volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

164 The Quarry at Ba'albak.
of which for size have never been built into any other
wall in the world. As I had sent on my luggage to
Damascus the day before I had no tape with which tO'
measure them. The Nazir gave me their dimensions
in cubits, piks, palms and fingers, and his measurements
showed the stones to be 64 feet 3 inches in length, 10
feet 4 inches in width, and 12 feet 10 inches in thick-
ness. And their position in the wall was quite 20 feet
from the ground. Having seen how immense masses of
granite are moved about in quarries by means of levers
and hardwood wedges, I did not so much wonder at
their position at this height in the wall as at the skill
of the quarrymen who first selected the spot in the
quarry to work at, and then got out these splendid
monoliths. We next went to the little temple in the
village ; judging by the crosses painted on the waUs,
this must have been used at one time for a church.
Whilst we were there a messenger came to say that if
I intended to go to Damascus that day I must leave
at once, and we went to the carriage which was waiting
close by. The Nizir insisted on the driver taking me
to see the great undetached stone in the quarry, which
was several feet longer than any one of the three in the
outer western wall, and then drove back with me to
Ashtura.
On leaving the quarry we drove to the village of
Duris, which we reached in about three-quarters of an
hour. We walked to the ruins called "Kubbat Duris,"
i.e., " Dome " or " Shrine " of Duris, and admired the
handsome granite columns which were standing there.
These must have been removed from some temple at
Ba'albak, and it was clear that they were far older
than the remains round about them. No one knew
anything about the holy man in whose honour the
Kubbah was built, but the sarcophagus which stood
upright and was used as a mikrdh, or prayer niche,
proved that he was a Muslim.
We left Ashtura about one o'clock, and drove over
the fiat land of the " split "or " plain " of Al-Baka'a at
a good pace. We crossed the river Lit^ni, and in a little