After we had emerged from Mu'allakah upon the open plain, we passed on our left hand the Moslem3 village of Kerah Nun4, which is distinguished5 as the burial-place of the prophet Noah; but we contented6 ourselves with a sight of the dome7. The mariner8 lies there in a grave seventy feet long, or seventy yards, some scoffers say; but this, whatever it is, is not the measure of the patriarch. The grave proved too short, and Noah is buried with his knees bent9, and his feet extending downward in the ground.
The plain of Buk?'a is some ninety miles long, and in this portion of it about ten miles broad; it is well watered, and though the red soil is stuffed with small stones, it is very fertile, and would yield abundantly if cultivated; but it is mostly an abandoned waste of weeds. The ground rises gradually all the way to Ba'albek, starting from an elevation10 of three thousand feet; the plain is rolling, and the streams which rush down from the near mountains are very swift. Nothing could be lovelier than the snowy ranges of mountains on either hand, in contrast with the browns and reds of the slopes,—like our own autumn foliage,—and the green and brown plain, now sprinkled with wild-flowers of many varieties.
The sky was covered with clouds, great masses floating about; the wind from the hills was cold, and at length drove us to our wraps; then a fine rain ensued, but it did not last long, for the rainy season was over. We crossed the plain diagonally, and lunched at a little khan, half house and half stable, raised above a stream, with a group of young poplars in front. We sat on a raised divan11 in the covered court, and looked out through the arched doorway12 over a lovely expanse of plain and hills. It was difficult to tell which part of the house was devoted13 to the stable and which to the family; from the door of the room which I selected as the neatest came the braying14 of a donkey. The landlord and his wife, a young woman and rather pretty, who had a baby in her arms, furnished pipes and tobacco, and the travellers or idlers—they are one—sat on the ground smoking narghilelis. A squad15 of ruffianly Met鈝ileh, a sect16 of Moslems who follow the Koran strictly17, and reject the traditions,—perhaps like those who call themselves Bible Christians18 in distinction from theological Christians,—came from the field, deposited their ploughs, which they carried on their shoulders, on the platform outside, and, seating themselves in a row in the khan, looked at us stolidly20. And we, having the opportunity of saying so, looked at them intelligently.
We went on obliquely21 across the plain, rising a little through a region rich, but only half cultivated, crossing streams and floundering in mud-holes for three hours, on a walk, the wind growing stronger from the snow mountains, and the cold becoming almost unendurable. It was in vain that Abd-el-Atti spun22 hour after hour an Arab romance; not even the warm colors of the Oriental imagination could soften23 the piteous blast. At length, when patience was nearly gone, in a depression in the plain, close to the foot-hills of Anti-Lebanon, behold24 the great Ba'albek, that is to say, a Moslem village of three thousand to four thousand inhabitants, fairly clean and sightly, and the ruins just on the edge of it, the six well-known gigantic Corinthian pillars standing25 out against the gray sky. Never was sight more welcome.
Ba'albek, like Zahleh, has no inn, and we lodged26 in a private house near the ruins. The house was one story; it consisted of four large rooms in a row, looking upon the stone-wall enclosure, each with its door, and with no communication between them. The kitchen was in a separate building. These rooms had high ceilings of beams supporting the flat roof, windows with shutters27 but without glass, divans28 along one side, and in one corner a fireplace and chimney. Each room had a niche29 extending from the floor almost to the ceiling, in which the beds are piled in the daytime; at night they are made up on the divans or on the floor. This is the common pattern of a Syrian house, and when we got a fire blazing in the big chimney-place and began to thaw30 out our stiff limbs, and Abd-el-Atti brought in something from the kitchen that was hot and red in color and may have had spice on the top of it, we found this the most comfortable residence in the world.
It is the business of a dragoman to produce the improbable in impossible places. Abd-el-Atti rubbed his lamp and converted this establishment into a tolerable inn, with a prolific31 kitchen and an abundant table. While he was performing this revolution we went to see the ruins, the most noble portions of which have survived the religion and almost the memory of the builders.
The remains32 of the temples of Ba'albek, or Hieropolis, are only elevated as they stand upon an artificial platform; they are in the depression of the valley, and in fact a considerable stream flows all about the walls and penetrates33 the subterranean34 passages. This water comes from a fountain which bursts out of the Anti-Lebanon hills about half a mile above Ba'albek, in an immense volume, falls into a great basin, and flows away in a small river. These instantaneously born rivers are a peculiarity35 of Syria; and they often disappear as suddenly as they come. The water of this Ba'albek fountain is cold, pure, and sweet; it deserves to be called a "beverage," and is, so far as my experience goes, the most agreeable water in the world. The Moslems have a proverb which expresses its unique worth: "The water of Ba'albek never leaves its home." It rushes past the village almost a river in size, and then disappears in the plain below as suddenly as it came to the light above.
