Misplaced Pages

#341658

87-601: Bahramshah succeeded his father Farrukhshah as ruler of the minor emirate of Baalbek and had an unusually long reign for an Ayyubid ruler. Baalbek was a marcher domain at the time of the Crusades and Bahramshah's main role was to provide a speedy military response to any threats from the County of Tripoli . as well as supporting larger campaigns against the Zengids of Aleppo . In the complex political and military world of

174-473: A 557 tonnes (614 tons) block. "Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee", UNESCO reported in making Baalbek a World Heritage Site in 1984. When the committee inscribed the site, it expressed the wish that the protected area include the entire town within the Arab walls, as well as the southwestern extramural quarter between Bastan-al-Khan,

261-533: A dispute about a stolen inkwell, in what appears to have been a revenge attack for some punishment. Bahramshah is said to have been the best poet of the Ayyubids. After Bahramshah's death neither of his two sons, as-Sa’id and al-Muzaffar Taqi ad-Din, inherited his emirate, which ceased thereafter to be the domain of the descendants of Saladin's brother Nur ad-Din Shahanshah . After Bahramshah's removal, Baalbek

348-465: A good soldier and he appears to have met Saladin’s expectations as an administrator, as he remained viceroy of Damascus until his death in October 1182 (Jumada 1 578). Turan-Shah was compensated for his loss of Damascus with the domain of Baalbek , but he did not hold it for long. In May 1179 (Dhu’l Qa’da 574), Saladin moved him again and made him governor of Alexandria. For a second time, Farrukhshah

435-458: A heroic defense and yielding 2,000 oz (57 kg) of gold, 4,000 oz (110 kg) of silver, 2000 silk vests, and 1000 swords. The ruined temple complex was fortified under the name al-Qala' ( lit.  " The Fortress ") but was sacked with great violence by the Damascene caliph Marwan II in 748, at which time it was dismantled and largely depopulated. It formed part of

522-551: A history that dates back at least 11,000 years, encompassing significant periods such as Prehistoric , Canaanite , Hellenistic , and Roman eras. After Alexander the Great conquered the city in 334 BCE, he renamed it Heliopolis ( Ἡλιούπολις , Greek for "Sun City"). The city flourished under Roman rule. However, it underwent transformations during the Christianization period and the subsequent rise of Islam following

609-411: A male god ( Baʿal ), his consort ( Astarte ), and their son ( Adon ). The site of the present Temple of Jupiter was probably the focus of earlier worship, as its altar was located at the hill's precise summit and the rest of the sanctuary raised to its level. In Islamic mythology , the temple complex was said to have been a palace of Solomon 's which was put together by djinn and given as

696-473: A reprisal for its role in a Turcoman raid on Banyas. Following Ata's murder, his nephew Dahhak , emir of the Wadi al-Taym , ruled Baalbek. He was forced to relinquish it to Nur ad-Din in 1154 after Ayyub had successfully intrigued against Abaq from his estates near Baalbek. Ayyub then administered the area from Damascus on Nur ad-Din's behalf. In the mid-12th century, Idrisi mentioned Baalbek's two temples and

783-659: A school in the Wavel Palestinian refugee camp next to the city, wounding 150 school children. On 24/25 June 1999, following elections in Israel and the new administration undecided, the IAF launched two massive air raids across Lebanon. One of the targets was the al Manar radio station's offices in a four-storey building in Baalbek which was completely demolished. The attacks also hit Beirut's power stations and bridges on

870-440: A secret passageway shown to them by a local. The Crusaders were then massacred. Three major earthquakes occurred in the 12th century, in 1139, 1157, and 1170. The one in 1170 ruined Baalbek's walls and, though Nur ad-Din repaired them, his young heir Ismaʿil was made to yield it to Saladin by a 4-month siege in 1174. Having taken control of Damascus on the invitation of its governor Ibn al-Muqaddam , Saladin rewarded him with

957-452: A special punishment. The Temple of Jupiter, already greatly damaged by earthquakes, was demolished under Theodosius in 379 and replaced by another basilica (now lost), using stones scavenged from the pagan complex. The Easter Chronicle states he was also responsible for destroying all the lesser temples and shrines of the city. Around the year 400, Rabbula , the future bishop of Edessa , attempted to have himself martyred by disrupting

