Ruins of Ancient Cities Part 9

To the north of the Mujelibe there are no ruins of any importance. A few low mounds, however, are observed, occurring at intervals, on each side of the road from Hillah to Bagdad; but they are of an insignificant character, and, from their situation, they are supposed to have been burying-places outside the city, rather than buildings within its walls.

The Mujelibe is supposed to have been a Babylonian mausoleum, rather than a temple of wors.h.i.+p. In respect to the other ruins, it is probable that the Kasr and adjacent mounds are the remains of the royal palace, with its hanging gardens, enclosed with the circular mound, which formed the outer wall of the palace mentioned by Herodotus, and described more in detail by Diodorus.

Two or three miles upwards from the river, are the remains of what have, hitherto, been considered remains of ca.n.a.ls. A recent traveller[131], however, seems inclined to believe, that they are the remains of streets. His reasoning is probable. Ca.n.a.ls would go all one way; but most of these cross each other at right angles, with immense s.p.a.ces of open and level ground on each side of them.

We are now to note something in regard to what appears on the west side of the Euphrates. "The loose and inaccurate accounts of some modern travellers," says Mr. Rich, "have misled D'Anville and Rennell into the belief of there being considerable ruins on the western side of the river, similar to those on the eastern." This, however, does not appear to be the case; that is, near to the river. But although there are none in the immediate neighbourhood, by far the most stupendous and surprising ma.s.s of all the ruins of Babylon is situated on this side, about six miles from Hillah. This is the tower of Babel, otherwise the temple of Belus. It is called by the Arabs, _Birs Nemroud_; by the Jews Nebuchadnezzar's Prison. The shape of this vast ruin is oblong, having the appearance of a fallen or decayed pyramid. It is two thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet in compa.s.s at the base; and, on the west side, it rises conically to the height of one hundred and ninety-eight feet. "I visited the Birs," says Mr. Rich, "under circ.u.mstances peculiarly favourable to grandeur of effect. The morning was at first stormy, and threatened a severe fall of rain; but, as we approached the object of our journey, the heavy clouds separating, discovered the Birs frowning over the plain, and presenting the appearance of a circular hill, crowned by a tower, with a high ridge extending along the foot of it. It being entirely concealed from our view, during the first part of our ride, prevented our acquiring the gradual idea, in general so prejudicial to effect, and so particularly lamented by those who visit the pyramids. Just as we were within the proper distance, it burst at once upon our sight, in the midst of rolling ma.s.ses of thick black clouds, partially obscured by that kind of haze whose indistinctness is one great cause of sublimity; whilst a few strong catches of stormy light, thrown upon the desert in the back ground, served to give some idea of the immense extent, and dreary solitude, of the wastes in which this remarkable ruin stands."

Two stages of building are visible on the eastern side. The lowest is sixty feet high, and is broken in the middle by a deep ravine, and intersected on all sides by channels, made by the winter rains. The summit of this first stage was once flat; but it is no longer so; its margin having crumbled down so as to give this side the appearance of a cone. The second stage rises above the first, also, in a conical form, but much more steep; the summit being marked by a perpendicular fragment of brick work; which is probably the base of the third stage.

On the west side, the structure rises at once from the plain like a pyramid; the face being broken in different directions, partly by the torrents, and partly by what seems to have been some convulsion of nature. At the foot of the northern side, vast ma.s.ses of solid brick-work are scattered over the rubbish. The building is seen to most advantage to the south; for on that side it is by far the most perfect.

