Date

Circa 1910

The "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" (Arabic: Hadjar el Hibla‎) or Stone of the South is a Roman monolith. Together with another ancient stone block nearby, it is among the very largest monoliths ever quarried by men. The two building blocks were intended for the close-by Roman temple complex − possibly as an addition to the so-called trilith − whose monolithic gigantism remained unparalled in antiquity and beyond. Greco-Roman site in Lebanon, a large and important ancient city; was identified with worship of Baal, a Semitic sun-god (thus the name Heliopolis); most buildings were erected under reign of Roman Antoninus Pius 138-161. Its remains chiefly comprise the vast Sanctuary of Jupiter Heliopolitanus (begun ca. 1st century BCE), the exceptionally well preserved 'Temple of Bacchus' (2nd century CE) and an elegant circular temple perhaps dedicated to Venus (3rd century CE). The ancient city lay on the caravan route from Damascus and Palmyra to the Phoenician coastal cities and was occupied from prehistoric times, although it did not become important until the Hellenistic period (323-27 BCE).