SECTION 10

#1732790929342

1044-575: A third to Bacchus . On a nearby hill, a fourth temple was dedicated to the third figure of the Heliopolitan Triad , Mercury (Adon or Seimios ). Ultimately, the site vied with Praeneste in Italy as the two largest sanctuaries in the Western world. The emperor Trajan consulted the site's oracle twice. The first time, he requested a written reply to his sealed and unopened question; he

1131-564: A wedding gift to the Queen of Sheba ; its actual Roman origin remained obscured by the citadel's medieval fortifications as late as the 16th-century visit of the Polish prince Radziwiłł . After Alexander the Great 's conquest of Persia in the 330s BC, Baalbek (under its Hellenic name Heliopolis ) formed part of the Diadochi kingdoms of Egypt & Syria . It was annexed by

1218-701: Is Bʿalbik ( بْعَلْبِك , is [ˈbʕalbik] ) in Lebanese Arabic . The etymology of Baalbek has been debated since the 18th century. Cook took it to mean " Baʿal (Lord) of the Beka " and Donne as "City of the Sun". Lendering asserts that it is probably a contraction of Baʿal Nebeq (" Lord of the Source" of the Litani River ). Steiner proposes a Semitic adaption of " Lord Bacchus", from

1305-457: Is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon 's Beqaa Valley , about 67 km (42 mi) northeast of Beirut . It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate . In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of Shia Muslims , followed by Sunni Muslims and Christians ; in 2017, there was also a large presence of Syrian refugees . Baalbek has

1392-751: Is estimated to weigh 1,650 tonnes (1,820 tons). Baalbek was connected to the DHP , the French -owned railway concession in Ottoman Syria , on 19 June 1902. It formed a station on the standard-gauge line between Riyaq to its south and Aleppo (now in Syria ) to its north. This Aleppo Railway connected to the Beirut–Damascus Railway but—because that line was built to a 1.05-meter gauge —all traffic had to be unloaded and reloaded at Riyaq. Just before

1479-832: The emirate of Baalbek following the Ayyubid victory at the Horns of Hama in 1175. Baldwin , the young leper king of Jerusalem , came of age the next year, ending the Crusaders' treaty with Saladin. His former regent, Raymond of Tripoli , raided the Beqaa Valley from the west in the summer, suffering a slight defeat at Ibn al-Muqaddam's hands. He was then joined by the main army, riding north under Baldwin and Humphrey of Toron ; they defeated Saladin's elder brother Turan Shah in August at Ayn al-Jarr and plundered Baalbek. Upon

1566-654: The 2022 Lebanese general election the Amal -Hezbollah list won 9 out of 10 seats in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. Israel has conducted numerous airstrikes and raids against military and civilian targets in the Baalbek area in the past decades. For instance, in 2006 during the Operation Sharp and Smooth , Israeli commandos raided a hospital and bombed multiple houses, killing two Hezbollah fighters and at least eleven civilians. In 2024, during

1653-667: The Arab conquest in the 7th century . In later periods, the city was sacked by the Mongols and faced a series of earthquakes, resulting in a decline in importance during the Ottoman and modern periods. In the modern era, Baalbek enjoys economic advantages as a sought-after tourist destination. It is known for the ruins of the Roman temple complex, which includes the Temple of Bacchus and

1740-635: The Decapolis , the "Ten Cities" of Coelesyria, while the 2nd-century Ptolemy did. The population likely varied seasonally with market fairs and the schedules of the Indian monsoon and caravans to the coast and interior. During Classical Antiquity , the city's temple to Baʿal Haddu was conflated first with the worship of the Greek sun god Helios and then with the Greek and Roman sky god under

1827-589: The First World War , the population was still around 5000, about 2000 each of Sunnis and Shia Mutawalis and 1000 Orthodox and Maronites . The French general Georges Catroux proclaimed the independence of Lebanon in 1941 but colonial rule continued until 1943. Baalbek still has its railway station but service has been discontinued since the 1970s, originally owing to the Lebanese Civil War . In March 1974, Musa al-Sadr announced

SECTION 20

#1732790929342

1914-703: The Iran Iraq War . The following year the Iranians established their headquarters in the Sheikh Abdullah barracks in Baalbek. Ultimately there were between 1,500 and 2,000 Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon, with outposts further south in the Shia villages, such as Jebchit . In 1984, Israel launched raids on Baalbek, killing 100 Lebanese civilians and wounding hundreds inside the city. Israel also bombed

