. The Open court. bevel. Such stones as these have been foundon both sides of the river, and no one place in particular has beenknown as the source of the supply. In the fall of the year 1900, a number of these stones were un-covered, on the hillside just above the south bank of the owner of the land had his workmen dig away the surface of 68 THE OPEN COURT. the ground at this point, with the result that they soon uncoveredpart of a large wall, built of limestone blocks nearly cubical inshape, the edges generally measuring from three to four blocks he proceeded to remove a
. The Open court. bevel. Such stones as these have been foundon both sides of the river, and no one place in particular has beenknown as the source of the supply. In the fall of the year 1900, a number of these stones were un-covered, on the hillside just above the south bank of the owner of the land had his workmen dig away the surface of 68 THE OPEN COURT. the ground at this point, with the result that they soon uncoveredpart of a large wall, built of limestone blocks nearly cubical inshape, the edges generally measuring from three to four blocks he proceeded to remove and dispose of in the usualmanner, cutting them up to be used as building stones. A secondsimilar wall was found near by, and this one also he began to taketo pieces. While this was going on, a workman who was removing theblocks from one of the walls came upon one with an inscribed removing this, another, similarly inscribed, was found; thenothers, until five in all had come to light. In that region, every. Upper Wall, Looking East. day-laborer, however ignorant, knows that a hajar biktibi, or in-scribed stone, is a valuable find, and also that it is a dangerouspossession; so these were promptly disposed of, presumably tomen who had had more experience in dealing with such contrabandgoods. The inscribed faces were sawn off and carried away bynight on camel back. The price at which the workmen sold them,I was told, was a mejidi (less than a dollar) apiece. Happening to be in Sidon not long after these events, I heardthe news of the recent find, and lost no time in visiting the had also the good fortune to get sight of one of the inscriptions. THE REMAINS OF A PHOENICIAN TEMPLE. 69 As for the ruin which had been unearthed, it consisted, first, ofa portion of a massive wall from which the earth had been partlycleared away on both sides. This was a double wall (and thusabout seven feet in thickness), all of whose blocks were large, ofabout the same size, and nicely s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
