CHAPTER XI. PALMYRA.-VALLEY OF THE TOMBS.-TOMB OF IAMBLICHUS. TOMB OF ELABELUS MANAIUS.-ANTIENT WALLS.THE SARACENIC CASTLE.-HOT SPRINGS.-ANTIENT BATHS. THE PALMYRENE INSCRIPTIONS. STONE DOORWAY. CITADEL.-THE GRAND AREA OF THE TEMPLE.-GROTTO OF HOT WATER. THUNDER-STORM.- GREAT DESERT. PLAIN OF SALT. - VILLAGE OF TADMOR. SIONS. LAST IMPRES "the ground, League beyond league, like one great cemetery, ROGERS. Nov. 1st. We walked across the sands to the Valley of the Tombs, the most interesting of all the ruins. These solitary towers crowning the eminences have, from every point of view, a most striking effect. As you wind up a narrow valley between the mountain range, you have them on your right and left, topping the hills or descending to the border of the valley: some present mere VALLEY OF THE TOMBS. 305 heaps of rubbish, some, half fallen, expose their shattered chambers, and one or two still exist in almost an entire state of preservation. We visited seven of these sepulchral monuments, but I shall confine my description to two of the handsomest and most perfect. The first and most perfect monument stands slightly elevated on the side of the sloping eminence which hems in the valley to the south; it is surrounded by five others much ruined. The front is entire and looks towards the north, but a portion of the side wall has tumbled, and has accumulated round the doorway, filling up the entrance to about half its height; some small narrow windows are pierced in the wall, and over the top of the portal are some raised tablets of stone, on the lowest of which is the following Greek inscription, plainly and intelligibly engraved. It requires some contrivance, however, to be able to get near enough to the elevated tablet to make out the letters, and some little patience in transcribing it, as the letters run one into the other without being separated into words. ΜΝΗΜΕΙΟΝ ΑΙΩΝΙΟΝ ΓΕΡΑΣ ΩΚΟΔΟΜΗΣΕΝ ΙΑΜΛΙΧΟΣ MOKEIMOY TOY KAI AKKAAEICOY TOY MAAIXOY EICTE ΕΑΥΤΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΥΙΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΕΓΓΟΝΟΥΣ ΕΤΟΥΣ ΔΙΤ ΜΗΝΙ ΞΑΝΔΙΚΩ VOL. II. X "This splendid and most durable monument Iamblichus, the son of Mocimus, the son of Acaleises, the son of Malichus, erected for himself, his children, and his posterity in the year 314, in the month of April." In all the Palmyrene inscriptions the letters CWE are used for E. . E., and there is a curious peculiarity observable with respect to the date, the letters being placed directly contrary to the Greek fashion. They must, as it will be observed, to be understood, be read the wrong way, that is, from the right hand to the left, A. I. T. 314. 4. 10. 300. The Palmyrenes, instead of following the Greeks in placing the letter denoting the largest number first, did exactly the reverse, as above. "The æra or account of years observed by the Palmyreneans in their inscriptions," remarks Mr. Edmund Halley, "is evidently that of Seleucus, called afterwards Dilcharnian, or Bicornis, by the Arabians, and by them kept in use till above 900 years after Christ, and not that of the death of Alexander."* The date 314, then, of the æra of Seleucus, will Philosophical Transactions, Lowthorpe's Abridgement, Vol. 3. TOMB OF IAMBLICHUS. 307 answer to about A.D. 2, consequently this sepulchral monument is about 1833 years old. Passing through the doorway, we find a long and lofty chamber, ornamented with Corinthian pilasters supporting a rich cornice; the stone ceiling is divided into squares, ornamented with white stars on a blue ground; between the pilasters are deep recesses, furnished each with five stone ledges for coffins, one over the other, and opposite the doorway, are four half figures sculptured in relief. A stone staircase leads from this chamber to another above of the same size, not so lofty, but possessing recesses, and shelves for coffins similarly arranged, the stones of the staircase are neatly fitted together, and there are in all five stories, each possessing a funereal chamber furnished with recesses and stone shelves for coffins; the topmost of these chambers is entirely ruined and has almost all fallen. From the strength of the walls and the powerfully adhesive nature of the cement, it appears as if the walls had been thrown down by violence. Passing onward nearly to the end of this silent solitary valley, hemmed in on either side by mountains and grey rocks, we come to the most magnificent of all these sepulchral towers. It stands on the northern side of the valley, and the entrance faces the south. Over the doorway is a species of arched niche, from which projects a stone ledge; on it lies a recumbent figure much mutilated, and just beneath, over the doorway, is a tablet of stone, upon which the following inscription is plainly and legibly engraved. TO MNHMEION EKTICAN EAABHAOC MANAIOC COXAIEIC MAAIXOC OYABAAAA@OY TOY MANNAIOY ΤΟΥ ΕΛΑΒΗΛΟΥ ΑΥΤΩ ΚΑΙ ΥΙΟΙΣ ΕΤΟΥΣ Δ. I. Υ. MHNOC EANAIKOY. "This monument Elabælus Manæus Cocchæus Malachus, the son of Waballathus, the son of Manæus, the son of Elabelus, built for himself and family in the year 414, in the month of April." Taking the letters A. I. T. to be 414 of the æra of Seleucus, it will answer to A.D. 102, consequently this monument is 1733 years of age. On entering the gateway we are struck with the magnificence and beauty of the internal decorations of the first chamber, and their wonderful state of preservation. Directly opposite the door is a recumbent figure, near the ceiling, similar to the figure over the exterior doorway; it is executed in high relief, and under it are two rows of half figures clothed in drapery, one over the other. Of the first row there are four remaining, and of |