The tower there rises by high and distinct stages (four), receding one within another, in proportion to their respective elevations. "Here is a ruin," says an elegant writer, "corresponding, in a most surprising degree, with the tower of Belus, as described by Herodotus. The total circ.u.mference of the base is two thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet instead of one thousand nine hundred and sixty, the square of a stadium. The east and west sides remain of the original breadth nearly, and a greater portion of rubbish from the top crumbled down upon their sides, the north and south are thereby elongated; the present height of the ruin, to the top of the wall, is two hundred and thirty-five feet--less than one-half of the original height--consequently the _debris_ round the base might be expected to be much more considerable, so as to make the circ.u.mference of the base greater than it appears to be. But it must be remembered, that Alexander the Great, when he took possession of Babylon, after the defeat of Darius, employed ten thousand men for two months in removing the rubbish, preparatory to removing the tower[132]. It is probable they had only cleared the south side, before the work was abandoned; which would account for the south face being more perfect than any of the others. If we add to this, that vast quant.i.ties of the bricks have been taken away by the natives of the country, for building modern towns, the circ.u.mstance that the base so little exceeds the dimensions, given by Herodotus, will no longer appear unaccountable."

On Sir Robert Ker Porter's second visit to the Birs Nimrod, his party descried several dark objects moving along the summit of its hill, which they construed into dismounted Arabs on the look out, while their armed brethren were lying concealed under the southern brow of the mound.

"Thinking this very probable," says Sir Robert, "I took out my gla.s.s to examine, and soon distinguished that the causes of our alarm were two or three majestic lions, taking the air upon the height of the pyramid.

Perhaps I had never seen so sublime a picture to the mind, as well as to the eye. They were a species of enemy which my party were accustomed to dread without any panic fear; and while we continued to advance, though slowly, the hallooing of the people made the n.o.ble beasts gradually change their position, till, in the course of twenty minutes, they totally disappeared." The party then rode close to the ruins, every now and then observing the broad prints of feet the lions had left in the soil. This naturally brought to Sir Robert's recollection that part of the scriptures, wherein it is said, "Wild beasts of the desert shall be there."

At a short distance from the Birs, and parallel with its eastern face, is a mound, not inferior to that of the Kasr in elevation, but much longer than it is broad. "On the top of it are two oratories," says Mr.

Rich. "One, called Mekam Ibrahim Khalib, and said to be the place where Ibrahim was thrown into the fire by order of Nemroud, who surveyed the scene from the Birs; the other, which is in ruins, Makam Saheb Zeman; but to what part of Mehdy's life it relates, I am ignorant."

"They call it," says Sir R. Ker Porter, "'Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. The lady of kingdoms, given to pleasure, that dwelleth carelessly, and sayeth in her heart, _I am,_ and there is none else beside me!' But now, in the same expressive language, we may say, 'She sits as a widow on the ground. There is no more a throne for thee, O daughter of the Chaldeans!' And for the abundance of the country, it has vanished as clean away as if 'the besom of desolation' had, indeed, swept it from north to south; the whole land, from the outskirts of Bagdad to the farthest stretch of the sight, lying a melancholy corpse."

Round the Birs are traces of ruins to a considerable extent; and near the town of Hillah there are several remarkable places; but as they do not bear any very particular relation to Babylon, we here close our account, entirely agreeing with Mr. Rich, that it is evident, from what remains of that celebrated city, and even from the most favourable account handed down to us, that the public edifices which adorned it were remarkable more for vastness of dimensions than elegance of design, and solidity of fabric than beauty of execution.

Though Babylon has universally been considered as the largest city that ever existed on the earth, there are some and even very good reasons to believe, that it was never so large as Nineveh. "It was intended, indeed," says one of the historians, "that Babylon should have exceeded Nineveh in every thing; but Nebuchadnezzar did not live long enough, nor the Babylonish empire last long enough, to finish the scheme that had been drawn of it." The houses were not contiguous, but all built with a void s.p.a.ce on each side between house and house, so that the larger part was not built upon. The houses of Nineveh, however, were contiguous.

Nineveh, also, had a greater population; for, in the time of Jonah, it had one hundred and twenty thousand souls, "who could nor did not know their right hand from their left." That is, one hundred and twenty thousand infants[133]. But though Nineveh was the oldest city and the largest, Babylon has in all subsequent ages enjoyed the greatest celebrity[134].

[Ill.u.s.tration: Balbec.]

NO. XVIII.--BALBEC.

