volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

The Monoliths of Ba'albak. 163
The fees collected in this way were used for clearing
the debris from the ruins. The Nazir quickly showed
me the important parts of the ruins of the Great Temple,*
and then we passed on to the so-called Temple of the
Sun, where there were many sculptures and reliefs that
called for careful study. The Corinthian columns, which
seemed to be nearly fifty feet high, were very handsome.
I was anxious to see the three gigantic stones of which
1 had read and heard so much, and the Nazir, who
thought the Temple of the Sun the most wonderful
building in Syria (and he was right !), reluctantly led
me away from it to the western outer wall where the three
stones could be seen. He pointed out in the middle
course of the wall those three^ huge blocks, the like
' The first European to give us any account of the ruins of
Ba'albak was Martin von Baumgarten in his Peregrinatio in Syriatn,
Noriberg, 1594, 4to. They were next described by (i) Peter Belon
(born 15 18, died 1564 ; see a reprint of his Travels in Ray's Collection,
2 vols., London, 1693) ; (2) Andre Thevet, Cosmographie Universelle,
2 vols., Paris, 1575 ; (3) Melchior von Seydlitz, Beschreibung des
Wallfahrt nach dent heiligen Lands, Gorlitz, 1580, 4to ; (4) M. K. Radziwill,
Hierosolymitana Peregrinatio, Brunsbergae, 1601, fol. ; (5) F.
Quaresmius, Historica Theologica, 2 vols., Antwerp, 1639 ; (6) H.
Maundrell, A Journey, 4th ed., Oxford, 1721 ; (7) Jean de la Roque,
Voyage de Syrie, Paris, 1722 ; (8) Pococke, Description of the East,
2 vols., London, 1743-45 ; and (9) B. de Moncony, Journal des Voyages,
3
pts., Lyons, 1765-66, 4to. The best of the books on Ba'albak is
Robert Wood's Ruins of Balhec, otherwise Heliopolis, London, 1757,
and every traveller who has had it with him there will admit this.
Wood's account of the ruins has formed the base of all modern descriptions
of them, and it assisted Robinson {Biblical Researches, vol. iii)
in arriving at some important conclusions. Arab writers have much
to say about Ba'albak, which Yakut (i, p. 673) spells "Balabakku."
It is frequently mentioned in the works of Istakhri, Ibn Hawkal and
Mukaddasi (see De Goeje's Index Geographicus) , and Yakut, having
discussed the meaning of the name, gives a sketch of its conquest
by the Muslims. Ibn JubSr (ed. Wright, p. 259) speaks of its "strong
fortress," Mas'udi speaks with respect of the great temple (iv, p. 87),
and Ibn Batutah praises the sweetmeats, the textile fabrics, and the
wooden pots and spoons which were made there (i, p. 185-187).
^ These are probably referred to in the Edict of Theodosius which
ordered the Great Temple to be turned into a church for Christians :
TO lepov 'HAiou7roA,£(i)s ... to fiiya Kal Trepi^OTjTov, Kal TO Tpikidov. See
Chronicon Paschale, Olymp. cclxxxix.