Temple of Baalbek facts

The temple complex is considered an outstanding archaeological and artistic site of Imperial Roman Architecture and was inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984. If the blocks were exposed in the Roman period surely they would have utilised them and carved them into smaller more useable sized blocks and incorporated them into the construction of their temples with the stone being so freely available?On the north outer wall of Baalbek there is a row of huge stones weighing in the region of 300 tonnes each, which curiously the Romans chose not to build on. Inhabited as early as 9000 BCE, Baalbek grew into an important pilgrimage site in the ancient world for the worship of the sky-god Baal and his consort Astarte, the Queen of Heaven in Phoenician religion (the name 'Baalbek' means Lord Baal of the Beqaa Valley). These stones are estimated to weigh 1650 tonnes and 1242 tonnes respectively. Such is the case with the subject of this lesson, Baalbek, a city in present-day Lebanon containing intriguing ancient ruins. The main entrance is decorated with grapes and vines and is …

Like the Great Temple of Niha, the room is divided into a lower part and a higher part in the rear, accessible through stairs.

No one knows how they were originally moved and fitted and no one apparently knows why the building was designed in such a complex way. If we think within the official academic framework of history, Augustus had no obvious reasons for selecting Baalbek as the temple's building site. Indeed, it has been noted that the blocks in the retaining wall of the Baalbek temple site clearly look a lot more eroded than the bona fide Roman ruins of the Temple of Jupiter, as well as those of the other two Roman temples also on the site. It is flanked by two smaller gates leading to rooms on a second floor. Did these two stones prove to be too large to be utilised by the builders and therefore abandoned.

Nevertheless, it is about a third of the court surrounding the temple of Ba'al in Palmyra.On three sides - north, east, and south - the Great Court at Baalbek is surrounded by porticoes. Again, the closest parallel is the Great Temple of Niha.The lavish baroque decoration of the temple of Bacchus is extremely fine and can be dated to the second century CE, which is why it is usually assumed that it was completed during the reign of the emperor Finally, an interesting detail from a more recent past.

It was held by:An 1873 German map of Asia Minor & Syria, with relief illustrating the Beqaa (Baalbek in 1910, after the arrival of The remains of the Propylaeum, the eastern entrance to the site

The Temple of Bacchus is one of the best preserved and grandest Roman temple ruins; its age is unknown, but its fine ornamentation can be dated to the second century CE.
I haven’t seen an Indian temple without one. But when I later came to India, I saw that the lotus is the most common symbolism of spirituality here. So the much larger Trilithon stones at Baalbek are very different in size and do not fit the Roman mould of construction.

When viewed from above the larger stones look like their alignment has changed. It is not known who commissioned or designed the temple, nor exactly when it was constructed.

Baalbek is noted for its Greek and Roman remains, especially the Temple of Jupiter. The great mystery of the ruins of Baalbek, and indeed one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world, concerns the massive foundation stones beneath the Roman Temple of Jupiter. It was a massive building, entered by a propylaea, or entranceway, leading to a hexagonal forecourt and then to a rectangular main court 343 feet (104.5 metres) long and 338 feet (103 metres)…

The temple construction at Baalbek is an enigma. About Baalbek. The Roman temple complex was dedicated to Jupiter, Venus and Bacchus until the arrival of Emperor Constantine (307-337AD) and his conversion to Christianity which marked the slow decline of the site.The three largest stones referred to as the trilithon stones in the western wall of the temple each have an estimated weight of between 800-1000 tonnes and are positioned several meters off the floor on top of other huge stone blocks.