slipped down, no doubt from the
shock of an earthquake, and hangs within six inches of the bottom of the
two blocks which uphold it on either side. When it falls, the whole
entablature of the portal will be destroyed. On its lower side is an eagle
with outspread wings, and on the side-stones a genius with garlands of
flowers, exquisitely sculptured in bas relief. Hidden among the wreaths of
vines which adorn the jambs are the laughing heads of fauns. This portal
was a continual study to me, every visit revealing new refinements of
ornament, which I had not before observed. The interior of the temple,
with its rich Corinthian pilasters, its niches for statues, surmounted by
pediments of elegant design, and its elaborate cornice, needs little aid
of the imagination to restore it to its original perfection. Like that of
Dendera, in Egypt, the Temple of the Sun leaves upon the mind an
impression of completeness which makes you forget far grander remains.

But the most wonderful thing at Baalbec is the foundation platform upon
which the temples stand. Even the colossal fabrics of Ancient Egypt
dwindle before this superhuman masonry. The platform itself, 1,000 feet
long, and averaging twenty feet in height, suggests a vast mass of stones,
but when you come to examine the single blocks of which it is composed,
you are crushed with their incredible bulk. On the western side is a row
of eleven foundation stones, each of which is thirty-two feet in length,
twelve in height, and ten in thickness, forming a wall three hundred and
fifty-two feet long! But while you are walking on, thinking of the art
which cut and raised these enormous blocks, you turn the southern corner
and come upon _three_ stones, the united length of which is _one hundred
and eighty-seven feet_--two of them being sixty-two and the other
sixty-three feet in length! There they are, cut with faultless exactness,
and so smoothly joined to each other, that you cannot force a cambric
needle into the crevice. There is one joint so perfect that it can only be
discerned by the minutest search; it is not even so perceptible as the
junction of two pieces of paper which have been pasted together. In the
quarry, there still lies a finished block, ready for transportation, which
is sixty-seven feet in length. The weight of one of these masses has been
reckoned at near 9,000 tons, yet they do not form the base of the
foundation, but are raised upon other courses, fifteen feet