Bakka, Bekka or Beka ( ar, بكّا) is a

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 ...

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 ...

situated east of

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in the

Rashaya District Rashaya District ( ar, قضاء راشيا) is an administrative district in the Beqaa Governorate of the Republic of Lebanon. Most of Rachaya's population are Druze with a Sunni and Shia and Christian Christians () are people who follow ...

of the

Beqaa Governorate Beqaa ( ') is a governorate in Lebanon. Districts Since 2014, Beqaa Governorate contains three districts: * West Beqaa * Rashaya * Zahle A law was passed in 2003 to separate Baalbek District and Hermel District from Beqaa Governorate to form a ...

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 lie ...

. The population of the village is

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

Wadi Bakka

The Wadi Bakka or Wadi Bekka runs alongside the village. The

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...

was the scene of the Battle of Wadi Bakka where a

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

uprising was put down by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt during the

1838 Druze revolt The 1838 Druze revoltGoren, Haim. ''Dead Sea Level: Science, Exploration and Imperial Interests in the Near East.'' p.95-96. was a Druze uprising in Syria against the authority of Ibrahim Pasha and effectively against the Egypt Eyalet, ruled by ...

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 ...

in the village that are included in a group of Temples of Mount Hermon.Tallon, Maurice., “Sanctuaires et itinéraires romains du. Chouf et du sud de la Béqa,” Mélanges de l'université Saint Joseph 43, pp. 233-50, 1967. George Taylor classified it as a prostylos temple and noted that the north and south walls remained standing and the podium floor had survived. The site has been heavily damaged by local construction of houses over the site. The temple featured an underground

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

that was accessible via one of the houses that had been built over it. George Taylor divided up the Temples of Lebanon into three groups, one group of

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 Phoeni ...

lies north of the road from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. Second, there is the group in the area south of the same road, including the

Wadi al-Taym Wadi al-Taym ( ar, وادي التيم, Wādī al-Taym), also transliterated as Wadi el-Taym, is a wadi (dry river) that forms a large fertile valley in Lebanon, in the districts of Rachaya and Hasbaya on the western slopes of Mount Hermon. It ad ...

and the western flank of Mount Hermon. Third, the group in the area west of a line drawn along the ridge of Mount Lebanon. There are relatively few temples along Lebanon's coastal plain. The Temples of Mount Hermon in Taylor's second group included Bakka and Ain Harcha, Aaiha, Deir El Aachayer, Dekweh, Yanta, Hebbariye, Ain Libbaya,

Nebi Safa Nebi Safa, Nabi Safa, Neby Sufa, An Nabi Safa, An Nabi Safa' or En Nabi Safa also known as Mazraet Selsata or Thelthatha is a village in the Kfar Mishki municipality situated west of Rashaya in the Rashaya District of the Beqaa Governorate in Leb ...

Aaqbe Aaqbe, Akbeh, Aqbe, Akbe, Aaqabet, el-Aaqbe, Akraba, Aaqabet Rashaya or Akabe (العقبه) is a village and municipality situated west of Rashaya in the Rashaya District of the Beqaa Governorate in Lebanon. Roman temple The village contains ...

, Khirbet El-Knese, Mejdal Anjar, Mdoukha. Edward Robinson suggested that word ''bakka'' could have derived from the later

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

meaning of ''crowd''. Others have linked it to the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

word ''bikha'' meaning ''plain''.

References

External links

Bakka on Localiban
* ttp://www.discoverlebanon.com/en/panoramic_views/roman-temples-lebanon.php Roman Temples on discoverlebanon.combr>Bekka Roman temple on www.lebanon.com Bakka on Geody.com Bakka municipality on Wikimapia
{{Roman Archaeological sites in Beirut & Lebanon Populated places in Rashaya District Sunni Muslim communities in Lebanon Archaeological sites in Lebanon Ancient Roman temples Roman sites in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Lebanon