Editing Baalbek (section)

===Prehistory===
The hilltop of [[Tell (archaeology)|Tell]] Baalbek, part of a valley to the east of the northern [[Beqaa Valley]]{{sfnp|Jessup|1881|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mzdQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA453 453]}} ({{langx|la|[[Coele-Syria]]}}),{{sfnp|''EB''|1911}} shows signs of almost continual habitation over the last 8–9000 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lebanon, Baalbek |url=http://www.dainst.org/index_12_en.html |location=Berlin |publisher=[[German Archaeological Institute]] |date=2004 |access-date=8 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011160916/http://www.dainst.org/index_12_en.html |archive-date=11 October 2004 }}</ref> It was well-watered both from a stream running from the ''Rās al-ʿAyn'' [[spring (water)|spring]] southwest of the citadel{{sfnp|Jessup|1881|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mzdQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA456 456]}} and, during the [[spring (season)|spring]], from numerous rills formed by meltwater from the [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains|Anti-Lebanons]].{{sfnp|''DGRG''|1878|p=1036}} [[Macrobius]] later credited the site's foundation to a colony of [[ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] or [[Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] priests.{{sfnp|''DGRG''|1878|p=1036}} The settlement's religious, commercial, and strategic importance was minor enough, however, that it is never mentioned in any known [[Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] or [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] record,<ref>Hélène Sader.{{where|date=September 2015}}</ref> unless under another name.{{sfnp|''EB''|1878|p=176}} Its enviable position in a fertile valley, major watershed, and along the route from [[Ancient Tyre|Tyre]] to [[Palmyra]] should have made it a wealthy and splendid site from an early age.{{sfnp|''EB''|1878|p=176}}{{sfnp|''New Class. Dict.''|1862}} During the [[Canaanite religion|Canaanite]] period, the local temples were primarily devoted to the [[Heliopolitan Triad]]: a male god ([[Baʿal]]), his consort ([[Astarte]]), and their son ([[Tammuz (god)|Adon]]).{{sfnp|Jidejian|1975|p=47}} The site of the present [[Temple of Jupiter (Baalbek)|Temple of Jupiter]] was probably the focus of earlier worship, as its [[altar]] was located at the hill's precise summit and the rest of the sanctuary raised to its level.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

In [[Islamic mythology]], the temple complex was said to have been a palace of [[Solomon]]'s{{sfnp|Jessup|1881|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mzdQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA470 470]}}{{efn|Commonly mistaken by European visitors to have been the one described in the [[Old Testament|Biblical]] [[First Book of Kings]].<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings|7:2–7|HE}}.</ref>{{sfnp|''CT''|2010}}}} which was put together by ''[[djinn]]''{{sfnp|Volney|1787|p=224}}{{sfnp|''DGRG''|1878|p=1038}}{{sfnp|Jessup|1881|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mzdQAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA454 454]}} and given as a wedding gift to the [[Queen of Sheba]];{{sfnp|''EI''|1913|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA543 543]}} its actual [[#Antiquity|Roman origin]] remained obscured by the citadel's [[#Middle Ages|medieval fortifications]] as late as the 16th-century visit of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish]] prince [[Mikołaj Krzysztof "the Orphan" Radziwiłł|Radziwiłł]].{{sfnp|''CT''|2010}}{{sfnp|Radziwiłł|1601}}

{{anchor|Heliopolis|Roman Baalbek}}