2001-660: The Israel–Hezbollah conflict (2023–present). Baalbek has been a stronghold of the militant organization Hezbollah since the 1980s. During the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon (1982–2000), the group managed to overpower the Lebanese army in Baalbek and gain control of city. The settlement was susequently used as a base to recruit and train men for attacks against Israeli forces. Hezbollah continues to hold immense political inflience and popular support in Baalbek. In

2088-599: The Mishnah , a second-century rabbinic text, as a kind of garlic , shum ba'albeki (שום בעלבכי). It appears in two early 5th-century Syriac manuscripts, a c.  411 translation of Eusebius 's Theophania and a c.  435 life of Rabbula , bishop of Edessa . It was pronounced as Baʿlabakk ( Arabic : بَعْلَبَكّ ) in Classical Arabic . In Modern Standard Arabic , its vowels are marked as Baʿlabak ( بَعْلَبَك ) or Baʿlabekk . It

2175-728: The Romans during their eastern wars. The settlers of the Roman colony Colonia Julia Augusta Felix Heliopolitana may have arrived as early as the time of Caesar but were more probably the veterans of the 5th and 8th Legions under Augustus , during which time it hosted a Roman garrison. From 15 BC to AD 193, it formed part of the territory of Berytus . It is mentioned in Josephus , Pliny , Strabo , and Ptolemy and on coins of nearly every emperor from Nerva to Gallienus . The 1st-century Pliny did not number it among

2262-588: The Temple of Jupiter , and was inscribed in 1984 as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Other tourist attractions are the Great Umayyad Mosque , the Baalbek International Festival , the mausoleum of Sit Khawla, and a Roman quarry site named Hajar al-Hibla . Baalbek's tourism sector has encountered challenges due to conflicts in Lebanon, particularly the 1975–1990 civil war , the ongoing Syrian civil war since 2011, and

2349-684: The 1920s and a separate serpent incantation. Baalbek was called Heliopolis during the Roman Empire , a latinisation of the Greek Hēlioúpolis ( Ἡλιούπολις ) used during the Hellenistic period , meaning "Sun City" in reference to the solar cult there. The name is attested under the Seleucids and Ptolemies . However, Ammianus Marcellinus notes that earlier Assyrian names of Levantine towns continued to be used alongside

2436-544: The 2006 war, conservation work at Lebanon's historic sites began in October that year. The ruins at Baalbek were not directly hit by Israeli bombing but the effects of blasts during the conflict toppled a block of stones at the Roman ruins and existing cracks in the temples of Jupiter and Bacchus were feared to have widened. Frederique Husseini, director-general of Lebanon's Department of Antiquities, requested $ 550,000 from Europeans to restore Baalbek's souk and another $ 900,000 for repairs to other damaged structures. Starting in

2523-560: The 2006 war. During the Syrian civil war , the UK FCO designated areas close to the Syrian border, including Baalbek and the rest of Beqaa valley, as "red zone" – advising against all travel. The US State Department made a similar designation. These designations, prompted by perceived proximity to Syria and clashes between Sunnis and Alawites , discouraged international tourism. During

2610-406: The Ayyubids, relationships between extended family members and between individual emirates and other, smaller estates were of critical importance. The cornerstone of Bahramshah's long rule was the close alliance with his larger and more powerful neighbor, Damascus. At some time in 1228 (625 AH) one of Bahramshah's sons conspired with al-Aziz Uthman of Banyas , son of al-Adil I and some members of

2697-487: The Baalbek garrison to remove Bahramshah and replace him with al-Aziz Uthman. The plan was not executed well, and Bahramshah was able to call on an-Nasir Dawud in Damascus for support. An-Nasir demanded that al-Aziz withdraw and Bahramshah remained in control of the city. The end of Bahramshah's reign came in 1230 as a result of the struggles between Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt and an-Nasir Dawud of Damascus. Al-Aziz Uthman

Bahramshah - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-647: The Egyptian troops returning home in 1179 and appointing him to a sinecure in Alexandria . Baalbek was then granted to his nephew Farrukh Shah , whose family ruled it for the next half-century. When Farrukh Shah died three years later, his son Bahram Shah was only a child but he was permitted his inheritance and ruled til 1230. He was followed by al-Ashraf Musa , who was succeeded by his brother as-Salih Ismail , who received it in 1237 as compensation for being deprived of Damascus by their brother al-Kamil . It

