DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0508
466
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
which only the pedestals remain. The columns were four feet three inches in diameter. On
two of the pedestals are Latin inscriptions, which in the time of Wood and Dawkins were
distinct, but are now almost obliterated. They are nearly identical, beginning, " Magnis Diis
Heliopolitanis, pro salute Antonini Pii Felicis Augusti et Juliae Augustas matris domini nostri
castrorum," and are votive memorials in behalf of Antoninus Caracalla (son of Severus), and
of the Empress Julia Domna. The north and south wings, or pavilions of this porch, are
constructed of cyclopean stones, which, in any other ruin than Ba'albek, would be regarded as
wonderful, but here they are but a minor feature in a structure which is throughout
overwhelmingly great and impressive (see page 461). There are stones twenty-four feet five
inches long. In front, near the bottom of each pavilion, is a door leading to the vaults
beneath in the substructions. The top of each has been rebuilt by the Saracens, and their
military constructions have well-nigh effaced the form and outline of the portico. The wings
are ornamented with niches, cornices, and pilasters. If all the niches and brackets in these
ruins were once occupied by statues, there must be untold treasures of ancient sculpture still
buried beneath the debris.
Having now completed the circuit of the Acropolis, with its great temples, courts, and
portico, there still remain the Temple of Venus, or Nymphasum (El Barbara), the Mosque
Ras el 'Ain, and Kubbet Duris (see page 452). The Temple of Venus, or Circular Temple
(see page 472), stands about one hundred and fifty yards from the south-east angle of the
Temple of the Sun. It is a beautiful little Corinthian structure, circular within and without,
with handsome niches at regular intervals each flanked by two columns, so as to give the
building the appearance of an octagon. Wreaths hang gracefully from the cornice over each
niche. The cella is thirty-eight feet in diameter. The number of columns is six, each nine
feet distant from the wall. The entablature supported by these projecting columns does not
run continuously from column to column, but recedes in a graceful curve almost to the wall of
the cella, giving the whole an appearance of lightness and elegance rarely equalled. It is
looked itpon as the gem of Ba'albek. In the days of Maundrell it was used as a Greek
Church, although seriously shattered by earthquakes, and he remarks, " It were well if the
danger of its falling, which perpetually threatens, would excite those people to use a little
more fervour in their prayers than they generally do." Little did Maundrell think that in
1880 the temple would still be standing. The Greeks no longer worship in it, but it is still
beautiful, even in decay. It is now called " El Barbara," in honour of St. Barbara. It is
under the special watch and ward of an old Metwaleh woman, Um Kaslm, who demands
bakshish on the ground that she keeps watch over it, and lights olive oil lamps for those who
wish to make vows to the patron saint.
The fertility of the soil, the proximity of the water of Ras el 'Ain, and that instinct of self-
preservation which drives the Syrians everywhere to crowd their houses and gardens together
for mutual protection, have combined to choke up every available space around these ruins with
houses, trees, and gardens, so that it is becoming yearly more and more difficult to examine
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
which only the pedestals remain. The columns were four feet three inches in diameter. On
two of the pedestals are Latin inscriptions, which in the time of Wood and Dawkins were
distinct, but are now almost obliterated. They are nearly identical, beginning, " Magnis Diis
Heliopolitanis, pro salute Antonini Pii Felicis Augusti et Juliae Augustas matris domini nostri
castrorum," and are votive memorials in behalf of Antoninus Caracalla (son of Severus), and
of the Empress Julia Domna. The north and south wings, or pavilions of this porch, are
constructed of cyclopean stones, which, in any other ruin than Ba'albek, would be regarded as
wonderful, but here they are but a minor feature in a structure which is throughout
overwhelmingly great and impressive (see page 461). There are stones twenty-four feet five
inches long. In front, near the bottom of each pavilion, is a door leading to the vaults
beneath in the substructions. The top of each has been rebuilt by the Saracens, and their
military constructions have well-nigh effaced the form and outline of the portico. The wings
are ornamented with niches, cornices, and pilasters. If all the niches and brackets in these
ruins were once occupied by statues, there must be untold treasures of ancient sculpture still
buried beneath the debris.
Having now completed the circuit of the Acropolis, with its great temples, courts, and
portico, there still remain the Temple of Venus, or Nymphasum (El Barbara), the Mosque
Ras el 'Ain, and Kubbet Duris (see page 452). The Temple of Venus, or Circular Temple
(see page 472), stands about one hundred and fifty yards from the south-east angle of the
Temple of the Sun. It is a beautiful little Corinthian structure, circular within and without,
with handsome niches at regular intervals each flanked by two columns, so as to give the
building the appearance of an octagon. Wreaths hang gracefully from the cornice over each
niche. The cella is thirty-eight feet in diameter. The number of columns is six, each nine
feet distant from the wall. The entablature supported by these projecting columns does not
run continuously from column to column, but recedes in a graceful curve almost to the wall of
the cella, giving the whole an appearance of lightness and elegance rarely equalled. It is
looked itpon as the gem of Ba'albek. In the days of Maundrell it was used as a Greek
Church, although seriously shattered by earthquakes, and he remarks, " It were well if the
danger of its falling, which perpetually threatens, would excite those people to use a little
more fervour in their prayers than they generally do." Little did Maundrell think that in
1880 the temple would still be standing. The Greeks no longer worship in it, but it is still
beautiful, even in decay. It is now called " El Barbara," in honour of St. Barbara. It is
under the special watch and ward of an old Metwaleh woman, Um Kaslm, who demands
bakshish on the ground that she keeps watch over it, and lights olive oil lamps for those who
wish to make vows to the patron saint.
The fertility of the soil, the proximity of the water of Ras el 'Ain, and that instinct of self-
preservation which drives the Syrians everywhere to crowd their houses and gardens together
for mutual protection, have combined to choke up every available space around these ruins with
houses, trees, and gardens, so that it is becoming yearly more and more difficult to examine