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| Baalbek, Temple
of Jupiter |
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Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2, p. 230. |
The Six Columns of
the Great Temple, Ba'albek
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But the crowning feature in the ruins of Ba'albek is the six columns. The first
rays of sunrise fall upon the aerial entablature, seemingly hung in mid air, and
the last rays of sunset gild it with indescribable glory. The first thought is
one of wonder that they have stood so long. They stand on a wall fifty feet in
height, which formed the southern wall of the great temple or peristyle . . . .
This temple fronted toward the east on the great quadrangular court. Its western
wall stood on the three great stones, and its northern on a splendid wall of
drafted masonry of thirteen courses, about forty-eight feet in height. The great
peristyle was two hundred and ninety feet in length by one hundred and sixty in
breadth. On each side were nineteen Corinthian columns like the six now
standing, and at each end ten-fifty-four in all. The pedestals of the most of
these columns are still in situ. (Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2, pp.
221-22.) |
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Baalbek, Jupiter Temple |
Source:
Photographs of Charles Lee Feinberg. |
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The diameter of the columns is seven feet
and three inches at the base, and six feet six
at the top. As you look at them from a
distance they seem much smaller, the perfect
grace and symmetry of the proportions
completely deceiving the observer; and it is
only when standing by the base of a prostrate
column and actually measuring it, that one can
credit its immense size, and believe that it
is more than twenty-one feet in circumference.
Each shaft is composed of three stones, and
the height from the base to the top of the
capital is seventy feet. Add to this fifteen
feet, the height of the entablature,
ascertained by measuring the fragments on the
ground, and the wall of forty feet below, and
we have a total height of one hundred and
twenty-five feet above the plain. What adds
greatly to the beauty of the six columns now
standing is the orange-coloured weather rust,
which gives them a golden glow in almost every
light, whether morning, noon, or sunset, and a
mellow tint even by moonlight. (Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2, pp. 222-24.) |
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Source:
Photographs of Charles Lee Feinberg. |
Baalbek, Jupiter Temple
Columns |
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The three stones of which each is composed
were jointed with mathematical precision, so
that at a short distance, even after the
attrition of centuries, the joints are almost
invisible. The carving of the capitals on the
northern face is almost completely gone, while
on the south side it is perfect. The reason
is, the bitter freezing winds which blow from
the north during the winter months are
gradually disintegrating the stone. You are
never weary of looking at the columns. At any
distance, from any side, and in any light,
they are the same majestic awe-inspiring
objects, and you envy the artist traveller who
can transfer to canvas their inimitable
proportions and exquisite colouring. In the
time of Wood and Dawkins, in 1751, nine of
these columns were standing . . . .An eave
trough ran along the whole length of the
cornice on the top, and over every column was
an eave spout of stone, some of which in both
temples are still perfect. Whether roofed or
open, whether vaulted or hypæthral, it must
have been the glory of its age, and the finest
specimen of Corinthian architecture ever
built. (Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2,
p. 224.) |
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See
Baalbek,
Bacchus
Temple,
Temple
Courts,
Palmyra,
or
Damascus |
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