The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-01-04

4
/ q chief seat Of sun worship. Lying
! in the plain OF Buka'a about 40
niles from Damascus in q we'll wa
/ tered area which forms watershed
! for the Orontes River, along whose
valley the armies and traffic Of ali
ages have passed to and from
Egypt, it attained position Of
prominence in the early Christian
era.
Cleo.,2fr..'s Needle
"The Greeks, during the Selcuci-
dian dynasty, changed the name OF
Baalbek into the Greek equivalent
Cor city Of the sunzgod, Heliopolis,
and this was subsequently, adopted
by the Romans. The city, however,
is not to be confused with the ceie-
brated Heliopolis Of Lower Egypt,
which was the seat Of the Egyptian
worship OF the sun. In the latter
the two obelisks. known as Cleo
yatra's Needles, which now mark
the skyline in London and in Cen
/ tral Park, New York City, origin
ally stood.
Above the Heterogeneous col
lection OF low aat-roofed mud cot
tases that constitute the present
city Of 1000 inhabitants, the state
| ly ruins Of what must have been
one Of the most magnificent OF Sy-
; rian cities now stand out as a tii-
butte TO the energy and culture Of
people, the long arm OF whose
power was felt throughout the then
known world.
Most Of the known history OF
! the place dates from the time when
Augustus planted q Roman colony
there, as the coins OF Heiiopohs in
the first century show. The temple,
which legends among the intabi-
tants say was built by Solomon, was
in reality, founded by Antoninus
Plus, that adopted son Of the En-
peror iiadrian whose reign is al
most blank in history because dur
ing ii practically all wars, violence
and crimes ceased, his thoughts
and energies being dedicated to the
happiness Of his people.
Imposing Ruin * Werld Wonder
The imposing ruin we'll might
be ciassed among the wonders of
the world. Upon a ::)ase which still
shows the names of -Antoninus Plus
and Julia Donna, the architects
reared the Temple Of the Sun, a
rectangular building, 290 feet long
and 100 feet wide, whose roof was
supported by 81 Corinthian col
u.lns. the circumference OF which
was 90 feet and height so feet
giants in comparison TO those on the
L. S. Capitol in Washington. It
stands upon a platform on the &c
ropoiis which measures 1000 feet
by $50 feet, and was originally en-
tered by a broad flight Of steps.
but when Kaiser Wilhelm was en-
gagged in restoring the ruins in 1908
he put in the place of this stately
ancient approach a narrow modern
staircase.
With the exception Of six Of the
columns, little OF the temple is
now standing. Perhaps the 4 st
remarkable feature OF the stl Ic-
turc, Notwithstanding it's size and
the beauty of its conception. is the
fact that such enormous blocks
OF stone were used m its construc-
ton. Some OF them measure 60
feet in length.
The god, Baal, whom the Creeks
identified with their sun-god .ielios
and the Roman with their Jupiter
Of HeI'opoli3, TO whom the temple
was erected. is usually represented
as beardiess youth wearing long
4rapery OF scales and carrying q
whip in his right hand and thunder
bolts and ears OF corn in his left.
constantine used the temple as
a Christian church. TheodosiuS
the Great wrought havoc in II.
using portions for another church
which he built nearby: earth
uuakes have done their deadly
work TO its walls and columns:
the Arabs used Ii as 4 fotress, when
;hey sacked Baalbek in 7iS \. D.:
Timur the Lame pillaeed il in 1900
and he Turks took possession OF II
in l5l7. The pashas OF Damascus
tearing down the magnificent pil-
lars Tor iron with which The stones
were bound together. IN spite OF
the misery and n!isrule which the
city has experienced since, il stands
as one of the most stately ruins
Of Che ages.
Why envy the ucishbors who
have more when j: is so easy TO
n}oVe into n neighhorhood where
tfey have less
WhcN some people appear 10 he