Stone of the Pregnant Woman

The Stone of the Pregnant Woman.

The Stone of the Pregnant Woman (Arabic: Hadjar el Hibla‎‎) or Stone of the South is a Roman monolith ^[1] in Baalbek (ancient Heliopolis), Lebanon. Together with another ancient stone block nearby, it is among the largest monoliths ever quarried. The two building blocks were intended for the nearby Roman temple complex, possibly as an addition to the so-called trilithon, and are characterised by a monolithic gigantism that was unparallelled in antiquity.

Name

Stone of the Pregnant Woman on an early 20th-century lantern slide.

There are multiple stories behind the name. One says the monolith is named after a pregnant woman who tricked the people of Baalbek into believing that she knew how to move the giant stone if only they would feed her until she gave birth.^[2] Others say the name comes from the legends that pregnant jinn were assigned the task of cutting and moving the stone,^[3] while others say that the name reflects the belief that a woman who touches the stone experiences an increase in fertility.^[4]

Location

The stone block still lies in the ancient quarry at a distance of 900 m from the Heliopolis temple complex.^[5] In 1996, a geodetic team of the Austrian city of Linz conducted topographical measurements at the site which aimed at establishing the exact dimensions of the two monoliths and their possible use in the construction of the gigantic Jupiter temple.^[6] According to their calculations, the block weighs 1,000.12 t,^[7] thus practically confirming older estimations such as that of Jean-Pierre Adam.^[8]

The rectangular stone block is:

• 20.31–20.76 m long^[9]
• 4 m wide at the base^[9]
• 4.14–5.29 m wide at the top^[9]
• 4.21–4.32 m high^[9]
• Has an estimated density of 2.6–2.8 g/cm³^[9]

Second monolith

The second Roman monolith, discovered at Baalbek in the 1990s and weighing 1242 t.

A second ancient monolith was discovered in the same quarry in the 1990s. With its weight estimated at 1242 t, it surpasses even the dimension of the Stone of the Pregnant Woman.^[10]

These are dimensions of the rectangular stone block, assuming that its shape is consistent in its still-buried parts:

• 19.5–20.5 m long^[10]
• 4.34–4.56 m wide^[10]
• 4.5 m high^[10]
• Has an estimated density of 2.6–2.8 g/cm³^[10]

Third monolith

The Stone Of Janeen

A third ancient monolith was discovered in the same quarry in 2014 by the German Archaeological Institute and named "Janeen" which means in Arabic the baby infant. Its weight is estimated at around 1650 t, making it the largest stone ever carved by human hands.^[11]

It measures:

• 19.6 m long
• 6 m wide
• at least 5.5 m high (still partly buried)

See also

• Western Stone
• List of ancient architectural records

References

Sources

• Adam, Jean-Pierre (1977), "À propos du trilithon de Baalbek: Le transport et la mise en oeuvre des mégalithes", Syria (in French), 54 (1/2): 31–63, doi:10.3406/syria.1977.6623 
• 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 

External links

• Media related to Stone of the Pregnant Woman at Wikimedia Commons

Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir el Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid al lawz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Niha Bekaa Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Tlail megaliths Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre, Lebanon Wadi Boura Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé

Coordinates: 33°59′57″N 36°12′01″E / 33.99917°N 36.20028°E / 33.99917; 36.20028