2871-610: The Greco- Persian Mithras ) by busts representing the sun, moon, and five known planets . In these statues, the bust of Mercury is made particularly prominent; a marble stela at Massilia in Transalpine Gaul shows a similar arrangement but enlarges Mercury into a full figure. Local cults also revered the Baetylia , black conical stones considered sacred to Baʿal . One of these was taken to Rome by

2958-722: The Israel–Hezbollah conflict, Israel sent forced displacement calls for the entire city. Shortly after, Israeli airstrikes killed 19 people, including 8 women. A few kilometres from the swamp from which the Litani (the classical Leontes) and the Asi (the upper Orontes ) flow, Baalbek may be the same as the manbaa al-nahrayn ("Source of the Two Rivers"), the abode of El in the Ugaritic Baal Cycle discovered in

3045-565: The Ottomans finally began direct administration of the area, making Baalbek a kaza under the Damascus Eyalet and its governor a kaymakam . Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and his wife passed through Baalbek on 1 November 1898, on their way to Jerusalem. He noted both the magnificence of the Roman remains and the drab condition of the modern settlement. It was expected at the time that natural disasters, winter frosts, and

3132-482: The Roman flagstones in the Great Court unearthed three skeletons and a fragment of Persian pottery dated to the 6th–4th centuries BC. The sherd featured cuneiform letters. In 1977, Jean-Pierre Adam made a brief study suggesting most of the large blocks could have been moved on rollers with machines using capstans and pulley blocks, a process which he theorised could use 512 workers to move

3219-578: The Roman site and the Mameluk mosque of Ras-al-Ain. Lebanon's representative gave assurances that the committee's wish would be honoured. Recent cleaning operations at the Temple of Jupiter discovered the deep trench at its edge, whose study pushed back the date of Tell Baalbek's settlement to the PPNB Neolithic . Finds included pottery sherds including a spout dating to the early Bronze Age . In

3306-529: The Temple of Bacchus's ceiling inspired a bed and ceiling by Robert Adam and its portico inspired that of St George's in Bloomsbury . During the 18th century, the western approaches were covered with attractive groves of walnut trees , but the town itself suffered badly during the 1759 earthquakes , after which it was held by the Metawali , who again feuded with other Lebanese tribes. Their power

3393-536: The area to his son Muhammad . After Buri's murder, Muhammad successfully defended himself against the attacks of his brothers Ismaʿil and Mahmud and gave Baalbek to his vizier Unur . In July 1139, Zengi , atabeg of Aleppo and stepfather of Mahmud, besieged Baalbek with 14 catapults. The outer city held until 10 October and the citadel until the 21st, when Unur surrendered upon a promise of safe passage. In December, Zengi negotiated with Muhammad, offering to trade Baalbek or Homs for Damascus, but Unur convinced

3480-416: The atabeg to refuse. Zengi strengthened its fortifications and bestowed the territory on his lieutenant Ayyub , father of Saladin . Upon Zengi's assassination in 1146, Ayyub surrendered the territory to Unur, who was acting as regent for Muhammad's son Abaq . It was granted to the eunuch Ata al-Khadim , who also served as viceroy of Damascus. In December 1151, it was raided by the garrison of Banyas as

3567-536: The bombs. More than 250 houses and buildings were destroyed by Israel during the war. Reporters investigating the aftermath found these to be civilian houses and didn't find any evidence of military use. On the evening of 1 August 2006, hundreds of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers raided Baalbek and the Dar al-Hikma or Hikmeh Hospital in Jamaliyeh to its north (" Operation Sharp and Smooth "). Their mission

Bahramshah - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-432: The car leaving the scene for the hospital. A Human Rights Watch investigation showed that none of those killed were combatants, it is likely none were members of Hezbollah, and none of the survivors had any knowledge of any military presence at place of the attack. On 14 August just before the ceasefire took effect, two Lebanese police and five Lebanese soldiers were killed by a drone strike while driving their van around

3741-402: The city he had ruled for nearly half a century. Baalbek sustained a siege lasting ten months before he decided to seek terms, and eventually agreed to leave Baalbek in return for a small private estate near Damascus. On these terms he withdrew leaving al-Ashraf as the new ruler of Baalbek and retiring to his residence in Damascus. Later the same year he was murdered by one of his own mamluks in

3828-478: The city's mayors have been Shia, but since 2022, Baalbek has had a Sunni mayor. In 1978, Israel invaded south Lebanon, forcing hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims to flee. As a result of the invasion, when Hassan Nasrallah returned to Lebanon from his studies in Najaf , he was unable to return to his hometown in the south , and instead settled in Baalbek. Abbas al-Musawi also moved to Baalbek. In 1982, at

