Wonder: Great Temple Complex of Baalbek

Ukas

Ukas

Pthooey of Tomainia
Joined
Mar 31, 2002
Messages
1,439
Location
Oulu, Finland


Another splash:



LBPB requested temple of Baalbek, located in Lebanon. Happy that it's done, took a lot of work. Didn't exactly made it from thousands of cuts, painted some too but still, at least few hundreds cuts I made. Because of balancing many of them doesn't show. But, nice thing to do something quite complex for a change.

Edit: added another splash, Arne made one quite nice too, Arne's splash in post #9.

Have fun,

Ukas
 

Attachments

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  • baalbek-splash.zip
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Oooooohhhh.... aaaaahhhhhhhh.........

This is fantastic! But what is/was exactly the temple of Baalbek?
 
sweet! sweet!
 
Umm... so who would this be used for? After all, it seems that most of the buildings on the complex were built at different times by different people... and the original structures seem to have been built by God only knows who... I'm betting on Martians...
 
RedAlert said:
Oooooohhhh.... aaaaahhhhhhhh.........

This is fantastic! But what is/was exactly the temple of Baalbek?
Click to expand...

It's a great Temple Complex in Lebanon.
I requested to Ukas the Jupiter's version from the Seleucids/Romans era.
Try this link for pics...
http://www.lgic.org/english/eng-mainphotos2-baalbek.htm

And this link for complete explanations & description...
http://www.sacredsites.com/middle_east/lebanon/baalbek.htm

Approximately 86 kilometers northeast of the city of Beirut in eastern Lebanon lies the great temple complex of Baalbek. Situated atop a high point in the fertile Bekaa valley, the ruins are one of the most extraordinary and enigmatic holy places of ancient times. Long before the Romans conquered the site and built their enormous temple of Jupiter, long even before the Phonecians constructed a temple to the god Baal, there stood at Baalbek the largest stone block construction found in all the world.

The origin of the name Baalbek is not precisely known and there is some difference of opinion among scholars. The Phonecian term Baal (as the Hebrew term Adon) simply means ‘lord’ or ‘god’ and was the title given to the Semitic sky-deity worshipped throughout the archaic Middle East. The word Baalbek may mean 'God of the Bekaa valley' (the local area) or ‘God of the Town’, depending on different interpretations of the word. Ancient legends assert that Baalbek was the birthplace of Baal. Some scholars have suggested that Baal (Assyrian Hadad) was only one of a triad of Phoenician deities that were once venerated at this site - the others being his son Aliyan, who presided over well-springs and fecundity, and his daughter Anat (Assyrian Atargatis).

In the Seleucid (323-64 BC) and Roman (64 BC-312 AD) periods, the town became known as Heliopolis, the ‘City of the Sun.' The sky/sun god Jupiter became the central deity of the shrine during this time. Arguably the most important deity of the Romans and taking over the role of Zeus in the Greek pantheon, Jupiter was probably chosen to replace the much earlier worship of the Phonecian god Baal who had many characteristics in common with the Greek Zeus. Many Roman emperors were of Syrian birth, so it would not have been unusual for them to have promoted the worship of the country's indigenous deities under their adopted Roman names. Whatever the nature of the pre-Roman worship at Baalbek, its veneration of Baal created a hybrid form of the god Jupiter, generally referred to as Jupiter Heliopolitan. The Romans also assimilated the worship of the goddess Astarte with that of Aphrodite or Venus, and the god Adonis was identified with Bacchus.
 
Oh, Ukas, I saw a little error on the temple but it's not a big deal cause it's already fantastic.


The left side of the colonade of the great court is missing, it should be like the right side of the colonade. This zone has been cut on the graphic sketch I've sent to you for the needs of seeing the inside court...



btw : Nice splash what is it exactly ?
 
@Dom Pedro II: You're right I think, many cultures took part building it in different times.

@LBPB: I figured that much out comparing the ruins to the sketch. I sketched a colonade and tried to fit it on the left, but the result looked too messy. I think you get better idea of the thing this way. I couldn't come up with good splash idea, so I took a cut from a tourist photo of the ruins and added a priest.
 
Great as always, especially I like the Pediaicon.

I once started making the Temple of Baalbek myself, but never finished, becouse I didn't need it longer for my scenario. IIRC there must be a wonder splash, hm... wait a moment, I'll going looking for that an upload then.

[edit: here is the splash version of mine. Well, it may not look better than thatone from ukas, but it will be a little different. I also used a colonade and filled background with a sketch from Baalbek.]
 
Nice work Ukas I love it. Will be a great civ-specific temple in my mod.
 
Very interesting. Thanks, LBPB.

And thank you, Ukas, for making this wonder of a wonder.
 
This is your best yet. I have a pcx of a glass structure I would love to see you turn into a useable Wonder, if you would be so kind and able to do it.
 
Thanks for the link LBPB, I love learning about things like this. Very interesting. Just another site to add to my list of must-see-before-I-die. Man, that thing must have been huge :eek:
 
That is surely a Wonder i will put in my scenario!!!
(Check my Avatar!!!)

;-)
Thx Ukas fot that, and LBPB for your request!
GT
 
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