The Clio messenger., 1916-09-22

, exquisitely carved s.one, which had
fallen from its lofty height, | could
hardly reach up and touch the lions
Jaws. How the Remains ever lifted
these massive blocks 10 their lofty 20
sition above the capitals of the colunus
is a mystery. The Romans prodigal as
they seem to have baen, never invested
real money in tie provinces. The
wealth with which This wonderful tenn
pie was built was raised in Syria It.
self. Yet today tie Turk, exactins I'm
his demands, derives but pitthnce
from this fertile district.
The temple of Bao chus, which is the
best preserved of Syrian ruins is quite
apart from the great temple Of Jupi-
ter, Helios, Baal, or the Sun. The
finest thing about this temple is 'he
front door, solid stone, 43 feet high and
just half as broad. Hospitality with a
capital III The stone of the doorway
is carved III the most intricate and
| lacelike designs. Next to the door is
Il charming beadwork anu leaf design.
Then twisted rope and conventional
gree that might have been carved with
tool as fine as cambric needle, and
some figures of satyrs and bacchantes,
not so conventional. The door posts
, are nearly two feet wide, and the
whole is made up of sculpture that
would grace even England's master
piece, Merose Abbey.
The great size and stability of the
| temples inspire confidence In the
climber. A stairway leads to the top
of the celia walls--the solid walls of
| the temple proper-whlch project for
so feet above the ground. From the
| top Of the stairway one has fine view
of the surrounding country and also
of the great stones that await one be-
low.
Where Oracle Was Housed.
This smaller temple is DOT feet long
and about half as wide, facing the ris-
| ing sun, and formerly approached by II
| fine staircase, which was destroyed
when the Arabs built fortress and
wall in front Of the earlier temple. OF
| the AZ columns which once surrounded
| 1t, only 16 remain in place, yet from
| the back the temple seems almost COM
plete. On the south side one of the 90
| foot columns has fallen against the
side Of the temple, but so securely are
its drums clamped together that 1t re-
mains whole although ii has smashed
hole in the wall.
The keystone above the doorway
dropped so Ear after the earthquake in
sary to hold 1t in place, but the stone
has now been raised to its original po-
sition, and the familiar carving Of the
Roman eagle with long garlands in its
beak can be seen. 1t was in this temple
| that the oracle of Baalbek was housed
which the priests entered the statue to
proclaim the fate of the land can still
be seen. Theodosius used this temple
as church for some time, probably
while he was building the large basil'ca
in front of the larger temple.
At Baalbek, man has truly achiey ed
| the cyolopean. Here the excavators
have unearthed a complete set Of ruins.
Here lying guides get tourists to swal-
low bigger stories than in any place /
know of. Here the towering columns
! of the Temple of the Sun watch the
orb of day descend behind the Leb-
anon, after the lifting shadows have
engulfed the smaller temple of Bac-
chus. And the sun, in departing, leaves
his kiss upon the stately colonnade In
a clearly seen tinge Of red. There are
prosaic folk who say that this is caused
| by iron In the rock. That may do as
an explanation to those who believe in
the age of iron, but this mighty temple
does not belong to the present aga Of
| machinery.