3915-513: The classical temple complex. Nineteenth-century Biblical archaeologists proposed the association of Baalbek with the town of Baalgad in the Book of Joshua ; the town of Baalath , one of Solomon 's cities in the First Book of Kings ; Baal-hamon , where Solomon had a vineyard ; and the "Plain of Aven" in Book of Amos . The hilltop of Tell Baalbek, part of a valley to the east of

4002-533: The colossal and picturesque ruins. Donne hyperbolised "No ruins of antiquity have attracted more attention than those of Heliopolis, or been more frequently or accurately measured and described." Misunderstanding the temple of Bacchus as the "Temple of the Sun", they considered it the best-preserved Roman temple in the world. The Englishman Robert Wood 's 1757 Ruins of Balbec included carefully measured engravings that proved influential on British and Continental Neoclassical architects . For example, details of

4089-485: The deposition of Turan Shah for neglecting his duties in Damascus, however, he demanded his childhood home of Baalbek as compensation. Ibn al-Muqaddam did not consent and Saladin opted to invest the city in late 1178 to maintain peace within his own family. An attempt to pledge fealty to the Christians at Jerusalem was ignored on behalf of an existing treaty with Saladin. The siege was maintained peacefully through

4176-622: The district of Damascus under the Umayyads and Abbasids before being conquered by Fatimid Egypt in 942. In the mid-10th century , it was said to have "gates of palaces sculptured in marble and lofty columns also of marble" and that it was the most "stupendous" and "considerable" location in the whole of Syria. It was sacked and razed by the Byzantines under John I in 974, raided by Basil II in 1000, and occupied by Salih ibn Mirdas , emir of Aleppo , in 1025. In 1075, it

4263-433: The early 2000s, Hezbollah organized permanent or temporary exhibitions called "Exposition of the Resistance" which commemorate what is considered to be Lebanese resistance to Israeli occupation. Spanning several hundred square meters, the exhibitions feature defused Israeli weapons, recreated scenes of war, and photos and videos of Lebanese people killed by Israel. Starting in 2009, Hezbollah setup an exhibition to commemorate

4350-413: The eighteenth century. What repression there was did not always target the Christian community per se. The Shiite 'Usayran family, for example, is also said to have left Baalbek in this period to avoid expropriation by the Harfushes, establishing itself as one of the premier commercial households of Sidon and later even serving as consuls of Iran. From the 16th century, European tourists began to visit

4437-413: The emperor Elagabalus , a former priest "of the sun" at nearby Emesa , who erected a temple for it on the Palatine Hill . Heliopolis was a noted oracle and pilgrimage site, whence the cult spread far afield, with inscriptions to the Heliopolitan god discovered in Athens , Rome , Pannonia , Venetia , Gaul , and near the Wall in Britain . The Roman temple complex grew up from the early part of

SECTION 50

#1732790929342

4524-406: The height of another Israeli invasion , Amal split into two factions over Nabih Berri 's acceptance of the American plan to evacuate Palestinians from West Beirut. A large number of dissidents, led by Amal's military commander Hussein Musawi moved to Baalbek. Once established in the town the group, which was to evolve into Hizbollah , began to work with Iranian Revolutionary Guards , veterans of

4611-422: The launching of the " Movement of the Deprived " in front of a rally in Baalbek attended by 75,000 men. Its objective was to stand up for Lebanon's neglected Shia community. In his speech he listed grievances with the Lebanese government, including Baalbek's lack of a secondary school, Shia communities receiving disproportionately less funds from the national budget, most of the homeless being Shia etc. The occasion

4698-410: The legend of their origin under Solomon; it was visited by the Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela in 1170. Baalbek's citadel served as a jail for Crusaders taken by the Zengids as prisoners of war . In 1171, these captives successfully overpowered their guards and took possession of the castle from its garrison. Muslims from the surrounding area gathered, however, and entered the castle through

4785-424: The locals' ancient custom of prostituting women before marriage. Bar Hebraeus also credited him with ending the locals' continued practice of polygamy . The enraged locals responded by raping and torturing Christian virgins. They reacted violently again under the freedom permitted to them by Julian the Apostate . The city was so noted for its hostility to the Christians that Alexandrians were banished to it as

