Baalbek, large archaeological complex encompassing the ruins of an ancient
Roman town in eastern Lebanon. It is located in the broad Bekaa valley region,
at an elevation of roughly 3,700 feet (1,130 meters) about 50 miles (80 km)
east-northeast of Beirut. The complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage
site in 1984.
Nothing is known of Baalbek prior to the Greek conquest of Syria (332 bce).
After the death of Alexander the Great (323), the region fell to the Ptolemaic
dynasty of Egypt, under which the town was called Heliopolis, probably for its
Egyptian namesake. In 200 it was conquered by the Seleucid Antiochus III (the
Great) and remained a Seleucid possession until the fall of that dynasty (64
bce), at which time it came under Roman control. Several decades later it was
made a Roman colony and was settled by a legion. Baalbek passed into Byzantine
hands and then came under Arab domination (637 ce). From then until the 20th
century it was administered by the various Muslim rulers of Syria. After World
War I the French mandatory authorities included Baalbek in Lebanon.
Baalbek became one of the most celebrated sanctuaries of the ancient world,
progressively overlaid with colossal constructions which were built during
more than two centuries. Its monumental ensemble is one of the most impressive
testimonies of the Roman architecture of the imperial period.
European attention was first directed to the ruins at Baalbek in the 16th
century. Much of the ancient settlement had been destroyed by earthquake, but
in 1898–1903 a German expedition excavated the two huge Roman temples and
began to reconstruct the ruins. Extensive clearings and repairs were
accomplished under the French mandate and, later, by the Lebanese government.
In the mid-1970s, however, protection of its treasures languished when Bekaa
became a stronghold of Palestinian, Hezbollah, and Syrian forces in the
Lebanese Civil War. Preservation began again in the 1990s following the end of
the war, and tourism contributed to its revival.
The Temple of Jupiter, principal temple of the Baalbek triad, was remarkable
for its 20 m high columns that surrounded the cella, and the gigantic stones
of its terrace. The adjacent temple dedicated to Bacchus is exceptional; it is
richly and abundantly decorated and of impressive dimensions with its
monumental gate sculpted with Bacchic figures. The Round Temple or Temple of
Venus differs in its originality of layout as well as its refinement and
harmonious forms, in a city where other sanctuaries are marked by monumental
structures. The only remaining vestige of the Temple of Mercury located on
Cheikh Abdallah Hill, is a stairway carved from the rock. The Odeon, located
south of the acropolis in a place known as Boustan el Khan, is also part of
the Baalbek site, and considered among the most spectacular archaeological
sites of the Near East.