Those ruined shrines and towers, that seem The relics of a splendid dream; Amid whose fairy loveliness Nought but the lapwing's cry is heard; Nought seen but (when the shadows, flitting Fast from the moon, unsheath its gleam) Some purple-winged SULTANA[135] sitting Upon a column motionless, And glittering like an idol bird.

But nought can charm the luckless Peri; Her soul is sad--her wings are weary-- Joyless she sees the sun go down On that great temple, once her own[136]; Whose lonely columns stand sublime, Flinging their shadows from on high, Like dials, which the wizard, Time, Had raised to count his ages by.

These lines lead us to some beautiful observations by Sir John Malcolm:--

"Among the traces of a great nation's former glory," says he, "there is none upon which the mind dwells with more serious thought than on the magnificent ruins of its ancient palaces. How forcibly are we reminded of our condition, when told that an edifice, in the erection of which a kingdom's wealth had been exhausted; which was adorned with every ornament that the art of the world could supply, and whose history was engraven on the imperishable rocks with which it was constructed, was not only fallen into decay, but that its founder was unknown, and the language in which its history was inscribed was no longer numbered among the tongues of man!" These observations are peculiarly applicable to the present state of Balbec.

This city stood in the road between Tyre and Palmyra; its history is, nevertheless, so lost in obscurity, that, considering the splendour and magnificence of its remains, we are astonished! Scarcely any thing of its history is known; and even its existence appears to have been unknown for many centuries to the Romans.

Tradition states that it was built by Solomon; and for the truth of this the Jews quote the following pa.s.sage from the Book of Chronicles[137]:--"Also he (Solomon) built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fencied cities, with walls, gates, and bars; and _Baal-ath_."

For the greater confirmation, it is thought that Balbec is meant when Solomon says--"the tower of Lebanon, that looketh towards Damascus." The Arabs go even so far as to a.s.sert, that this city was built by the king as a residence for the Queen of Sheba; and Sir William Ouseley quotes a pa.s.sage, wherein it is mentioned that a tradition in Persian implies, that Solomon often pa.s.sed his day at Balbec, and his night at Istakr.

The names Heliopolis and Balbec are words of different languages, which have nearly the same signification. The sun was wors.h.i.+pped by the ancient inhabitants of the country, under the name of Baal. Balbec signifies the vale of Baal; and Heliopolis the city of the sun.

That Balbec derived, not only its religion, but its very name, from Heliopolis in Egypt, is rendered certain by a pa.s.sage in Macrobius:--"In the city called Heliopolis, the a.s.syrians wors.h.i.+p the sun with great pomp, under the name of the Heliopolitan Jove; and the statue of this G.o.d was brought from a city in Egypt, also called Heliopolis, where Senumens or Senepos reigned over the Egyptians, by Opios, amba.s.sador from Delebor, king of the a.s.syrians, together with some Egyptian priests, of whom Partemetis was the chief, and it remained long among the a.s.syrians before it was removed to Heliopolis."

The same author adds, "that he declines giving the reason for this fact, or telling how the statue was afterwards brought to the place, where in his time it was wors.h.i.+pped, more according to the a.s.syrian than the Egyptian rites, as circ.u.mstances foreign to his purpose."

As Balbec has never been the seat of a monarch, antiquaries are greatly at a loss to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structures could have been supplied by private or munic.i.p.al liberality. The orientals, however, explain the prodigy by a never-failing expedient,--they were constructed by the fairies or genii!

That these temples did not exist when Pompey went through Heliopolis to Damascus is probable, because the writers of that time, who mention less remarkable structures with admiration, take no notice of any such building; and it is certain that they did exist in the time of Caracalla; because Heliopolis is to be seen on many of his coins; and vows in favour of him and his empress are recorded in two inscriptions, the remains of which are still to be seen on the pedestals of the columns of the great portico of the temple.

That Heliopolis was const.i.tuted a colony by Augustus Caesar, is rendered probable, by some medals which still remain, and in which it is called, "Colonia Julia Augusta;" but it was not till the time of Septimius Severus that the temple was impressed on the reverse of the coins.

