Temple of Jupiter (Roman Heliopolis)

The Temple of Jupiter (Roman Heliopolis) was a colossal temple dedicated to the cult of Zeus, located in Heliopolis of Roman Phoenicia (Baalbeck of modern Lebanon). It was the main building in a huge "Great Court" (or "Sanctuary") of a Roman pagan temple complex that still partially stands.^[1]

History

The Temple of Jupiter in Heliopolis (in a complex area called even Sanctuary of Heliopolitan Zeus) presumably replaced an earlier Phoenician one that used the same foundation. The presence of a huge quarry was one of the reasons for the Roman decision to create a huge "Great Court" of a big pagan temple complex in this mountain site, located at nearly 1100 meters of altitude and on the eastern Borders of the Roman Empire: it took three centuries to create this colossal Roman paganism's temple complex.

On a single E-W axis almost 400 m long, the sanctuary of Heliopolitan Jupiter includes monumental propylaea, a hexagonal court, a large rectangular court, and the temple proper, where the cult idol was enthroned under a canopy in the cella.The sanctuary occupies an ancient tell, artificially enlarged by enormous works of terracing and masonry. At the W end near the N corner, the supporting walls contain three colossal quadrangular stones, called the "Trilithoi", each one nearly 20 by 4.5 by 3.6 m. Another even larger stone was left in a quarry at the foot of the hill W of the town. Two long vaulted galleries running E-W correspond at the basement level to the peristyle of the central court. They are open at the ends and joined by a transverse gallery. Some of their keystones carry Latin inscriptions. J.Rey-Coquais

The Temple of Jupiter —once wrongly credited to Helios^[2]— lay at the western end of the Great Court of Roman Heliopolis. It raised another 7 m (23 ft) on a 47.7 m × 87.75 m (156.5 ft × 287.9 ft) platform reached by a wide staircase.^[3]

This temple was dedicated to the Roman Zeus and the construction was started by Julius Caesar and continued later by Augustus: it was the biggest pagan temple dedicated to Jupiter in all the Roman empire. The columns were 30 meters high with a diameter of nearly 2.5 meters: the biggest in the classical world.

Under the Byzantines, it was also known as the "Trilithon" from the three massive stones in its foundation and, when taken together with the forecourt and Great Court, it is also known as the "Great Temple".^[4] The Temple of Jupiter proper was circled by a peristyle of 54 unfluted Corinthian columns:^[5] 10 in front and back and 19 along each side.^[3]

The remaining 6 standing colummns of the temple

The Temple-Sanctuary of Heliopolitan Zeus was ruined by earthquakes,^[6] destroyed and pillaged for stone under Theodosius,^[7] and 8 columns were taken to Constantinople (Istanbul) under Justinian for incorporation into the Hagia Sophia. Three fell during the late 18th century.^[8] 6 columns, however, remain standing along its south side with their entablature.^[3] Their capitals remain nearly perfect on the south side, while the Beqaa's winter winds have worn the northern faces almost bare.^[9] The architrave and frieze blocks weigh up to 60 tonnes (66 tons) each, and one corner block over 100 tonnes (110 tons), all of them raised to a height of 19 m (62.34 ft) above the ground.^[10] Individual Roman cranes were not capable of lifting stones this heavy. They may have simply been rolled into position along temporary earthen banks from the quarry^[9] or multiple cranes may have been used in combination. They may also have alternated sides a little at a time, filling in supports underneath each time.

The Julio-Claudian emperors enriched its Sanctuary in turn. In the mid-1st century, Nero built the tower-altar opposite the temple. In the early 2nd century, Trajan added the temple's forecourt, with porticos of pink granite shipped from Aswan at the southern end of Egypt.

See also

• Heliopolis of Phoenicia
• Roman Phoenicia
• Temple of Bacchus

Notes

1. ↑ Video of the actual Temple of Jupiter and the Sanctuary
2. ↑ Cook (1914), p. 565.
3. 1 2 3 Cook (1914), p. 560.
4. ↑ EB (1911), p. 90.
5. ↑ Jessup (1881), p. 460.
6. ↑ Cook (1914), p. 556.
7. ↑ Cook (1914), p. 555.
8. ↑ EB (1878), p. 177.
9. 1 2 Jessup (1881), p. 462.
10. ↑ Coulton (1974), p. 16.

Bibliography

• Cook, Arthur Bernard (1914), Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion, Vol. I: Zeus God of the Bright Sky, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
• Coulton, J.J. (1974), "Lifting in Early Greek Architecture", Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 94 .
• Jessup, Samuel (1881), "Ba'albek", Picturesque Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt, Div. II, New York: D. Appleton & Co., illustrated by Henry Fenn & J.D. Woodward, pp. 453–476 .

Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir el Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid al lawz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Niha Bekaa Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Tlail megaliths Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre, Lebanon Wadi Boura Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé

Roman Archaeological sites in Beirut & Lebanon
Roman Berytus (actual Beirut)	Berytus 1 Roman Forum of Berytus Berytus Roman Baths Cisterns of Berytus Baths Berytus Cardo Decumanus Berytus Colonnaded street Byzantine Mosaics Roman hippodrome of Berytus Roman Law school of Berytus
Roman Phoenicia (actual Lebanon)	Baalbeck (Heliopolis in Phoenicia) Temple of Bacchus Temples of Mount Hermon Temples of the Beqaa Valley Arca Caesarea Colonia Aurelia Pia "Sidon" Tyrus 1 Tripolis in Phoenicia Niha Tyre Necropolis Saraain El Faouqa Castra El Banat Castra Chbib Qal'at Bustra temple Nebi Safa temple Mansourieh Roman aqueduct Hebbariye temple Deir Mar Maroun Monastery Dakoue temple Canalizations of Zenobia Batroumine Bakka temple Amioun Monastery Ain Aata temple Afqa Aaqbe temple
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1 UNESCO World Heritage Sites 2 Proposed