Triparadeisos
Triparadeisos or Triparadisus (
Triparadeisos was the place where the
Early history
Ancient Triparadeisos -later named Heliopolis- initially formed part of the
It was annexed by the
Indeed, the veterans of two Roman legions were established in the city (and region) of Berytus by emperor Augustus: the fifth Macedonian and the third Gallic.,[2] and Heliopolis from 15 BC to 193 AD formed part of the territory of Berytus. The population -probably nearly 15000 inhabitants- was mainly local in the second century under Hadrian with a few descendants of the Roman colonists and likely varied seasonally with market fairs and the schedules of the caravans to the coast and interior.
According to Schlumberger, during the Roman conquest the city's
Roman Heliopolis
Triparadeisos/Heliopolis from 15 BC to 193 AD formed part of the territory of Berytus and was partially romanized.
During
Heliopolis was a noted
was born in Heliopolis in the third century.The Roman temple complex grew up from the early part of the reign of
Ultimately, the site vied with
The emperor Trajan consulted the site's oracle twice. In 193 AD, Septimius Severus granted the city the famous ius Italicum rights[8] and the city grew in importance in all the Roman Levant.
In the third century Triparadeisos started to be called only Heliopolis and had a population of nearly 20000 inhabitants. There was an hippodrome with even a theater, just outside the "Great Court" area of the temples. Additionally a temple of Mercury stood on top of the hill outside the ramparts. A long staircase led up to it from the town, as is shown on coins of Heliopolis struck under emperor Philip the Arab. Remains of the temple, the line of the staircase, and parts of its parapet have been found. Still remain some sections of the Roman walls, with square forts around the old city[9]
Under Constantine the Great Christianity was declared officially the religion of the Roman empire and the pagan Temples of Heliopolis started to be neglected. Later the Byzantines used some materials from the abandoned temples[10]
With the Arab conquest the city fell to nearly complete ruins and only one hundred inhabitants remained there in the late eight century.
Monoliths
Triparadeisos/Heliopolis contains some of the biggest monoliths of
Date | Building / Object | Monolith | Weight (in t) |
Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st–2nd c. | Stone of the Pregnant Woman[11]
|
Block in quarry | 1000.12 | |
? | Unnamed monolith[12]
|
Block in quarry | 1242 | |
? | Unnamed monolith
|
Block in quarry | 1650 | Biggest monolith in the world |
1st–2nd c. | Layer beneath Trilithon[13]/ | Blocks, several | ∅350 | Podium of Jupiter temple |
1st–2nd c. | Trilithon[13] | Blocks, three | ∅800 | Podium of Jupiter temple |
1st–2nd c. | Temple of Jupiter
|
Column drum, lower | 48.5 | |
1st–2nd c. | Temple of Jupiter
|
Architrave-frieze block, central | 63 | Lifted by cranes to height of 19 m[14] |
1st–2nd c. | Temple of Jupiter
|
Cornice block, corner | 108 | Lifted by cranes to height of 19 m[14] |
References
- ^ Daniel Schlumberger, "Triparadisos," Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth 22 (1969):147–49
- ^ Roman Berytus: a colony of legionaries
- ^ a b Cook Arthur 550
- ^ Video-Panoramas of the Sanctuary temples at Discover Lebanon: Heliopolis temples
- ^ Cook Arthur 552
- ^ Cook Arthur 471
- ^ Cook Arthur 554
- ^ Ulpian, De Censibus, Bk. I.
- ^ Treccani: Heliopolis (in Italian)
- ^ Jean Baptiste Yvon."The Levant-History & Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean". pp 130-138
- ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 15
- ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 17
- ^ .
- ^ S2CID 162973494.
Bibliography
- Beydoun, Ahmad. Le Liban, une histoire disputée: identité et temps dans l'histoire libanaise contemporaine Beyrouth, Publications de l'Université Libanaise, 1984.
- Carter, Terry & Dunston, Lara. Libano Torino, EDT, 2004. ISBN 88-7063-748-4
- Cook, Arthur Bernard. Zeus: A Study in Ancient Religion ([1]). volume=Vol. I: Zeus God of the Bright Sky. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1914
- Ruprechtsberger, Erwin M. (1999), "Vom Steinbruch zum Jupitertempel von Heliopolis/Baalbek (Libanon)" [From the quarry to the Jupiter temple of Heliopolis/Baalbek (Lebanon)], Linzer Archäologische Forschungen (in German), 30: 7–56
See also
- Temple of Jupiter (Roman Heliopolis)
- Berytus
- Roman Phoenicia