Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1839/Ruins at Balbec
75
SIX DETACHED PILLARS OF THE GREAT TEMPLE AT BALBEC.
|
RUINS AT BALBEC.
The crowned monarch sat on his throne,
He looked on the plain, it was bare and lone;
Saving the palm-tree waving on high,
Nothing was there but the sand and the sky.
He called his slaves—and thousands stir,
For he was a king and a conqueror;
And he bade them dig deep in the earth
Where the white and veined marbles have birth.
And he said, I will build me a city whose fame
Shall keep to the end of all time my name.
Ships brought ivory—ships brought gold,
And the carved woods were fair to behold.
They built the temple, they built the tower,
And they hung with purple a royal bower.
There was corn and wine in the market-place,
And the streets were filled with the human race.
When the king died—even conquerors must—
Mighty the tomb they raised o’er his dust.
His throne was filled by his eldest son,—
He went on as his father had done.
Years have grown into centuries grey,
The king and his people, where are they?
Where are the temples of carved stone?
Look in the dust—to dust they are gone.
Five or six pillars alone remain
Of the thousands that crowded that marble plain.
The palm-tree that stood by that building of yore
Standeth as green as it did before.
But the dust is heaped o’er the works of men—
And so it hath been, and will be again.
Balbec, or Baalbec, the ancient Heliopolis (City of the Sun) in Cœlosyria, is seated at the foot of Anti-libanus, forty miles from Damascus. It is a small town, surrounded by ruinous walls; contains about five thousand inhabitants, Christian and Jews; and is under the government of an Aga, who assumes the title of Emir. Here are the finest ruins in the East. Amongst the most remarkable are the remains of the Temple of the Sun, built either by Antoninus Pius, or Septimus Severus, upon whose medals it is represented. Of fifty-four columns there are but six standing; their shafts are sixty feet high, twenty-two in circumference, and, including the pedestal and capital, have a total height of seventy-two feet. The dimensions of the stones with which the Temple walls were built, are such that no modern architectural machinery could place them in their present positions. Under Constantine, this building was converted into a Christian church, and so continued until the Arab irruption, after which it was neglected. The remains of the palace of Antoninus Pius also possess distinguished beauty; and every where around, bas-reliefs and marble statues of Jupiter, Diana, Leda, Roman emperors, &c. all of exquisite finish, may be seen. There are few, but they are conspicuous landmarks, in the records of this ancient city. Its original rulers were expelled by Obeidah, a general of Caliph Omar. In 1401, Tamerlane became its sovereign: and, in 1759, modern Balbec was almost entirely overthrown by an earthquake.