4872-425: The middle of a scene mocking baptism ; his public profession of faith provoked the audience to drag him from the theater and stone him to death . In the early 4th century, the deacon Cyril defaced many of the idols in Heliopolis; he was killed and (allegedly) cannibalised . Around the same time, Constantine , though not yet a Christian, demolished the goddess' temple, raised a basilica in its place, and outlawed

4959-420: The most unwell patients having been transferred and the rest sent home. No Israelis were killed; Five civilians were abducted and interrogated by the Israelis, presumably because one shared his name with Hassan Nasrallah , the secretary general of Hezbollah; they were released on August 21. On August 7, Israel killed 9 civilians in an attack on Brital , just south of Baalbek, and by the subsequent attack on

5046-445: The name " Heliopolitan Zeus " or " Jupiter ". The present Temple of Jupiter presumably replaced an earlier one using the same foundation; it was constructed during the mid- 1st century and probably completed around AD 60. His idol was a beardless golden god in the pose of a charioteer , with a whip raised in his right hand and a thunderbolt and stalks of grain in his left; its image appeared on local coinage and it

5133-485: The northern Beqaa Valley ( Latin : Coelesyria ), shows signs of almost continual habitation over the last 8–9000 years. It was well-watered both from a stream running from the Rās-el-ʿAin spring SE of the citadel and, during the spring , from numerous rills formed by meltwater from the Anti-Lebanons . Macrobius later credited the site's foundation to a colony of Egyptian or Assyrian priests. The settlement's religious, commercial, and strategic importance

5220-433: The official Greek ones imposed by the Diadochi , who were successors of Alexander the Great . In Greek religion , Helios was both the sun in the sky and its personification as a god . The local Semitic god Baʿal Haddu was more often equated with Zeus or Jupiter or simply called the "Great God of Heliopolis", but the name may refer to the Egyptians' association of Baʿal with their great god Ra . It

5307-412: The pagans of Baalbek but was only thrown down the temple stairs along with his companion. It became the seat of its own bishop as well. Under the reign of Justinian , eight of the complex's Corinthian columns were disassembled and shipped to Constantinople for incorporation in the rebuilt Hagia Sophia sometime between 532 and 537. Michael the Syrian claimed the golden idol of Heliopolitan Jupiter

SECTION 60

#1732790929342

5394-408: The raiding of building materials by the city's residents would shortly ruin the remaining ruins. The archaeological team he dispatched began work within a month. Despite finding nothing they could date prior to Baalbek's Roman occupation, Otto Puchstein and his associates worked until 1904 and produced a meticulously researched and thoroughly illustrated series of volumes. Later excavations under

5481-510: The reign of Augustus in the late 1st century BC until the rise of Christianity in the 4th century . (The 6th-century chronicles of John Malalas of Antioch , which claimed Baalbek as a " wonder of the world ", credited most of the complex to the 2nd-century Antoninus Pius , but it is uncertain how reliable his account is on the point.) By that time, the complex housed three temples on Tell Baalbek: one to Jupiter Heliopolitanus (Baʿal), one to Venus Heliopolitana (Ashtart), and

5568-431: The roads to the south. An estimated $ 52 million damage was caused. Eleven Lebanese were killed as well as two Israelis in Kiryat Shmona . During the 2006 Lebanon war, many Israeli bombs fell inside the historic Roman town, and some fell as close as 300 meters from the temple of Baalbek. After the war, UNESCO stated that the cracks in the Roman temples had widened. The damage was thought to be due to shockwaves created by

5655-399: The same year, however, Qutuz , the sultan of Egypt , defeated the Mongols and placed Baalbek under the rule of their emir in Damascus. Most of the city's still-extant fine mosque and fortress architecture dates to the reign of the sultan Qalawun in the 1280s. By the early 14th century, Abulfeda the Hamathite was describing the city's "large and strong fortress". The revived settlement

5742-611: The selection of Church officials and the running of local monasteries. Tradition holds that many Christians quit the Baalbek region in the eighteenth century for the newer, more secure town of Zahlé on account of the Harfushes' oppression and rapacity, but more critical studies have questioned this interpretation, pointing out that the Harfushes were closely allied to the Orthodox Ma'luf family of Zahlé (where indeed Mustafa Harfush took refuge some years later) and showing that depredations from various quarters as well as Zahlé's growing commercial attractiveness accounted for Baalbek's decline in

5829-423: The site may date from that occasion; Julia was a Syrian native whose father had been an Emesan priest "of the sun" like Elagabalus . The town became a battleground upon the rise of Christianity . Early Christian writers such as Eusebius (from nearby Caesarea ) repeatedly execrated the practices of the local pagans in their worship of the Heliopolitan Venus. In AD 297, the actor Gelasinus converted in

