History of Baalbek

1941

Special Collections DS89 AE77 1941

Beirut: American Press

Lebanon is a small Middle Eastern country, encompassing about 10,000 km square. After gaining independence from the French in 1943, Lebanon suffered a fifteen-year civil war from 1975. Baalbek, at the foot of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range near the border with Syria, has been inhabited for thousands of years. What started as a small village associated with a temple to the sun god Hadad or Baal, became the magnificent Roman city, Heliopolis. Several Roman emperors initiated enormous building projects there. Some of these still stand today like the Temple of Bacchus, pictured here. Commissioned by Emperor Antoninus Pius (86-161 AD), the Temple is one of best preserved, with 19 of its 42 original Corinthian columns still standing. The ruins at Baalbek are a World Heritage site.