DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4569#0009
A N
E N O U I R Y
INTO THE
ANTIENT STATE
O F
PALMYRA.
OU R account of Palmyra is confined merely to that ftate of decay in
which we found thofe ruins in the year 1751. It is not probable that
the reader's curiolity mould flop here: The prefent remains of that city
are certainly too interefting to admit of our indifference about what it has been ;
when and by whom it was built 5 the fingularity of its ft nation (feparatedfrom the
reft of mankind by an uninhabitable depart J and the fource of riches necejfary to
the fupport of fuch magnificence, are fiibjecTs which very naturally engage our
attention. The following Enquiry is an attempt, in fome meafure, to fatisfy
that curiofity.
It feems very remarkable, that Balbeck and Palmyra, perhaps the two moft
furprifing remains of antient magnificence which are now left, mould be fo
much neglected in hiftory, that, except what we can learn from the infcriptions,
all our information about them, would fcarce amount to more than probable
conjecture.
Does not even this filence of hiftory, carry with it inftru&ion, and teach us
how much we are in the dark with regard to fome periods of antiquity ?
It is the natural and common fate of cities to have their memory longer pre-
ferred than their ruins. Troy, Babylon and Memphis are now known only from
books, while there is not a ftone left to mark their fituation. But here we have
two inftanees of considerable towns out-living any account of them. Our cu-
riofity about thefe places is rather raifed by what we fee than what we read, and
Balbeck and Palmyra are in a great meafure left to tell their own ftory.
Shall we attribute this to the lofs of books, or conclude that the Antients
did not think thofe buildings fo much worth notice as we do? If we can fuppofe
the latter, it feems to juftify our admiration of their works. Their filence about
Balbeck, gives authority to what they fay of Babylon, and the works of Pal-
myra fcarce mentioned, become vouchers for thofe fo much celebrated of Greece
and Egypt.
B Any
E N O U I R Y
INTO THE
ANTIENT STATE
O F
PALMYRA.
OU R account of Palmyra is confined merely to that ftate of decay in
which we found thofe ruins in the year 1751. It is not probable that
the reader's curiolity mould flop here: The prefent remains of that city
are certainly too interefting to admit of our indifference about what it has been ;
when and by whom it was built 5 the fingularity of its ft nation (feparatedfrom the
reft of mankind by an uninhabitable depart J and the fource of riches necejfary to
the fupport of fuch magnificence, are fiibjecTs which very naturally engage our
attention. The following Enquiry is an attempt, in fome meafure, to fatisfy
that curiofity.
It feems very remarkable, that Balbeck and Palmyra, perhaps the two moft
furprifing remains of antient magnificence which are now left, mould be fo
much neglected in hiftory, that, except what we can learn from the infcriptions,
all our information about them, would fcarce amount to more than probable
conjecture.
Does not even this filence of hiftory, carry with it inftru&ion, and teach us
how much we are in the dark with regard to fome periods of antiquity ?
It is the natural and common fate of cities to have their memory longer pre-
ferred than their ruins. Troy, Babylon and Memphis are now known only from
books, while there is not a ftone left to mark their fituation. But here we have
two inftanees of considerable towns out-living any account of them. Our cu-
riofity about thefe places is rather raifed by what we fee than what we read, and
Balbeck and Palmyra are in a great meafure left to tell their own ftory.
Shall we attribute this to the lofs of books, or conclude that the Antients
did not think thofe buildings fo much worth notice as we do? If we can fuppofe
the latter, it feems to juftify our admiration of their works. Their filence about
Balbeck, gives authority to what they fay of Babylon, and the works of Pal-
myra fcarce mentioned, become vouchers for thofe fo much celebrated of Greece
and Egypt.
B Any