5916-506: The snows of winter, with Saladin waiting for the "foolish" commander and his garrison of "ignorant scum" to come to terms. Sometime in spring, Ibn al-Muqaddam yielded and Saladin accepted his terms, granting him Baʿrin , Kafr Tab , and al-Maʿarra . The generosity quieted unrest among Saladin's vassals through the rest of his reign but led his enemies to attempt to take advantage of his presumed weakness. He did not permit Turan Shah to retain Baalbek very long, though, instructing him to lead

6003-420: The still-damaged road through Jamaliyeh. The Roman ruins have been the setting for the long running Baalbek International Festival . Baalbek's tourism sector suffered significantly due to the Lebanese Civil war (1975-1990). After the civil war ended, tourism gradually saw a resurgence, including opera, orchestras. But it was once again disrupted by Israeli bombings of Baalbek during the 2006 war. After

6090-431: The summer of 2014, a team from the German Archaeological Institute led by Jeanine Abdul Massih of the Lebanese University discovered a sixth, much larger stone suggested to be the world's largest ancient block . The stone was found underneath and next to the Stone of the Pregnant Woman ("Hajjar al-Hibla") and measures around 19.6 m × 6 m × 5.5 m (64 ft × 20 ft × 18 ft). It

6177-433: Was a religious one, and there was celebratory gunfire preceding it. He also announced the setting up of military training camps to train villagers in southern Lebanon to protect their homes from Israeli attacks. These camps led to the creation of the Amal Militia . By the 2000s, Baalbek was frequently described as a stronghold of Hezbollah, although it also has a large presence of Christians and Sunni Muslims. Many of

6264-403: Was again destroyed by a flood on 10 May 1318, when water from the east and northeast made holes 30 m (98 ft) wide in walls 4 m (13 ft) thick. 194 people were killed and 1500 houses, 131 shops, 44 orchards, 17 ovens, 11 mills, and 4 aqueducts were ruined, along with the town's mosque and 13 other religious and educational buildings. In 1400, Timur pillaged the town, and there

6351-598: Was backing al-Kamil in this war in the hope of rewards, and by an agreement reached at Tell al-Ajjul between al-Kamil and al-Ashraf , he was to receive Baalbek once an-Nasir had been defeated. Once an-Nasir surrendered, the Egyptian army entered Damascus and al-Kamil gave it to his brother al-Ashraf. Baalbek, having supported an-Nasir, was on the losing side, but once installed in Damascus al-Ashraf refused to allow al-Aziz to take it from Bahramshah. Instead, he directed his other brother as-Salih Ismail to lead an expedition and take Baalbek. Bahramshah however refused to hand over

6438-538: Was borne through the streets during several festivals throughout the year. Macrobius compared the rituals to those for Diva Fortuna at Antium and says the bearers were the principal citizens of the town, who prepared for their role with abstinence, chastity, and shaved heads. In bronze statuary attested from Byblos in Phoenicia and Tortosa in Spain , he was encased in a pillarlike term and surrounded (like

6525-480: Was broken by Jezzar Pasha , the rebel governor of Acre , in the last half of the 18th century. All the same, Baalbek remained no destination for a traveller unaccompanied by an armed guard. Upon the pasha's death in 1804, chaos ensued until Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt occupied the area in 1831, after which it again passed into the hands of the Harfushes. In 1835, the town's population was barely 200 people. In 1850,

6612-485: Was favorably impressed by the god's blank reply as his own paper had been empty. He then inquired whether he would return alive from his wars against Parthia and received in reply a centurion 's vine staff , broken to pieces. In AD 193, Septimius Severus granted the city ius Italicum rights. His wife Julia Domna and son Caracalla toured Egypt and Syria in AD ;215; inscriptions in their honour at

6699-566: Was finally lost to the Fatimids on its conquest by Tutush I , Seljuk emir of Damascus . It was briefly held by Muslim ibn Quraysh , emir of Aleppo , in 1083; after its recovery, it was ruled in the Seljuks' name by the eunuch Gümüshtegin until he was deposed for conspiring against the usurper Toghtekin in 1110. Toghtekin then gave the town to his son Buri . Upon Buri's succession to Damascus on his father's death in 1128, he granted

