2 CHRONICLES xxvi. 10.

"Also (Uzziah) built towers in the desert."

When Captains Irby and Mangles were travelling from Djerash to Szalt, they "crossed over some small hills into a spacious valley called Bayga, in which are the ruins of a large square building, perhaps a fortress." -Travels in Syria, p. 320.

TEMPLE OF DAGON.

JUDGES xvi. 27-30.

"And there were upon the roof about three thousand

two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up. And he bowed himself

with all his might, and the house fell."

Samson must have been in a court or area below; and consequently the temple will be of the same kind with the ancient sacred enclosures, which were only surrounded either in part, or on all sides, with some plain or cloistered buildings. Several palaces and courts of justice are built in this fashion. On their public festivals and rejoicings, the roofs of these cloisters are crowded with spectators, while a great quantity of sand is strewed upon the area for the wrestlers to fall upon. I have often seen numbers of people diverted in this manner on the roof of the Dey's palace at Algiers; which, like many others, has an advanced cloister over against the gate of the palace like a large pent-house, supported by one or two contiguous pillars in the front, or else in the centre. In such open structures as these, in the midst of their guards and counsellors, are the bashaws, kadees, and other great officers assembled, to distribute justice, and transact the public affairs of their provinces. Here, likewise, they have their public entertainments, as the lords and others of the Philistines had in the house of Dagon. Upon a supposition, therefore, that in the house of Dagon there was a cloistered building of this kind, the pulling down the front or centre pillars which supported it, would alone be attended with the like catastrophe that happened to the Philistines.-See SHAW's Barbary, vol. i. pp. 391, 392.

PALACE OF KING AHASUERUS.
ESTHER i. 5.

"The king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace......seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; where were

white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black marble."

ESTHER iv. 11, 16-v. 1, 2.

"All the king's servants...do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live... so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law, and if I perish, I perish.......Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. And...when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court,...... (he) held out to Esther the golden sceptre...So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre."

ESTHER Vi. 4.

"And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king."

Calmet has been at much pains to throw light upon the passage in Esther i. 5, which appears to have puzzled the translators of our Bible.

The hangings mentioned, he takes to mean a white canopy or covering stretched over the court, and fastened with blue cords or braces to the sides of the house. In the court below, he supposes there were stone platforms, with a railing upon them of small silvered pillars, hung with linen or calico; while at the corners or elsewhere, stood larger columns of marble. The platform being overspread with carpets, cushions richly embroidered (beds of gold and silver) might be set against the rails,

for the purpose of being leaned against. The platform itself would be paved with different kinds of marble.

To justify this picture of the court of king Ahasuerus' palace, Calmet quotes the following passages :

"Among the ruins remaining at Persepolis is a court containing many lofty pillars*...we may venture to suppose that a covering of tapestry or linen was drawn over them to intercept the perpendicular projection of the sunbeams. It is also probable that the tract of ground where most of the columns stand, was originally a court before the palace, like that which was before the king's house at Susa (Esther v.), and through which a flow of fresh air was admitted into the apartments."-LE BRUYN.

"At the festival of Durma Rajah in Calcutta, the great court of a very large house is overspread with a covering made of canvass lined with calico; and this lining is ornamented with broad stripes of various colours, in which green predominates... The master of the house gives wine and cake and other refreshments, to the English gentlemen and ladies who wish to see the ceremonies."

"Part of the principal court is planted with trees and flowering shrubs the rest is paved. At the south end is a square basin of water...and close to it, upon a stone (platform raised about two or three feet above the pavement of the court), is built a small pavilion; or, the platform being only railed in, an open divan is occasionally formed on it. This being some steps higher than the basin, a small fountain is usually placed in the middle of the divan, the mosaic pavement round which, being constantly wetted,...displays a variety of splendid colours, and the water as it runs to the basin through marble channels which are rough at bottom, produces a pleasing murmur. Where the size of the court admits of

"There is a large quadrangular court within, having pillars of marble, and ornamented with plants, and fountains of water."-See WILSON'S Travels, vol. ii. p. 119.

a larger shrubbery,... divans are placed in the grove, or arbours are formed of slight latticed frames, covered by the vine, the rose, or the jasmine.

Facing the basin, on the south side of the court, is a wide, lofty, arched alcove, about eighteen inches higher than the pavement, and entirely open to the court.... The floor round a small fountain is paved with marble of sundry colours.... A large divan is here prepared,... called, by way of distinction, The Divan; and, by its north aspect, and a sloping painted shed projecting over the arch, being protected from the sun, it offers a delicious situation in the hot months. The sound, not less than the sight, of the (fountains) is extremely refreshing ; and if there be a breath of air, it arrives scented...by... fragrant plants....There is usually on each side of the alcove a small room, neatly fitted up...."-DR. RUSSELL.