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[Floor plan and diagram of architectural detail of temple at Arâk il-Emîr. Detailed measurements given.]
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of the cella consisted of a solid wall broken only by the doors leading into the angle chambers which in turn may have opened upon the southern portico.
The plan of the interior is difficult to determine without extensive excavations which would be rendered very labourious by the [numerous] [dissections] of the building stones. It is apparent that, at least in one place, short walls projected from the side walls which terminated in half columns, very much in the style of the temple at Bassai.
There are now remains of the partition walls dividing the cellar into compartments. These are constructed of small blocks rather poorly laid and plausibly belonging to a period far later than that of the temple itself. They may belong even to the early Saracenic period of which there are few other signs in this ruin.
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Last edit 9 months ago by LrhudginsBSY_FB_18_007
Details. The details show a mixture of what may be termed Phoenician massiveness and Persian ornament with a distinct style of Hellenistic art.
The colossal dimensions of the coursing suggest the megalithic remains at Ba'albek for many of the blocks are more than one third of the size of those well known megaliths. The drafted edges of these blocks are similar to those of the great blocks on the foundations of the temple of Jerusalem. The great freize of lion figures in relief is Persian in sentiment; but the string course below it is a Greek form of cornice with corona and dentils though the spaces between the dentils are simple [splay] faces and the spacing is not according to the classic canon. (compare disarticulations of tomb of Darius)
Within the temple, outside the South end and near the North end are capitals