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Nahle
Village
Country  Lebanon
Governorate Baalbek-Hermel
District Baalbek
Nahle
نحله
Nahle, Lebanon is located in Lebanon
Nahle, Lebanon
Shown within Lebanon
Location6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northeast of Baalbek
Region Baalbek
Coordinates 34°03′30″N 36°17′58″E / 34.05833°N 36.29944°E / 34.05833; 36.29944
History
Cultures Roman
Site notes
ConditionRuins
Public accessYes

Nahle ( Arabic: نحله Nahlah)), is a village situated 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northeast of Baalbek in Baalbek District, Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, Lebanon. [1] It has the ruins of a roman temple.

Name

The name "Nahlah" means "honey bee". [2]

History

Nahle was probably founded during Roman rule of the region, that was called in the first century Roman Phoenicia.

The 13th-century geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi listed Nahlah in his geographical dictionary, with its entry being "a village lying 3 miles from Ba'labakk". [2]

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Nahleh as a Metawileh village in the Baalbek area. [3]

Actually Nahle is located above a deep and very pretty valley. It is noteworthy to pinpoint that the slopes of this village are studded with the familiar burial chambers often found near Roman/Byzantine sites.

Roman temple

There are the ruins of a Roman temple in the village that are included in a group of Temples of the Beqaa Valley. [4]

The temple foundations are made of gigantic blocks of stone, upon which sit the remains of a podium. The podium has a long inscription written on it that is now almost impossible to read. [1] The huge foundations indicate that there was a huge temple over these foundations during roman centuries. [5]

This sanctuary consisted of two parts: an open air court and a large room with a ceiling where notches for the wooden beam still exist. Only a few courses of stone are still standing, but the temple maintains its dignity despite crowding by modern village residences.

References

  1. ^ a b George Taylor (1967). The Roman temples of Lebanon: a pictorial guide. Dar el-Machreq Publishers. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b Le Strange, Guy (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems. London: A. P. Watt. p. 514. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  3. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 145
  4. ^ Othmar Keel (1997). The Symbolism of the Biblical World: Ancient Near Eastern Iconography and the Book of Psalms. Eisenbrauns. pp. 159–. ISBN  978-1-57506-014-9. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  5. ^ Nahle roman temple

Bibliography

External links