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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD PALE.

The name of Pale, which has been generally applied to old Tyre, means a well; and is probably that mentioned by Josephus, who tells us on the authority of Menander, that in the days of Eululæus, king of Tyre, Salmanazar, king of Assyria, besieged Tyre for five years, and on returning to Nineveh, left a part of his army near the rivulets and aqueduct, (perhaps the fountains at Ras-el-ain,) to cut off the supply of water, and that then, "the Tyrians had no other water but what they procured from wells which they dug." We have thus a further confirmation of the existence of an aqueduct for supplying the ancient city with water; and afterwards a well, which is, in all likelihood, that which I have described as still to be found on the south-eastern side of the rock.

It seems strange, that Volney, who appears to know that this well was in the ancient city, should have placed Palæ Tyrus at the fountains; for he says, that "in order to secure the aqueduct, it was necessary that a number of inhabitants should settle there, and hence, the origin of Pale Tyrus."

Its position-Strabo informs us, that it was distant thirty stadia or about three miles from insular Tyre; this can only mean from the extreme end of both cities. Pliny says, that the compass of the two was nineteen miles, provided we include the old city; the very town itself taking up twenty-two stadia. Both those authorities wrote in the second century, and the city then existing must, therefore,

POSITION OF MARSHUK.

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have been Peninsular Tyre. This rock is rather more than a mile and a half from the present village; and if we include the peninsula and the city that once surrounded the rock, it will be nearly four miles from the point of the island; and as its ruins probably reached to the new city, the statement of Pliny will not appear to be greatly exaggerated. And were I allowed to offer a conjecture, I would add, that on this rock stood the famous temple of Hercules mentioned by Herodotus.

Several proofs from analogy might be cited, that rocks of this description were chosen as the neucei around which cities were built, from their affording a citadel or place of strength to the inhabitants, under shadow of which they could sit down in safety when the city was attacked, or on which, in time of peace, they could erect temples to their gods. Such natural citadels we see in Mount Sion, the Capitol, the Acropolis of Athens and of Corinth, of Argos and Mycenæ at Cario, and even at Joppa. The rock that I have described, was the only one on this plain whereon a citadel could be erected; and this will exactly express its name.

In confirmation of this view, we have also another proof from prophecy, where it says, that Tyre shall be utterly destroyed and never rebuilt.” This must, surely, apply to the continental city, as that on the peninsula has been often rebuilt, and

144

ACTION OF THE SAND.

still partly exists; while, not a single vestige of the original city remains, or can be discovered by the traveller. We can only conjecture its probable site and see that the prophetic predictions have been fully verified, for it has, indeed, become like to "the top of a rock." The expression of "never found again," will not at all interfere with or invalidate any attempt to fix its probable site; for, perhaps, of no city that history records, has there been so complete an obliteration as that of ancient Tyre; the sand now covering the greater part of where it stood. It is remarkable, how frequently this material has been used for thus wiping out cities from the face of the earth; -Babylon, Thebes, Memphis, Luxor, Carthage, ancient Alexandria, Jericho, Balbec, and Palmyra, have been all more or less invaded by this destroying agent, which though slower than the flame or the torrent is not the less sure and fatal.

The probable site of Palæ Tyrus may also be ascertained from its vicinity to the tombs. Perhaps, no one object serves more accurately to mark the site of an ancient city than its tombs. By them alone we could determine the topography of ancient Jerusalem, even if no modern city pointed out the spot. So, likewise, in the cities of Egypt, and at Telmessus, as well as at Latakia (the ancient Laodicea,) scarcely any thing else remains but the tombs to mark their sites. The sepulchral chambers were placed just outside these cities, and the con

struction of those I have described, as existing at Tyre, show the early date at which they were formed, and their situation determines the probable site of the old city, which, in all likelihood, extended thus far. Another means for determining the site of an ancient city is, the direction of its aqueducts. The fountains of Ras-el-ain are now, as no doubt they originally were, the principal, if not the only supply of water to Tyre. But, if the original city was situated either at these fountains or on the island, there would be no occasion to conduct the water in an aqueduct to this solitary rock, where it either ended, or was continued as far as the three great arches that rise up in the midst of the plain between it and the peninsula. Perhaps, after Palæ Tyrus was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar, instead of conducting the water to the port by a new aqueduct, the Tyrians merely extended the former one from the rock where we see it, forming something more than a right angle with that which conveyed the water to the peninsular city.

It is to be regretted, that more has not been done to explore the site of this great city, although, other places of less note and less interest have been made objects of untiring research.

Though Volney, in his description of ancient Tyre, has mixed up the different cities, yet he rightly conjectured that "its original situation must, therefore, have been on this rock." It

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THE MODERN TOWN.

remains in the same state in which he visited it in 1783-still"a terror and a desolation." With the exception of Volney, traveller after traveller have visited this spot, and like the priest and the Levite, came, looked on it, and passed by on the other side without making any efforts to explore its site or ascertain its topography; until the Count de Bertou, in his late visit, devoted some attention to the subject, and as I have said before, published an interesting account of his investigations, but chiefly with regard to the insular city.

The present town is situated entirely on the peninsula, of which it occupies about a third part. The houses are all built of gray sandstone and are flat-roofed; they are surrounded by courts, and are much scattered. Opposite to the landing place on the north side, and about 100 yards from the shore, are some portions of the ancient town wall, which are of immense thickness and Cyclopean architecture. Within these is a pool of water about three feet in depth, which has generally been mistaken for part of the ancient cothon or harbour, but over which, in my opinion, the sea has encroached. Some old castles and several rows of Gothic arches mark the days of the Crusaders; these require to be distinguished from the ancient city on whose ruins they stand, and above which they are raised about six or eight feet.

Towards the south-eastern angle are the re