6786-628: Was further destruction from a 1459 earthquake. In 1516, Baalbek was conquered with the rest of Syria by the Ottoman sultan Selim the Grim . In recognition of their prominence among the Shiites of the Beqaa Valley , the Ottomans awarded the sanjak of Homs and local iltizam concessions to Baalbek's Harfush family . Like the Hamadas, the Harfush emirs were involved on more than one occasion in

6873-575: Was held first by al-Ashraf, then by his brother as-Salih Ismail and then by al-Kamil's son as-Salih Ayyub before reverting from the descendants of al-Adil to a descendant of Saladin himself, the last Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, an-Nasir Yusuf . Farrukh Shah Al-Malik al-Mansur Izz ad-Din Abu Sa'id Farrukhshah Dawud was the Kurdish Ayyubid Emir of Baalbek between 1179 and 1182 and Na'ib (Viceroy) of Damascus . Farrukh Shah

6960-478: Was known as Heliopolis . Some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Lebanon are located here, including one of the largest temples of the Roman empire. The gods worshipped there ( Jupiter , Venus , and Bacchus ) were equivalents of the Canaanite deities Hadad , Atargatis . Local influences are seen in the planning and layout of the temples, which differ from classic Roman design. The name BʿLBK appears in

7047-401: Was minor enough, however, that it is never mentioned in any known Assyrian or Egyptian record, unless under another name. Its enviable position in a fertile valley, major watershed, and along the route from Tyre to Palmyra should have made it a wealthy and splendid site from an early age. During the Canaanite period, the local temples were largely devoted to the Heliopolitan Triad :

7134-445: Was seized in 1246 after a year of assaults by as-Salih Ayyub , who bestowed it upon Saʿd al-Din al-Humaidi . When as-Salih Ayyub's successor Turan Shah was murdered in 1250, al-Nasir Yusuf , the sultan of Aleppo , seized Damascus and demanded Baalbek's surrender. Instead, its emir did homage and agreed to regular payments of tribute. The Mongolian general Kitbuqa took Baalbek in 1260 and dismantled its fortifications. Later in

7221-670: Was sometimes described as Heliopolis in Syria or Coelesyria ( Latin : Heliopolis Syriaca or Syriae ) to distinguish it from its namesake in Egypt . In Catholicism , its titular see is distinguished as Heliopolis in Phoenicia , from its former Roman province Phoenice . The importance of the solar cult is also attested in the name Biḳāʿ al-ʿAzīz borne by the plateau surrounding Baalbek, as it references an earlier solar deity named Aziz . In Greek and Roman antiquity , it

7308-587: Was still to be seen during the reign of Justin II (560s & 570s), and, up to the time of its conquest by the Muslims, it was renowned for its palaces, monuments, and gardens. Baalbek was occupied by the Muslim army in AD 634 ( AH  13), in 636, or under Abu ʿUbaidah following the Byzantine defeat at Yarmouk in 637 ( AH  16), either peacefully and by agreement or following

7395-786: Was the beneficiary of Turan-Shah’s removal and Saladin gave him Baalbek. Much of his reign was occupied in supporting Saladin’s wars against the Crusaders . Shortly after his appointment to Baalbek, Farrukh Shah won a victory near the fortress of Belfort against Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , killing Humphrey II of Toron . Farrukh Shah died in September 1182 (Jumada I 578) leaving a young boy, al-Amjad Bahramshah , as his successor. Baalbek Baalbek ( / ˈ b ɑː l b ɛ k , ˈ b eɪ ə l b ɛ k / ; Arabic : بَعْلَبَكّ , romanized :  Baʿlabakk ; Syriac : ܒܥܠܒܟ )

7482-613: Was the son of Saladin 's brother Nur ad-Din Shahanshah and the older brother of Taqi ad-Din Umar who became Emir of Hama . In 1178, Saladin decided that the administration of his brother Shams ad-Din Turan-Shah in Damascus was too lax, and its relations with the Zengid rulers of Aleppo rather too friendly. He therefore moved Turan-Shah and selected his nephew Farrukh Shah as his successor. Farrukhshah had already proved himself to be

7569-540: Was to rescue two captured soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev , who were abducted by Hezbollah on 12 July 2006. They were transported by helicopter and supported by Apache helicopters and unmanned drones , The IDF was acting on information that Goldwasser and Regev were at the hospital. al-Jazeera and other sources claimed the IDF was attempting to capture senior Hezbollah officials, particularly Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek . The hospital had been empty for four days,

#341658