The necropolis of Palmyra lies half an hour north- west of the Temple of the Sun, in the Wady el-Kebiir, the ravine through which we made our approach to the city. The tombs, which are very numerous and ex- tremely interesting, are almost all of them towers, two, three, four, and in one instance five stories high. The tomb of Jamblichus, mentioned by Wood, is now dread- fully dilapidated, its stairs crumbled away, and the floor of the fourth story entirely gone. It is five sto- ries high, and was built in the third year of the Chris- tian sera. That of jNIanaius is peculiarly interesting, and in some respects, indeed, the most curious building
Part of a Tomb at I'iihuj ru.
at Palmyra. It is in wonderful preservation, and its description v/W] afford some idea of the others, as they are almost all built on the same plan, though far less beautiful. It is a lofty square tower, about fifteen feet in the side, lessening by three courses of stonelike steps at about a third of its height. An inscription in honor of the deceased is engraved on a tablet over the door- way. The principal apartment is lined with four Co- rinthian pilasters on each side, with recesses between thetn for nuninnies; each recess divided into five tiers by shelves, only one of which n'tains its position. The ancient Palmyrenes buried their dead in the Egyptian manner, and Wood found in one of che tombs a mum- my in all resi)ects similar to those in the land of the Pharaohs.
4. A ulhorilies. — The original sources for the history of Palmyra may be seen in the Scriptores Ilistoriw Ati- ffvslce, Trii/iutii Tyrunni. \o\. xiv ; Divus A urelianuf, vol. xxvi; Kutruphis, ix, 10, 11, 12. In A.D. 169G Abraham Seller published a most instructive work, en- titled The A ntiquilies of Palmyra, coiitaiuiiig the His- tory of the City and its £mpei'07-s, which contains sev- eral Greek inscriptions, with translations and explana- tions, tiesenius published an account of the Palmyrene inscriptions at Kome and Oxford in his Momimenta SnipturcB Linrjiiceque Phanicn, § 53. The best work on the ruins of Palmyra is still Robert Wood's splendid fo- lio, entitled The Ruins of Palmyra, etc. (Lond. 1753). Very good accounts of them may also be seen in Irby and Mangles, Travels; Kichter, Wallfahrten ; Addison, Damascus and Palmyra, The last work contains a good history of the place; for which, see also Rosen- miiller's Bihl. Georj., translated by the Kev. N. IMorren ; and, in particidar, Cellarius, Dissert, de Imp. Palmyreno (1G93). Gibbon, in ch. xi of the Decline and Fall, has given an account of Palmyra with his usual vigor and accuracy. For an interesting account of the present state of the ruins, see Porter, Handbook for Syria awl Palestine, p. 543-549; Beaufort, Eyyptian Sepulchres, etc., vol. i ; and Biideker, Syi-ia, p. 523. Besides Wood's great work, excellent views of the place have been pub- lished by Cassas in his Voyuc/e Pittoresque de la Syrie ; and later by Laborde in his Voyage en Orient. Recently photographs have been taken by various artists, and an 'accurate knowledge of the remains of this renowned and remarkable place is thus made accessible to the whole world.
Taft, Georgp:, D.D., an Episcopal minister, was born at Meiulon, Mass., Aug. 27, 1791, and was a grad- uate of Brown University, in the class of 1815. He pursued his theological studies under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Crocker, rector of St. John's Church, Prov- idence, R. I., and was ordained a deacon by bishop Gris- wold, March 7, 1818, and a presbyter, Sept. 2, 1819. He became rector of St, Paul's Church in Pawtucket, R. I., in October, 1820, continuing for a time to teach in a school in Providence with which he had been connected for several years. Such double service not being alto- gether satisfactory to his bishop, he gave a gentle liint to the parish of St. Paul's that "he had not ordained their minister to keep school;" and he thenceforth de- voted himself with great zeal and success to his work as a minister of the Gospel until his death, which oc- curred at Pawtucket, Dec. 11, 1869. His ministry was a little over fifty years in duration. (J. C. S.)
Taggart, Samuel, a Presbyterian minister, was born at Londonderry, N. H., March 24, 1754. He grad- uated at Dartmouth College in 1774, was licensed to preach by the Presbyterj' of Boston June 1, 1776, and was ordained and installed pastor of the Church at Colc- raine. Hampshire Co., Mass., Feb. 19, 1777. He was a member of Congress from 1803 to 1817. He died April 25, 1825. Mr. Taggart possessed a mind of great strcngt h and vigor. He published several theological treatises, sermons, orations, political speeches, etc. (1800-19). See Sprague, Annals of the Amer, Pulpit, iii, 377 ; Allibone,
TAG G ART
163
TAHPANHES
Diet, of Brit, and A mer. A uthors, s. v. ; Packard, Hist, of the Churches and Ministers in Franklin County.
Taggart, William, D.D., a Presbyterian divine, was b<ini in 178;>, educated privately, f;radnated at the Theological Seminary of the Associate Reformed Church, New York, in 1813 ; was licensed to preach by the Mo- nonfjahela Associate Reformed Presbytery in the same year, and ordained by the same presbytery and installed pastor of the united congregations at Upper Wheeling and Cadiz in IHl-l, where he continued to l;ibor until old age. He died Sept. 11, 18G5. Dr. Taggart was a man of strong thought. " His moral and intellectual attributes were perhaps rarely, if ever, excelled." See Wilson, Presb. Hist. Almanac, 18GG, p. 279.