206 MYSTERIOUS ENERGIES. of seventeen English miles is intended to include all the suburbs and immediate dependencies of Tyre,-perhaps those little suburban settlements called in Ezekiel "the daughters" of Tyre "which are in the fields." (xxvi. 6.) By reference to the context of Pliny it will be seen that he is attempting to present the reader with a contrast between the present state of Tyre and its former greatness, in which case he would naturally include all that belonged in any way to the ancient city. What a magnificent view from the heights east of Tyre must have presented itself in the time of Solomon to the spectator, as he gazed upon that city, stretching over two and a half miles of the richest plain in Syria, which now, in scattered remnants, shows only a few arches and foundations and heaps of massive columns and capitals,—the few that are left to certify to the almost incredible story of its former magnificence! These feeble ruins, which speak as it were only in whispers, are just sufficient to lead the traveller to the thought that naught but supernatural design and mysterious energies could have swept so thoroughly from the surface of this plain and island the remains of so much grandeur. It would seem as though, in the words of the Scriptures, the dust "had been scraped from off the rock" into the water and crevices around; and even the remaining fragments are slowly disappearing. THE AQUEDUCT. 207 CHAPTER IX. VISIT TO THE INTERIOR-THE CASTLE OF TIBNIN. FROM Tyre we would have pursued our course along the coast, but at this season the brooks are overflowing; and we immediately entered upon the interior, according to our previous plan, as we expected to return by the coast. Entering the city, we found our company prepared for leaving; and at a few minutes past twelve o'clock we pass out, having the ranges of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon plainly before us. As we ride almost due east, we have on the left the remains of the ancient aqueduct for nearly if not quite one mile from the gate, at which distance is the little Tell Ma'shûk, with ruins; and at this place it connects with a branch running to the north; but the main aqueduct, running suddenly to the south, becomes almost level with the ground, from an undulation in the plain itself. Nearer the city there are three arches complete, averaging sixteen feet in height, on the top of which the water ran in a gutter in some places about four feet wide and five feet deep. The gutter is smaller than formerly, on account of concretionary deposits. Near this spot (at Ma'shûk) is a perfect arch completely 208 MAGNIFICENT VIEW OF TYRE. covered with stalactite formations, having the form of icicles after an overflow, reaching completely to the ground, and of the same color as the stone,—a dark brown. At ten minutes before one o'clock we ascended a high ridge, from which, near the summit, a most comprehensive and interesting view of Tyre was ob tained. The fragments of the aqueduct, the hill Ma'shûk, with its tombs, about a mile off, toward the right, then the mole or neck of land formed by Alexander, extending out to the island, which is only half covered by the city with its single minaret, and between which and the shore is a sand-drift, each may be seen in the view given on the opposite page. To the left, under a little undulation, is Ras el Ain; and to the distant right of the island is the present harbor, with a few vessels. The remains of the cathedral, of which we have spoken, can be seen on the extreme left of the city. Here were deposited the remains of Origen, the celebrated writer and father of the early Church, and afterward those of the emperors. We now ride along a ridge for a short distance, in sight of several small villages, and passing on the right the Kabr Hairan' (tomb of Hiram) and Kana, supposed by Dr. Robinson to be the ancient KANAH of Asher. Passing down the ridge, at thirteen minutes before two o'clock we come to the brink of a hill overlooking This is a tomb on a pedestal, standing free, like those at Assos, Thasos, and also before the gate of Platæa, along the road to Thebes. Tombs of Rhenea, Bull. d'Inst., 1830, p. 9. See Ancient Art and its Remains, by C. O. Müller; new edition by F. C. Welcker, from the German, London, 1852. 2 Joshua xix. 28. |