Baalbek

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BAALBEK
The Middle-Eastern Ollantaytambo

Even within the oldest stories known to man, this place was held as being ancient beyond reckoning. Baalbek's first city was reputed by the biblical and esoteric myths to have been built before the Great Flood by Cain, the son of Adam, whom God banished to the `land of Nod' that lay `east of Eden' for murdering his good brother Abel, and he called it after his son Enoch. (Alouf and Michel 1953, p. 49, quoting a story told by Estfan Doweihi, a Maronite Patriarch). The citadel, they say, fell into ruins at the time of the deluge and was much later re-built by a race of giants under the command of Nimrod, the `mighty hunter' and `king of Shinar' of the Book of Genesis. (Alouf et al 1953, p.51, quoting an Arab manuscript actually found at Baalbek).

REFERENCES:

Alouf, Michel M.; (1953) History of Baalbek, American Press, Beirut.

Temple of Jupiter was built pre-dates the Roman Empire by far. This massive three-million-square-foot stone platform contains huge stones, including 'The Trilithons' which each weigh in excess of 1,200 tons. These three blocks were laid atop a foundation, and thus were not just shaped in situ, and were placed together with such precision that, similar to other sites such as Sacsayhuaman, Macchu Picchu, the Osireion, Ollantaytambo, and others, not even a knife blade can be fitted between them. Much, much later, the Romans built their temples on top of this ancient platform. Legend has it that the Sun god Helios landed upon the platform with his fire chariot. The site is also described in the ancient flood tale of Gilgamesh, the hero of Sumerian culture.

This colossal building is thought to be the Baalath mentioned in the first book of Kings (9:18), erected by Solomon, which was destroyed by the conqueror Tamerlane, and the sections which resisted his destructive inroads were overthrown years later, through the terrific earthquake which caused such great devastation in the plain of Lebanon and the country of Galilee. Though it shoud be known that many of the tales in the New Testament from the Bible were written long after the events they described. In addition, the Bible has since suffered editing by the Catholic Church, as much of the information did not fit with their hellenistic view on the history of the Earth. The Bible also suffered from mis-interpretation, due to its translation into differing languages.

Figure 1: The 'Stone of the Pregnant Woman' at Baalbek, weighing far in excess of 1,500 tons. That is equivalent to more than 1,400 family sedans piled atop each other.
Note the figure standing in front of this monstrous stone for scale.

The site known as Baalbek (also spelt Baalbeck) in present-day Lebanon was the first site I had encountered in my pursuit for the ancient secrets. The block known as the Hajar el Hibla, or Stone of the Pregnant Woman, depicted in figure 1 literally struck me dumb. I sat agape in front of the computer for what felt like hours, completely in awe of this intensely massive block of stone. Cut from red granite, without a doubt among the most dense forms of stone known to man, this block weighs far in excess of 1,500 tons (!). That is roughly equivalent to one thousand, four hundred family sedans. I have participated in the lifting and moving of just one vehicle, weighing 850 kgs, not even one ton, and it took five fully grown, very physically able men to move the vehicle barely one metre sideways. To actually walk, or even shuffle, with the vehicle raised fully off the ground was not possible with only five people. This means that it would take more than eight thousand, eight hundred men of the same stature as those involved in lifting the original vehicle mentioned above. And this number would only - theoretically - be able to lift it, and would not be able to walk with it. Thus each man would be carrying one hundred and seventy kilograms, a big ask in anyones' language.

Thus one is left wondering how this monstrosity of a megalith was moved more than 1,200 metres, before being left here, where we find it today. It is held officially that this is the largest manipulated stone known to man.

Figure 2: The Temple platform of Baalbek.

As can be seen in figure 2, the Temple of Jupiter was built in Roman times, and thus the massive blocks were attributed by archaeology as being worked by the hands of the Roman Empire. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. It seems that the Temple of Jupiter was, indeed, built by the Romans, but was built upon the existing foundations of a much older edifice. The platform upon which the

Figure 3: One of the Trilithons can be seen lying atop the initial foundation stones. This block weighs in excess of 1,200 ton.

Figure 4: The remaining facade for the last remaining temple from the original temple complex.

Figure 5: The last remaining structure from the original temple complex at Baalbek, with the figure standing in front as a reference to its size.

Apart from the foundations within which are located the Trilithons, the only remaining structure from the original temple complex that stood here before the Romans built here is the six-pillared facade of some forgotten temple (figure 4), built by some forgotten peoples, for some long-forgotten purpose. Just how massive this facade is can be seen in figure 5.

It is a wonder of human tenacity to note that with todays technology, there is no mechanical means anywhere in the world capable of moving these meglithic blocks. There is no crane powerful enough to lift these monstrous blocks.

If you thought Sacsayhuaman's blocks at the bottom of the page here were beyond belief, then you would have been wonderstruck, as was I, at the enormity and enigmatically awe-inspiring power of this site, Baalbek, in what is now Lebanon.