Yammoune is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

situated northwest of

Baalbek Baalbek (; ar, بَعْلَبَكّ, Baʿlabakk, Syriac-Aramaic: ܒܥܠܒܟ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In Greek and Roman ...

Baalbek District Baalbek District ( ar, قضاء بعلبك) is an administrative district in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon, having the city Baalbek as its capital. It is by far the largest district in the country comprising a total of ...

Baalbek-Hermel Governorate french: Baalbek-Hermel , settlement_type = Governorate , image_skyline = Baalbek (4594513263).jpg , image_caption = Baalbek , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_shield = , image ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The village has a few hundred inhabitants. During the 1970s

Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur or Mohtashami ( fa, سید علی‌اکبر محتشمی‌پور‎; 30 August 1947 – 7 June 2021) was an Iranian Shia cleric who was active in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and later became interior minister of the Is ...

lived in Yammoune whilst receiving military training at a

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

camp. He later held a number of senior posts in the

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

government. He wrote about the village “Their men are courageous and mostly armed ... They don’t submit to government authority and don’t pay for water and electricity. They have fought several times with neighbouring Christian villages and have won. They like the hiiteclergy.”

Ancient Roman temple

There are the ruins of a

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of Ro ...

(possibly with phoenician-greek origins) in the village that are included in a grouping of Roman

Temples of the Beqaa Valley The Temples of the Beqaa Valley are a number of shrines and Roman temples that are dispersed around the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon. The most important and famous are those in Roman Heliopolis. A few temples are built on former buildings of the Phoen ...

. It is said to be dedicated to

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

(or possibly also

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart (Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar (East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name i ...

, before the Roman era in the region). Part of two enclosure walls and the temple foundations remain intact. Many inscriptions, written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

were found at the temple site. A few

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

inscriptions were also found. It is considered likely to be initially very small and of

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n origin, but it was greatly enlarged and improved by the Romans :All that remains of the Roman temple today is a retaining wall of limestone blocks which goes down to the lake level. Beneath are supposed to be subterranean chambers. Presumably dedicated to Venus-Astrate, legend has it that when Typhon made war against the heavens, it was at Yammouneh that Venus changed herself into a fish...A great water cavern west of the temple fills the lake each year, although at other times it may appear almost dry. Luxurious Roman villas used to occupy the area between the cavern and the temple and numerous altars, statues and other elements have been discovered nearby.

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...

visited the site and discovered sections of a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

and parts of

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

attributed to the temple. A partly broken cockle

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

with a figure of a goddess with outstretched arms was also found recently during ploughing by a

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

. The ancient name of Yammoune is not known however some have suggested that it was once the location of a

Festival of Adonis A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

. The temple is situated on a hill, approximately from the main

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

in the area, the Naba al-Arbain. It lies next to the lake where it is considered ancient worshippers took

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

from the temple at

Afqa Afqa ( ar, افقا; also spelled ''Afka'') is a village and municipality located in the Byblos District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, northeast of Beirut in Lebanon. It has an average elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level and a total la ...

to purify themselves in the temple waters. Michael Alouf found a statue of

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

in the temple, carrying an ear of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

in one hand and a

quivver John Graham is a British record producer, songwriter, vocalist who is also known under the pseudonyms Quivver, Skanna, Stoneproof and Space Manoeuvres. He was a former member of music production team Tilt (progressive house band), Tilt and has re ...

and a

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

in the other. He stored the statue at a museum he founded in the ruins of

. Alouf also found a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

measuring , located southeast of the lake. He also found another square building measuring approximately next to this road. The building was constructed of large stones and an

inscription was found inside. He considered it an ancient

guardhouse A guardhouse (also known as a watch house, guard building, guard booth, guard shack, security booth, security building, or sentry building) is a building used to house personnel and security equipment. Guardhouses have historically been dormi ...

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

for protection of travellers. He suggested that

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

s were consulted at the temple in connection with

Queen Zenobia Septimia Zenobia (Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city, ...

, who legend tells, sent offerings to the

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

by placing them on the lake. If the offerings sunk to the floor of the lake, then the goddess had accepted them. If the offerings floated, then they had been rejected and gave a bad

omen An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second ...

and the surrounding lands.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

records that the Emperor

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

destroyed a temple of Venus 'on the summit of Mount Lebanon.' and probably it was this pagan temple dedicated to Venus.

Geology

The village lies on the Yammoune Fault line, a geological fault responsible for several historical

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

s in the area. A new section of the fault was discovered in 2010 by Ata Elias of the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. They studied samples from a trench in Marjahine that will allow them to improve dating on historical earthquakes and better predict future ones.

Lake Yammoune

Lake Yammoune is home to Lebanon's only endemic

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

, '' Pseudophoxinus libani''.Jaradi, Ghassan Ramasdan., State & Trends of the Lebanese Environment, Chapter 5, Biodiversity and Forests, United Nations Development Programme for the Lebanese Ministry of the Environment, p. 157, 2010.
/ref> In

Phoenician Mythology Sanchuniathon (; Ancient Greek: ; probably from Phoenician: , "Sakon has given"), also known as Sanchoniatho the Berytian, was a Phoenician author. His three works, originally written in the Phoenician language, survive only in partial paraphras ...

, the goddess

turned herself into a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

en fish in Yammoune lake to escape from the vengeance of

's wrathful brother

Typhon Typhon (; grc, Τυφῶν, Typhôn, ), also Typhoeus (; grc, Τυφωεύς, Typhōeús, label=none), Typhaon ( grc, Τυφάων, Typháōn, label=none) or Typhos ( grc, Τυφώς, Typhṓs, label=none), was a monstrous serpentine giant an ...

. The lake is filled from a water cavern to the west of the temple has only one outflow, through a big hole and Robert Boulanger suggested that it might dry up entirely at the end of summer. The valley of Ouyoun Ergush leads from Yammoune towards Marjhine. A network of rock-cut irrigation channels and watercourses lead from Lake Yammoune to provide irrigation for the region of the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

around Baalbek.

Possible early sanctuary of El

Marvin H. Pope (Yale University) identified the home of El in the

Ugaritic texts The Ugaritic texts are a corpus of ancient cuneiform texts discovered since 1928 in Ugarit (Ras Shamra) and Ras Ibn Hani in Syria, and written in Ugaritic, an otherwise unknown Northwest Semitic language. Approximately 1,500 texts and fragments ...

of ca. 1200 BCE, described as "at the source of the worivers, in the midst of the fountains of the wodeeps", with this famous lake and

, source of the river Adonis on the other side of the mountain, which Pope asserted was closely associated with it in legend.

Yammoune nature reserve

The area has been classed as a scientific and cultural

since 1998 and is known for distinguishing

juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

trees. The area is popular as a

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

.DHIAFEE Program, Suggested tours.
/ref>

References

External links

Localiban
yammouneh.blogspot.co.ukYammoune on discoverlebanon.comPanoramic view of Lake Yammoune on discoverlebanon.comYammouneh Cultural Club Facebook page
* ttp://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/mot/photobase/images/MT4/JPEG0558.html Photo of Yammoune watercourse on the website of the American University of Beirutbr>Photo of Yammoune temple on the website of the American University of Beirut
* ttp://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/mot/photobase/images/MT5/JPEG0023.html Photo of Yammoune temple on the website of the American University of Beirutbr>Yammouneh on wikimapia.orgYammouneh municipality on wikimapia.org
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