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34 I WI 'LMETTE· LIFE I December 23, 1927 Baalbek, High Above Sea, City of Ancient Ruins GRANDEUR OF ACROPOLIS TEST FOR IMAGINATION Rev. F. C. 'Stifter T eUs of Hu·g e Stones Used in the Building of Famnous Structures In the eleventh article of his ser· ies describing the wonders of the Holy Land which he recently visited, the Rev. Francis Carr Stifler, pastor of Wilmotte Baptist church, tells of Baalbek, little known, but a city of grandeur and historical significance. He draws a word picture, and it is a picture to teat the imagination. ·' 'WE By Rev. Francis Carr Stifter short<:'ned our time in Damascns not only hecause we were uncomfortable there hut because we were anxious to han· as much time as possible in Haalhek the next st<·p un uur itinerary. I had never C\'l'll heard of Baalhek. I guessed from the 11rst sdlahle uf the word that it \\'a; an ancient Phoenecian or Canaananitish shrine. But not en~n the guideboo ks could ht·gin tu· convey a tenth part of the grandeur and the historical sig-n it1catwc nf the plan.·. The trip of ~L'\'(.'Ilt , . milt.·s \\'as most b eaut i i u 1-on~ r t-he Anti-l.ehannn mountains and up thl' vallt.·,· het. wre:~ them and . the mighty Lthanon:-; . Baalbek is ibcli anotht.·r oasis like Damas cus. hut \\'ith ;ul altitude of 3.R50 iect ahon~ the sea kH·I it ·is in a cooler location. Jt is indt·td somt'\\'l lat of a sumnH·r re~ort. ln t·rtry re~pect, tx cept the iL),(ld the llotcl Palmna was exrelknt. Jt " ·as run In· old l'·r~~ic..;scn ~L .\lou i \\·ho \\·a:-; curator oi the ruin:->. had I1t..T n m a 11 '· t i llll'S 111 a\' u r o i t he city. and \Yiw ~\'as in t·n.·r;· r~..·spl'rt a scholarly citiz~..·n Pi th~..· utmost n· fint..·ment. Area of Roman Ruins Tht.· Pld !~oman:, llt\'l'r t ricd to oblit erate the..· natiYt' religi,)ns oi people tht.·y rt 111quvred. Thvy rat hn ahsorlH·d th o~t.· rtli. :.!i(·tb. Tl~t ·., - kept at kast a part ni the rite:-> ;l11d derelc..)pcd the id ea:-- in hartl lt lll\' ,,·ith thL· Cre;Jt R(lman iaith . Tl1i~ j.., "hat tht·\' did at Baalhek and a:-- a (ltthl'qtll··nn· we found tl1cr~.,· tlw largl'"t :-;itl).!'lt..· ar~..·a c·i H11111an ruith ~..·, · ~..·r lll't..' tl utwartht..·d . Vi('tllrt..·~ mad~.. · out t1i the \rhc·k rln!h by Proi('"" ·r . \lou i !...! in· :--()lilt..' idea of ho" " th~..· gr~.,·;tt :\n~> po]i :, lli Baalhek looh·d r~..·nturies ago. Onr can readilv see h""" thl' sturknt ni antiquity roul~l spend rnCtn t h:-- in r~..·:-.t·arrh am(lllg the ruin'. 1 '"ill rniJWy ii I ran to , .0u. thl' l\HJ <1r three deep itnpn·~~-i0n" made on lilt' a~ I rinn·d t hcsl· mi .~l;ty . trJlll·~. :\ly firq impre ~s r0n \\':l~ "f thr ht·an ty · and '-kill l'lllhclClicd in them . \\'r werr tr·ld that tlw P(Jman architect rlid !l(Jt rar\'c hi:-; stone until it \\'a~ set in !Jiacc. A g-reat pillar for instance " ·as crectecl in the ron.~h and then hc\\'11 and poli~h<'cl where it stood. As a rro..ult of an <"art hqua ke a great sectinn nf cornice hacl falll-n a di~tanre of 20 fctt but \\'ith littll· damage to its trac<·rr. Cnfler the curator's clirrction \\'e studitd it in clt"tail. It chal1enges 0ne's imag-ination to picture some artistic sla\'C~ pcr ch<·rl high on a scaffold for day tn do such man·elloush· ex(luisite \\·ork as we found on thi s g-.reat hlock. The Pictures: Here is presented a fine view of the ruins of an· cient Baalbek (top)-Six remaining pillars of the fa~ed Temple of Jupiter whicli stand over 60 feet high and are crowned with elaborate Corinthian capitals (left center)-The leaning column, Temple of Bacchus (right center )-Artistry of Romans demons.t rated by archit~cture. Note the perfect lion's head gargoyle serving as a water spout (bottom, left).,.-Last huge block of stone remaining in ancient quarry. This block weighs 1200 tons (bottom, right). .I It?' , 1 I .~ff:-(': :,~l'$ . I ~ :,'"'· ..'-:~:.-~. . f · M ;;at,"·: ~··· ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~~~.-~-=-~~~~~~~ SJ>eak c·f tl1eir There were grape drsigns \\'ith elaborate undercut leaf trarcn·. ('"·gs forma] figUH'S and ht.·st 01 all perfc~; lion's head gargoyle that sern·d as a \\ atn spout. The great stoJH's \\Trt' all fastened together with hars 0i hronze. The a hars \rere in must cases ccna·ntcd into place hy hot lead poured into the socket tiJrough a groove in the stone. The surfacrs oi each stone that \\'ere to face other stones were tinishcd and polislu.· d more ("arefully than till' ::.urfaces to ht· expost.·d and the ~tones, no 1 ma ttcr how large they wen·. (I shall size latrrl \~err so t>er fectly fitted togeth<·r that a knife blade rould not he inscrtt·d hl't\\'ecn them. The hest prescrnd part of the ruin:-> is the 'l'l'nlple nf Bacchus. Expcrienc ed tran-llcrs tdl us th(·rc is nothing finer in all Syria than this great shrine. Nine t ('en of the original fifty-six (Continitrd on Page 35)