When we consider the extraordinary magnificence of the temple of Balbec, we cannot but be greatly surprised at the silence of the Greek and Roman authors in respect to it. Mr. Wood, who has carefully examined all the ancient authors, has found no mention of it, except in a fragment of John of Antioch, surnamed Malala, who attributes the building of it to Antoninus Pius. His words are:--"aelius Antoninus Pius[138] built a great temple at Heliopolis, near Liba.n.u.s, in Phoenicia, which was one of the wonders of the world." Some Roman medals also have been found, upon the reverse of which is a representation something similar to those temples, with the inscription:--COLONIA HELIOPOLITANA JOVI OPTIMO MAXIMO HELIOPOLITANO.

One circ.u.mstance, however, militates against the idea that Antoninus Pius was the builder of these temples; viz., that Julius Capitolinus says nothing about them, though he gives a list of that emperor's buildings, and speaks of others of much less consideration. It must, however, be remembered, that the work of Julius Capitolinus is known to be so extremely defective, that though Antoninus reigned one-and-twenty years, and transmitted to posterity the character of one of the best princes that ever ruled, yet the particulars, that merited such extraordinary praise, are utterly unknown.

Gibbon thus remarks upon the different fortunes of Balbec and Emesa:--"Among the cities which are enumerated by Greek and oriental names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish EMESA and HELIOPOLIS; the former as a metropolis of the plain; the latter as the metropolis of the valley. Under the last of the Caesars they were strong and populous; the turrets glittered from afar; an ample s.p.a.ce was covered with public and private buildings; and the citizens were ill.u.s.trious by their spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In the days of paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to the wors.h.i.+p of Baal, or the sun: but the decline of their superst.i.tion or splendour has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of Mount Liba.n.u.s; while the ruins of Balbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of European travellers."

In the reign of Heraclius its garrison was strengthened, that it might be enabled to withstand the Arabs; and when Christianity gained the ascendancy under Constantine, he shut up many pagan temples; but it was Theodosius, who converted its temple into a Christian church, the walls of which are still standing. The conversion of it into a fortress was the work of the Caliphs, when this part of the world fell under the government of the Caliphs, called the Ommiades; an incurious and therefore an ignorant race, during whose time nothing is recorded of Balbec, although it was then a considerable city. The ancient name, Balbec, during this time was restored, instead of Heliopolis, which was probably a translation of Balbec, or at least subst.i.tuted for it, when it pa.s.sed out of the possession of its own native oriental inhabitants.

In Ebn Haukal's[139] oriental geography, Balbec is mentioned thus:--"Beyond the borders of Demeshk is Baalbek, situated on an eminence. Here are the gates of palaces, sculptured in marble; and lofty columns, also of marble. In the whole region of Syria there is not a more stupendous or considerable edifice than this[140]."

The approach to this ruined city is thus described by Mr. Bruce:--"The form of Mount Liba.n.u.s, as seen from the plain of Bekka, is this: first, a range of mountains, extremely proper for culture, and of no considerable height, sloping easily to the plain, and covered with trees that are not very thickly planted. On the other side of these rises a chain of mountains of an extraordinary height, bare for the most part, and stony, cut in every rain, and covered with snow, except in summer.

Thus they continue till they descend much more steeply on the other side towards the sea. The valleys within this high chain of mountains, which on one side run parallel with the sea-coast, and on the other form the east side of the plain of Bekka, are mostly narrow; but abundantly fertile, were they in the hands of better people, under a better government; industry being here always followed by oppression."

Mr. Carne describes his arrival thus:--"The sun set on the vast temple, and the mountains around it, with indescribable grandeur; the chain of Anti-Liba.n.u.s, in front, was covered with snow; and the plain, wild and beautiful, stretched at its feet farther than the eye can reach: the pigeons, of many-coloured plumage, flew in cl.u.s.ters round the ruined walls, at whose feet were a variety of trees and flowers, amidst which ran a clear and rapid stream."

