Temple of Baalat Gebal

Temple of Baalat Gebal
	The temple excavations in 1950
	Shown within Lebanon
Location	Byblos
Coordinates	34°07′09″N 35°38′45″E / 34.11917°N 35.64583°E
Site notes
Excavation dates	1922

The Temple of Baalat Gebal (Arabic: معبد بعلة جبيل maebad baalat jbeil) was an important Bronze Age temple structure in the World Heritage Site of Byblos.^[1] The temple was dedicated to Ba'alat Gebal, the goddess of the city of Byblos, known later to the Greeks as Atargatis.^[2] Built in 2800 BCE,^[3] it was the largest and most important sanctuary in ancient Byblos,^[4] and is considered to be "one of the first monumental structures of the Syro-Palestinian region".^[3] Two centuries after the construction of the Temple of Baalat Gebal, the Temple of the Obelisks was built approximately 100m to the east.^[3]

The length and continuity of its history as an active temple is "remarkable" and "supports its centrality in the life of the city".^[5]

An important group of Byblos figurines were found in the temple;^[6]^[7]^[8] these figurines have become the "poster child" of the Lebanese Tourism Ministry.^[9]

^ Boda 1994, p. 146.
^ Espinel, Andrés Diego (2002). "The Role of the Temple of Ba'alat Gebal as Intermediary between Egypt and Byblos during the Old Kingdom". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 30: 103–119. JSTOR 25152861.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bryce 2009, p. 138.
^ Kilani 2019, p. 53-54.
^ Kilani 2019, p. 54.
^ WorldWide: Lebanon, Biblical Archaeology Review 34:5, September/October 2008
^ Hakimian, Suzy (2008). "Byblos: Standing Figures". Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1-58839-295-4. More than fifteen hundred male figurines...
^ Aubet, Maria Eugenia (31 January 2013). Commerce and Colonization in the Ancient Near East. Cambridge University Press. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-0-521-51417-0. The most characteristic assemblage of offerings is without doubt the bronze figurines representing Baal, many of them covered in gold plate. Almost 2,000 figurines of this type have been found — an important group coming from the Temple of Baalat Gebal — the majority in the Temple of the Obelisks, where more than twenty votive deposits and pitchers with figurines of different typologies have been found
^ Steiner, Margreet L.; Killebrew, Ann E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: C. 8000-332 BCE. OUP Oxford. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-19-921297-2.

[FOOTNOTEBoda1994146-1] Boda 1994, p. 146.

[2] Espinel, Andrés Diego (2002). "The Role of the Temple of Ba'alat Gebal as Intermediary between Egypt and Byblos during the Old Kingdom". Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur. 30: 103–119. JSTOR 25152861.

[FOOTNOTEBryce2009138-3] Bryce 2009, p. 138.

[FOOTNOTEKilani201953-54-4] Kilani 2019, p. 53-54.

[FOOTNOTEKilani201954-5] Kilani 2019, p. 54.

[6] WorldWide: Lebanon, Biblical Archaeology Review 34:5, September/October 2008

[Hakimian-7] Hakimian, Suzy (2008). "Byblos: Standing Figures". Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade, and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-1-58839-295-4. More than fifteen hundred male figurines...

[Aubet2013-8] Aubet, Maria Eugenia (31 January 2013). Commerce and Colonization in the Ancient Near East. Cambridge University Press. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-0-521-51417-0. The most characteristic assemblage of offerings is without doubt the bronze figurines representing Baal, many of them covered in gold plate. Almost 2,000 figurines of this type have been found — an important group coming from the Temple of Baalat Gebal — the majority in the Temple of the Obelisks, where more than twenty votive deposits and pitchers with figurines of different typologies have been found

[SteinerKillebrew2014-9] Steiner, Margreet L.; Killebrew, Ann E. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: C. 8000-332 BCE. OUP Oxford. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-19-921297-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]