Aaqbe, Akbeh, Aqbe, Akbe, Aaqabet, el-Aaqbe, Akraba, Aaqabet Rashaya or Akabe (العقبه) 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 go ...

situated west of

Rashaya Rashaya, Rachaya, Rashaiya, Rashayya or Rachaiya ( ar, راشيا), also known as Rashaya al-Wadi or Rachaya el-Wadi (and variations), is a town of the Rashaya District in the west of the Jnoub Government of Lebanon. It is situated at around ab ...

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Roman temple

The village contains the vestiges 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 ...

, one of Mount Hermon group of temples . The temple is situated on a hill with a commanding view of

Mount Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

. George F. Taylor classified it as an

Antae temple An antae temple, also a ''distyle in antis'' temple, is a special name given to a type of ancient Greek or Roman temple that has side walls that extend to form a porch at the front or rear (or both) and terminated in structural pillars that were ca ...

of a rugged design that lacked decoration. He noted that the doorway of the temple does not face the summit; it aligns instead to a northerly area of the mountain that is covered by a ridge. The temple featured a niche that may have housed a

cult statue In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rom ...

of which only the framing columns have survived. Three sections of the east antae pillar were also still in place.

References

Bibliography

External links

Aaqabet
Localiban

* ttp://www.discoverlebanon.com/en/panoramic_views/roman-temples-lebanon.php Roman Temples on discoverlebanon.combr>3D Google Earth map of En Nebi Safa on www.gmap3d.com Aaqabet Rashaya on wikimapia Aaqabet Rashaya on wikimapia
{{Roman Archaeological sites in Beirut & Lebanon Populated places in Rashaya District Archaeological sites in Lebanon Ancient Roman temples Roman sites in Lebanon Tourist attractions in Lebanon