Baalbek Stones

Rare card · No. 67706

The Baalbek Stones are six massive Roman worked stone blocks in Baalbek (ancient Heliopolis), Lebanon, characterized by a megalithic giant unparalleled in antiquity. The stones were quarried from nearby hillsides. Several of the large monoliths were only partially hewn from the hillsides. The smaller three are part of a podium wall in the Roman complex of the Temple of Jupiter Baal (Heliopolitan Zeus) known as the "Trilithon". Each of these is estimated at 750–800 tonnes (830–880 short tons). The quarry was slightly higher than the temple complex, so no lifting was required to move the stones. The large stones may have been moved into position on rollers along temporary earthen banks from the quarry. The remaining three are Roman monoliths, not part of a larger structure, conventionally known as the "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" (estimated at 1,000 t), the "Stone of the South" (est. 1,242 t), and the "Forgotten Stone" (est. 1,650 t). These are the first, third, and tied fifth largest known...

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