Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-19

will show you where Noah was buried
and the town in which Ham lived They
also think that Nimrod reigned in this
valley, and they have a tradition that
when an angel called upon him he threw
the holy one into blazing furnace, from
which he came out unframed. They To-
cate the Tower of Babel at Baalbek and
believe that Nimrod built 1t. Another
legend states that Abraham reigned at
Damascus and came here frequently. 1t
is also we'll known that Solomon had a
city named Baalath, in which other gods
than Jehovah were worshiped. Indeed, 1t
is said that Solomon, in order to please
his concubines. built temple here and
that he had a castle which he gave as a
present to Balkis. the Queen of Sheba.
Baalbek was well known In the daya
IF the Phoenicians. and It was a great
city In the time Of Christ It was about
hundred years after that that the finest
of the temples. the ruins Of which still
exist, were constructed. 1t was when the
Roman civilization was still in the height
OF its glory and when the emperors were
building cities in north Africa, in Asia
Minor and in other parts OF the world
They put up the temples here in honor OF
Baal. and had in them smaller temples to-
Venus and Bacchus They Worshped
Baal the god OF the sun, as one of the
greatest OF their deities although they
had other gods without number
AS to the worship OF Baal. there have
been gods of that name back almost to
the beginnings of history. 1t Is ques-
ton, indeed, whether the word Baal did
not mean lord. being a general term for
male gods OF various kinds. Later on the
Greeks considered Baal the god of the
sun, CHASING him with the god repre-
scented by Helios and the city of Heliopo-
lis in Egypt The worship of Baal runs
through the Bible Samuel rebuked the
Israelites for bowling down to him, and
.JeZebel had four hundred priests of Baal
who were COMPOUNDED by Elijah. Indeed,
it is a question whether Beelzebub. or
the devil. was not Baalzebub, a term to
show the horrors and nicknames Of the
false gods of Baal.
Here at Baalbek the finest statue was
of this god. 1t was of gold, and 1t
represented a beardless young man clad
in armor standing between two golden
bulls He held a whip in his right hand
and thunderbot and some ears of corn
in his left There were also statues of
Mercury and Venus, a Hall of .Bacchus,
and statues and statuettes of exquisite
workmanship. These images were de-
stroyed by the early Christians, who
threw down parts OF the temples and
broke up the carvings.
1t is impossible to give pictures of the
ruins and of the mighty temples as they
We're in their wonderful beauty. The
ruins of themselves cover more than ten
acres, and the Great Temple alone was
about 300 feet long by 100 feet wide. 1t
had roof upheld by Corinthian col
umns, six of which are still standing.
These columns are eighty feet high and
twenty-five feet in circumference. TN
entering the temples 1 went UP gigantic
staircase, a great part of which has been
destroyed, and came into what is known
as the forecourt, which is about 200 feet
from one side to the other. the floor Of
which was paved with mosaic.
We next went through another court
known as the court of the altar, which
must cover five or six acres. 1t is a
mass of marble and granite gigantic
columns and delicate carvings being