doorways, and the friezes, which abound at Baalbec. The foundations of
the great temple are themselves entitled to rank with the pyramids
among the wonders of the world, being raised twenty feet above the
level of the ground, and have in them stones of one solid mass ninety
feet long, eighteen feet wide, and thirteen feet thick.

The main attractions, however, are the three temples or main chambers.
The first, which may be called the great temple, consists of a
peristyle, of which only six columns remain, two courts and a portico
are standing on an artificial platform, nearly thirty feet high, and
having vaults underneath. Beneath the whole platform is an immense
court of two hundred feet across; it is a hexagon or nearly round
shape. It is accessible by a vaulted passage, which leads to a triplet
gateway, with deep mouldings, which opens into the first court.

The great court is 440 feet long by 370 feet wide, and has on each of
its sides niches and columns, which, even in their ruins, are
magnificent.

The two sides exactly correspond with each other, but the south is in
better condition than the other. These niches have columns in front of
them in the style of the hexagon, with chambers at the angles of the
great court or square. The visitor entering through the portico,
and passing into the great court, has before him on the opposite side
(the west) of the court, the Great Temple originally dedicated to
Baal. This was a magnificent peristyle measuring 290 feet by 160 feet,
with nineteen huge columns on each side, and ten on each end, making
fifty-eight in all. The circumference of these columns at the base is
twenty-three feet and two inches, and at the top twenty feet; and
their height, including base and capital, was seventy-five feet, while
over this was the entablature fourteen feet more. In the walls of the
foundation are seen those enormous stones, some ninety feet in length;
others, sixty-four, sixty-three, sixty-two, etc., and all from
thirteen to eighteen feet wide, and very frequently thirteen feet
thick. These stones mark the extent of a platform of unknown
antiquity, but far older than the peristyle temple, and it is from
this that the temple took its early date and name. It is probable that
the great stones lying in the adjoining quarry were intended for it,
as the temple at that date seems to have been left unfinished.

[Illustration: Engraved & Printed by Illman Brothers
TEMPLE OF KARNAC.