- nicians and Canaanites.
 Baal was the solar divinity, the source of all life and happiness, and it was perfectly natural that the an clients should worship the sun for ob- vious reasons. The customs, the re- ligious theories and the forms of wor- ship of the Phocnicians are striking lv similar to those of the Aztecs in Mexico and the Incas in Peru, and people find in that fact confirmation of the theory that the American con- tinent was settled by the far-sailing inhabitants of Baalbck and the sur rounding country before the age of Solomon. While nobody can prove the truth or the fallacy of this prop osition. it may be said that the re- semblances pointed out in the man. ners and customs of the races that in- habited this region and those that lived in the mountains of Mexico and the Andes was doubtless due to sim ilarity of conditions rather than re- lationship of race. If you place two men in the same surroundings, with the same limitations and the same fa- cilities, at the uttermost parts of the earth, they will adjust themselves to their environments in a similar man ner. This great law of nature will account for the striking likenesses to oriental types and habits that we find among the Incas and the Aztecs.
 Hereditary Handwriting.
 
 It may seem strange to ask such a question, but it is a fact that the