We now pa.s.s to Mons. La Martine:--"On reaching the summit of the breach, we knew not where to fix our eyes. On every side we beheld marble doors of prodigious dimensions, windows and niches, bordered with exquisite sculpture, richly ornamented arches, fragments of cornices, entablatures, and capitals. The master-work of art; the wrecks of ages, lay scattered as thickly as the grains of dust beneath our feet. All was mystery, confusion, inexplicable wonder. No sooner had we cast an admiring glance on one side, than some new prodigy attracted us on the others. Every attempt, we made to interpret the religious meaning of the monuments, was immediately defeated by some newly-discerned object. We frequently groped about in this labyrinth of conjecture. One cannot restrict, in one's fancy, the sacred edifices of an age, or a people of whose religion or manners nothing certain can be known. Time carries his secrets away with him, and leaves his enigmas as sports for human knowledge. We speedily renounced all our attempts to build any system out of these ruins; we were content to gaze and admire, without comprehending any thing beyond the colossal power of human genius; and the strength of religious feeling, which had moved such ma.s.ses of stone, and wrought so many master-pieces."

The ruins of Balbec do not present a crowd of fallen edifices, spread over a large extent, like those of Palmyra; they consist only of three distinct buildings, which stand not far from each other, in a plain at a short distance from the inhabited part of the town. As in the instance of Palmyra, where we shall have to make a similar remark, it is impossible to convey an adequate idea of these works of art, without the accompaniments of plates[141]. We adopt, therefore, an abstract of the account of M. Volney, since his description is, perhaps, the best that we have:--"In entering the princ.i.p.al gate, which faces the mountain on the east, we come to an hexagonal court, which is one hundred and eighty feet in diameter. This is strewed with broken columns, mutilated capitals, and the remains of entablatures and cornices. Around it is a row of ruined edifices, which display all the ornaments of the richest architecture. On pa.s.sing through this court towards the west, we enter a large square, three hundred and fifty feet wide, and three hundred and thirty-three in length. Along each side of this court runs a sort of gallery, divided into various compartments, seven of which may be reckoned in each of the princ.i.p.al wings. It is not easy to conceive the use of this part of the structure; but it does not diminish our admiration at the beauty of the pilasters, and the richness of the frieze and entablature; neither is it possible to avoid remarking the singular effect which results from the mixture of the garlands, the large foliage of the capitals, and the sculpture of wild plants, with which they are every where ornamented. At the west end of this court stand six enormous columns, which appear to be totally unconnected with the rest of the building. On a more attentive examination, however, we discover a series of foundations, which seem to mark out the peristyle of a grand temple, to which these columns belonged. Poc.o.c.ke supposes this temple never to have been finished. We must examine them narrowly before we can conceive all the boldness of the elevation, and the richness of their workmans.h.i.+p. Their shafts are twenty-one feet eight inches in circ.u.mference, and fifty-eight high; so that the total height, including the entablature, is from seventy-one to seventy-two feet.

These six pillars are all that now remain of twenty-four[142].

The southern side of the grand temple has, at some distant period, been blocked up to build a smaller one, the peristyle and walls of which are still remaining. This temple presents a side of thirteen columns by eight in front, which, like all the rest of the ruins, are of the Corinthian order[143]. To reach the smaller temple from the larger one, you must cross trunks of columns, heaps of stone, and a ruinous wall.

After surmounting these obstacles, you arrive at the gate, where you may survey the enclosure, which was once the habitation of a G.o.d; but instead of the awful scene of a prostrate people, and sacrifices offered by a mult.i.tude of priests, the sky, which is open from the falling in of the roof, only lets in light to show a chaos of ruins covered with dust and weeds. The walls, which supported the roof, are thirty-one feet high, and without a window. There are tablets in the form of lozenges, on which are represented Jupiter seated on his eagle, Leda caressed by the swan, Diana with her bow and crescent, and several busts which seem to be figures of emperors and empresses.