We made our way across the stream and along aqueducts and over heaps of shattered walls and columns to the west end of the group of ruins. This end is defended by a battlemented wall some fifty feet high, which was built by the Saracens out of incongruous materials from older constructions. The northeast corner of this new wall rests upon the ancient Phoenician wall, which sustained the original platform of the sacred buildings; and at this corner are found the three famous stones which at one time gave a name, "The Three-Stoned," to the great temple. As I do not intend to enter into the details of these often described ruins, I will say here, that this ancient Phoenician wall appears on the north side of the platform detached, showing that the most ancient temple occupied a larger area than the Greek and Roman buildings.
There are many stones in the old platform wall which are thirty feet long; but the three large ones, which are elevated twenty feet above the ground, and are in a line, are respectively 64 feet long, 63 feet 8 inches, and 63 feet, and about 13 feet in height and in depth. When I measured the first stone, I made it 128 feet long, which I knew was an error, but it was only by careful inspection36 that I discovered the joint37 of the two stones which I had taken for one. I thought this a practical test of the close fit of these blocks, which, laid without mortar38, come together as if the ends had been polished. A stone larger than either of these lies in the neighboring quarry39, hewn out but not detached.
These massive constructions, when first rediscovered, were the subject of a great deal of wonder and speculation40, and were referred to a remote and misty41 if not fabulous42 period. I believe it is now agreed that they were the work of the Phoenicians, or Canaanites, and that they are to be referred to a period subsequent to the conquest of Egypt, or at least of the Delta43 of Egypt, by the Hittites, when the Egyptian influence was felt in Syria; and that this Temple of the Sun was at least suggested, as well as the worship of the Sun god here, by the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis on the Nile. There is, to be sure, no record of the great city of Ba'albek, but it may safely be referred to the period of the greatest prosperity of the Phoenician nation.
Much as we had read of the splendor44 of these ruins, and familiar as we were with photographs of them, we were struck with surprise when we climbed up into the great court, that is, to the platform of the temples. The platform extends over eight hundred feet from east to west, an elevated theatre for the display of some of the richest architecture in the world. The general view is broad, impressive, inspiring beyond anything else in Egypt or Syria; and when we look at details, the ruins charm us with their beauty. Round three sides of the great court runs a wall, the interior of which, recessed45 and niched, was once adorned46 with the most elaborate carving47 in designs more graceful48 than you would suppose stone could lend itself to, with a frieze49 of garlands of vines, flowers, and fruits. Of the so-called great Temple of Baal at the west end of the platform, only six splendid Corinthian columns remain. The so-called Temple of the Sun or Jupiter, to the south of the other and on a lower level, larger than the Parthenon, exists still in nearly its original form, although some of the exterior50 columns have fallen, and time and the art-hating Moslems have defaced some of its finest sculpture. The ceiling between the outer row of columns and the wall of this temple is, or was, one of the most exquisite51 pieces of stone-carving ever executed; the figures carved in the medallions seem to have anticipated the Gothic genius, and the exquisite patterns in stone to have suggested the subsequent Saracenic invention. The composite capitals of the columns offer an endless study; stone roses stand out upon their stems, fruit and flowers hang and bloom in the freedom of nature; the carving is all bold and spirited, and the invention endless. This is no doubt work of the Roman period after the Christian19 era, but it is pervaded52 by Greek feeling, and would seem to have been executed by Greek artists.
In the centre of the great court (there is a small six-sided court to the east of the larger one, which was once approached by a great flight of steps from below) are remains of a Christian basilica, referred to the reign53 of Theodosius. Underneath54 the platform are enormous vaults55, which may have served the successive occupants for store-houses. The Saracens converted this position into a fortress56, and this military impress the ruins still bear. We have therefore four ages in these ruins: the Phoenician, the Greek and Roman, the Christian, and the Saracenic. The remains of the first are most enduring. The old builders had no other method of perpetuating57 their memory except by these cyclopean constructions.
We saw the sunset on Ba'albek. The clouds broke away and lay in great rosy58 masses over Lebanon; the white snow ridge59 for forty miles sparkled under them. The peak of Lebanon, over ten thousand feet above us, was revealed in all its purity. There was a red light on the columns and on the walls, and the hills of Anti-Lebanon, red as a dull garnet, were speckled with snow patches. The imagination could conceive nothing more beautiful than the rose-color of the ruins, the flaming sky, and the immaculate snow peaks, apparently60 so close to us.
