The Temple of Baalat Gebal ( ar, معبد بعلة جبيل ''maebad baalat jbeil'') was an important

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

temple structure in the

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

. The temple was dedicated to Ba'alat Gebal, the goddess of the city of

, known later to the Greeks as

Atargatis Atargatis (; grc, Ἀτάργατις, translit=Atárgatis or arc, , translit=ʿtrʿth; syc, ܬܪܥܬܐ, translit=Tarʿaṯā) was the chief goddess of northern Syria in Classical antiquity. Ctesias also used the name Derketo ( grc-koi, Δε� ...

. Built in 2800 BCE, it was the largest and most important sanctuary in ancient Byblos, and is considered to be "one of the first monumental structures of the Syro-Palestinian region". Two centuries after the construction of the Temple of Baalat Gebal, the

Temple of the Obelisks The Temple of the Obelisks (french: Temple aux Obelisques, ar, معبد الأنصاب ''maebad al'ansab''), also known as the L-shaped Temple and Temple of Resheph was an important Bronze Age temple structure in the World Heritage Site of Byblo ...

was built approximately 100m to the east. The length and continuity of its history as an active temple is "remarkable" and "supports its centrality in the life of the city". An important group of Byblos figurines were found in the temple; these figurines have become the "poster child" of the Lebanese Tourism Ministry.

Background

The temple, and its patroness, Ba‘alat Gebal, were venerated in the city for more than two millennia during the Canaanite and Phoenician eras. It was constructed when Byblos had close ties with Egypt, and a number of Egyptian references are found throughout the temple complex. The temple itself was expanded a number of times and remained in use until the Roman era.

Modern identification and excavation

The site of the temple is near the Crusaders'

Byblos Castle Byblos Castle is a Crusader castle in Byblos, Lebanon. In Crusader times it was known as the Castle of Gibelet , also spelled Giblet, which belonged to the Genoese Embriaco family, Lords of the city. It is adjacent to the Phoenician archaeological ...

, and was first excavated by French archaeologist

Pierre Montet Jean Pierre Marie Montet (27 June 1885 – 19 June 1966) was a French Egyptologist. Biography Montet was born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, Rhône, and began his studies under Victor Loret at the University of Lyon. He excavated at Byblos in ...

from 1921–24 and subsequently in the early part of

Maurice Dunand Maurice Dunand (4 March 1898 – 23 March 1987) was a prominent French archaeologist specializing in the ancient Near East, who served as director of the Mission Archéologique Française in Lebanon. Dunand excavated Byblos from 1924 to 1975, and ...

's excavation of the city. Montet published two sketches of his excavations, and Dunand published a few plans for the wider sector of excavations in his 1939 volume. Almost all of the artifacts found in the excavation of the temple are displayed at the

National Museum of Beirut The National Museum of Beirut ( ar, متحف بيروت الوطنيّ, ''Matḥaf Bayrūt al-waṭanī'' or French language, French: Musée national de Beyrouth) is the principal museum of archaeology in Lebanon. The collection begun after World ...

. The temple now sits east of the Roman theater. The theater, built around AD 218, was reconstructed and moved to allow excavation of the temple site.

Gallery

File:Baalat Gebal Byblos.jpg, View of the temple's inner rooms’ foundations File:Pierre Montet's 1924 diagram of the Byblos archaeological site.jpg, Montet's 1924 diagram of the Byblos archaeological site File:Pierre Montet's 1924 diagram of the Byblos temples.jpg, Montet's 1924 diagram of the Byblos temples File:Phoenician statuettes.jpg, The Byblos figurines

Notes

References

* * * Espinel, Andrés Diego. “The Role of the Temple of Ba'alat Gebal as Intermediary between Egypt and Byblos during the Old Kingdom.” Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur, vol. 30, 2002, pp. 103–119. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25152861. * *

Archaeological reports

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External links

*{{commonscat-inline, Temple of Baalat Gebal Byblos Temples in Lebanon Phoenician sites in Lebanon Phoenician temples History of Byblos