The number of lizards to be seen is so great, that Mr. Bruce says, that those he saw one day in the great court of the temple of the sun amounted to many thousands; the ground, the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings being covered with them. Besides these two, there is a smaller temple of very great beauty. The building itself, exclusive of the pillars, by which it is surrounded, is only thirty-two feet in diameter; and the height is divided into two parts, in the lower of which the architecture is Ionic, and in the higher Corinthian. The grace and lightness of the exterior of this edifice has induced several competent critics to call it "a perfect gem of art."

In respect to the six columns, "In order to reach them," says M. de La Martine, "we had to pa.s.s external boundary walls, high pedestals, terraces, and foundations of altars. At length we arrived at the feet of the columns. Silence is the only language of man, when what he feels outstrips the ordinary measure of his impressions. We stood in mute contemplation of these six columns, and scanning with our eyes their diameter, their elevation, and the admirable sculpture of their architraves and cornices. Their diameter is six feet, and their height upwards of seventy-two. They are formed out of two or three blocks, which are so perfectly joined together, that the junction lines are scarcely discernible[144]. They are composed of light yellow stone, presenting a sort of medium between the polish of marble and the deadness of turf. When near them, the sun lighted them only on one side, and we sat down for a few moments in their shade. Large birds, like eagles, scared by the sound of our footsteps, fluttered above the capitals of the columns, where they have built their nests; and returning, perched upon the acanthus of the columns, striking them with their beaks, and flapping their wings like living ornaments, amidst these inanimate wonders, all of which appear to resemble works of dwarfs."

Branching off to the southward of the _avenue_, you come to the stumps of some fluted columns sticking above the sand on either side of a small simple gateway; and a few paces to the westward, on an eminence, are the ruins of the small temple just now mentioned; and from thence is enjoyed the magnificent _coup-d'oeil_ of all the ruins and the vast desert.

Beyond the circular colonnade lie the prostrate remains of a very magnificent building, constructed of a species of marble superior to the generality of that used in these ruins. The walls are constructed of large single stones, nicely fitted one above another. Richly ornamented windows extend around the walls, and some columns of one entire piece, twenty-two feet in length and about nine in circ.u.mference, lie prostrate on the ground.

"About fifty yards distant from the temple," says Mr. Maundrell, "is a row of Corinthian pillars, very great and lofty, with a most stately architrave and cornice at the top. This speaks itself to have been part of some very august pile; but what one now sees of it is but just enough to give a regret, that there should be no more remaining. Here is another curiosity of this place, which a man need be well a.s.sured of his credit, before he ventures to relate, lest he should be thought to strain the privilege of a traveller too far. That which I mean is a large piece of an old wall, which encompa.s.ses all these structures last described. A wall made of such monstrous great stones, that the natives hereabouts, (as it is usual in things of this strange nature,) ascribe it to the architecture of the devil. Three of the stones, which were larger than the rest, we took the pains to measure. We found them to extend sixty-one yards in length; one twenty-one; the other two each twenty yards; and in the breadth of the same dimensions. These three stones lay in one and the same row to the end; the rest of the wall was made also of great stones, but none I think so great as these. That which added to the wonder was, that these stones were lifted up into the wall more than twenty feet from the ground."

Besides these ruins, there are several very large subterraneous pa.s.sages, which lead under the great citadel, immense vaults of very ma.s.sive architecture, constructed in a very beautiful manner. Some of these, no doubt, were tombs; and this leads us to remember, that Mr.

Browne says[145], that when he was at Zahhle, he met with a young man, a Druse, who told him, that near Balbec, a few years ago, in digging, the body of a man was found interred in a kind of vault, having a piece of unstamped gold in his mouth; near him a number of leaden plates marked with characters, to them unknown. These were sold and melted. La Martine says, that not far from Balbec, in a valley of the Anti-Liba.n.u.s, human bones of immense magnitude have been discovered; and that this fact is so confidently believed among the neighbouring Arabs, that the English consul in Syria (Mr. Farren), a man of extensive information, proposes to visit those mysterious sepulchres.

The walls of the ancient Heliopolis are traceable in many directions, and show that the city must have been of a very considerable extent.