The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1916-09-22

exquisitely carved stone, which had
fallen from its lofty height, l could
hardly reach up and touch the lions
jaws. How the Romans ever lifted
these massive blocks to their lofty po.
sition above the capitals of the columns
is mystery. The Romans, prodigal as
they seem to have been, never invested
real money in the provinces. The
wealth with which this wonderful tenn.
pie was built VS. raised in Syria it.
self. Yet today the Turk, exacting in
his demands, derives but pittance
from this fertile district.
The temple of Bacchus, which is the
best preserved of Syrian ruins, is quite
apart from the great temple Of Jupi
ter, Helios, Baal, or the Sun. TIE
finest thing about this temple is the
front door, solid stone, 43 feet high and
just half as broad. Hospitality with
capital H The stone of the doorway
is carved in the most intricate and
lacelike designs. Next to the door is
charming beadwork and leaf design.
Then twisted rope and conventional
vine and wheat design. Then more fill
gree that might have been carved with
a 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, Melrose 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-which project for
80 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 227 feet long
and about half as wide, facing the ris-
ing sun, and formerly approached by
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
it, only 16 remain in place, yet from
the back the temple seems almost COM
foot columns has fallen against the
side Of the temple, but so securely are
its drums clamped together that it re-
mains whole although 1t has smashed
hole in the wall.
The keystone above the doorway
dropped so far after the earthquake in
1859 that pier of stones was neces-
sary to hold it 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
and the secret passage by means Of
which the priests entered the statue to
proclaim the fate of the land can still
be seen. Theodosius used this temple
as a church for some time, probably
while he was building the large basilica
in front of the larger temple.
At Baalbek, man has truly achieved
the cyclopean. Here the excavators
have unearthed complete set of ruins.
Here lying guides get tourists to swal-
low bigger stories than in any place 1
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 age of |
machinery.