The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-07-29

of Earth-The Major Inspects the
Home of Ananias--PersonaIs About
Other Old Citizens-The Famous
''Cedars of Lebanon"-A Great
Spring-The Temple of Jupiter
When Glass Was Invented-The
"Scarab''-A River Saves the Day
damascus and Surroundings.
Beyrout, Syria, July IS, 1909.
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
| hev spent some days takin' in
the sites an the old plunder in Syria.
An like most ov the old countries
in this part ov the world, Syria is
worth while.
Syria IL located at the east end ov
the Mediterranean Sea an IL really
one ov the important small countries
in the cluster ov small countries in
this part ov the moral vineyard.
Beyrout iz a city ov some import
ance in Syria. Baalbek IL one ov the
oldest cities on earth, so old that no
history can be obtained. Damascus
which hez awlways bin a noted city
in history, liz still to the front, this
city to-day bein' noted fer the num-
ber ov historical places. You see a
house Quilt ov stone) which IL sed
to have been the homo ov Ananias,
who IL spoken ov in the Bible az
havin' bin somethin' ov a liar You
awlso see the window through which
and a house sed ter hev bin owned
by Naaman, the Leper. This build
in liz now a home fer lepers. You
awlso see the ancient wall which sur
rounds the city. A large and very
fine mosque occupies ground former
ly occupied by a great heather tenn
pie, and later the site ov the church
ov st. John the Baptist, which wuz
built by Arcadius, the son ov Theo-
dosius.
Cedars ov Lebanon. They air beau
tiful trees, awlmost az "old az the
hills an some ov them air sixteen
feet in diameter. The road from
Baalbek to Beyrout climbs over the
of Lebanon, some ov these
mountain peeks bein' six thousand
feet high an they air covered with
perpetual snow. l thought me an
Bob would freeze before We could git
acrost, but we didn't.
| am told that the tower ov
Babel wuz built at Baalbek
but some people claim that hit
wuz built at another point. But /
don't know that it matters much fer
hit wuz still unfinished when the
flood cum.
At Baalbek is wonderful spring
ov pure water which liz so strong
that hit supplies enough water fer
the population ov a large city. The
presence ov this spring IL purity
strong evidence, If more wuz needed,
that this liz the original site ov the
ancient city, fer there is hardly an
other similar spring in awl the world.
The Temple Of Jupiter at Baalbek
iz one ov the sites of the Old World,
though only part ov hit liz now stand
in. This temple wuz built on a
made hill built up on a plain. Hit
IL an immense buildin' solidly con-
structed Before hit wuz built great
caves wuz dug in the ground and
lined with stone fer a foundation.
Great stone foundations wuZ then
built and the temple itself wuz built
on them, the temple proper bein'
started fifty feet above the surface
ov the ground. A stone staircase one
hundred and fifty feet wide led up to
the main entrance an then you pass
through an open court 200 feet
square, before you reach the temple
buildin'. The buildin' itself liz $40
feet long and 160 wide. The outer
walls air supported by 54 Corinthian
columns, each column 70 feet high
and seven feet in diameter. No NOR
tar was used in buildin' this temple,
and yet the great blocks ov stone
fit together az closely az possible for
seams between great blocks to be
made, though the walls hev stood fer
twenty centuries an more. The
blocks ov stone used in the buildin'
vary in size an thickness, accordin'
to location. The smallest air 33 feet
long, IA feet high and 10 feet thick.
The largest blocks air Ga feet long,
Ii feet high and II feet thick. 1t
is estimated that the largest blocks
ov stone weigh about one thousand
tons each. The immense blocks ov
granite used in building the pyramids
in Egypt wuz brought 500 miles.
The giant stones at Baalbek wuz
quarried only a mile from the temple.
But the question arises again and
again, How did they handle such
stones two thousand years ergo with
out the aid ov hoistin' machinery"
At the ancient quarry still lies that,
for some reason, wuZ not used. Hit
is ~ feet long and / 5 feet high. In
fact the quarryin' ov this stone wuz
not completed; that is, hit wuz not
cut from the ledge oE granite. though
the sides wuz cut smooth an square
Probably they found that the stone
would not be needed to complete the
temple. A smaller and finer temple
Continued on Page 3D.