On our return we stopped at the beautiful circular temple of Venus, which would be a wonder in any other neighborhood. Dinner awaited us, and was marked by only one novelty,—what we at first took to be brown napkins, fantastically folded and laid at each plate, a touch of elegance61 for which we were not prepared. But the napkins proved to be bread. It is made of coarse dark wheat, baked in circular cakes as thin as brown paper, and when folded its resemblance to a napkin is complete. We found it tolerably palatable62, if one could get rid of the notion that he was eating a limp rag. The people had been advertised of our arrival, and men, women, and boys swarmed63 about us to sell copper64 coins; most of them Roman, which they find in the ruins. Few are found of the Greeks'; the Romans literally65 sowed the ground with copper money wherever they went in the Orient. The inhabitants are Moslems, and rather decent in appearance, and the women incline to good looks, though not so modest in dress as Moslem women usually are; they are all persistent66 beggars, and bring babies in their arms, borrowing for that purpose all the infants in the neighborhood, to incite67 us to charity.
We yielded to the average sentiment of Christendom, and sallied out in the cold night to see the ruins under the light of a full moon; one of the party going simply that he might avoid the reproach of other travellers,—"It is a pity you did not see Ba'albek by moonlight." And it must be confessed that these ruins stand the dim light of the moon better than most ruins; they are so broad and distinct that they show themselves even in this disadvantage, which those of Karnak do not. The six isolated68 columns seemed to float in the sky; between them snowy Lebanon showed itself.
The next morning was clear and sparkling; the sky was almost as blue as it is in Nubia. We were awakened69 by the drumming of a Moslem procession. It was the great annual f阾e day, upon which was to be performed the miracle of riding over the bodies of the devout70. The ceremony took place a couple of miles away upon the hill, and we saw on all the paths leading thither71 files of men and women in white garments. The sheykh, mounted on horseback, rides over the prostrate72 bodies of all who throw themselves before him, and the number includes young men as well as darwishes. As they lie packed close together and the horse treads upon their spinal73 columns, their escape from death is called miraculous74. The Christians tried the experiment here a year or two ago, several young fellows submitting to let a horseman trample75 over them, in order to show the Moslems that they also possessed76 a religion which could stand horses' hoofs77.
The ruins, under the intense blue sky, and in the splendid sunlight, were more impressive than in the dull gray of the day before, or even in the rosy sunset; their imperial dignity is not impaired78 by the excessive wealth of ornamentation. When upon this platform there stood fifty-eight of these noble columns, instead of six, conspicuous79 from afar, and the sunlight poured into this superb court, adorned by the genius of Athens and the wealth of Rome, this must have been one of the most resplendent temples in existence, rivalling the group upon the Acropolis itself!
Nothing more marks the contrast between the religions of the Greeks and Romans and of the Egyptians, or rather between the genius of the two civilizations, than their treatment of sacred edifices80. And it is all the more to be noted81, because the more modern nations accepted without reserve any god or object of veneration82 or mystery in the Egyptian pantheon. The Roman occupants of the temple of Phil? sacrificed without scruple83 upon the altars of Osiris, and the voluptuous84 Gr鎐o-Romans of Pompeii built a temple to Isis. Yet always and everywhere the Grecians and the Romans sought conspicuous situations for the temples of the gods; they felt, as did our Pilgrim Fathers, who planted their meeting-houses on the windiest hills of New England, that the deity85 was most honored when the house of his worship was most visible to men; but the Egyptians, on the contrary, buried the magnificence of their temples within wall around wall, and permitted not a hint of their splendor to the world outside. It is worth while to notice also that the Assyrians did not share the contemporary reticence86 of the Egyptians, but built their altars and temples high above the plain in pyramidal stages; and if we may judge by this platform at Ba'albek, the Phoenicians did not imitate the exclusive spirit of the Pharaonic worshippers.
We lingered, called again and again by the impatient dragoman, in this fascinating spot, amid the visible monuments of so many great races, bearing the marks of so many religious revolutions, and turned away with slow and reluctant steps, as those who abandon an illusion or have not yet thought out some suggestion of the imagination. We turned also with reluctance87 from a real illusion of the senses. In the clear atmosphere the ridge of Lebanon was startlingly near to us; the snow summit appeared to overhang Ba'albek as Vesuvius does Pompeii; and yet it is half a day's journey across the plain to the base of the mountain, and a whole day's journey from these ruins to the summit. But although this illusion of distance did not continue as we rode down the valley, we had on either hand the snow ranges all day, making by contrast with the brilliant colors of the plain a lovely picture.
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1
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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23
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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divans
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| n.（可作床用的）矮沙发( divan的名词复数 )；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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33
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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delta
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| n.（流的）角洲 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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45
recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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frieze
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| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
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50
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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perpetuating
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| perpetuate的现在进行式 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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palatable
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| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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64
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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incite
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| v.引起，激动，煽动 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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72
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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spinal
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| adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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75
trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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80
edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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81
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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82
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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83
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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84
voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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85
deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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86
reticence
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| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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