Hajar El-Hubla
On the way to the temple complex, one can stop at the Hajar
El-Hubla, claimed by many (especially here in Baalbeck) to be
the
largest
hewn block of stone in the world. It still rests here in this
quarry
which
the was source of much of the stone for the temples. It is 21.3
meters
of crystalline limestone. It certainly rivals the obelisk of
Hatshepsut
at Karnak Egypt in size. Its scale also raises the same question
that
confronts
Egyptologists in respect to the Pyramids: how did the
Phoenicians
transport these huge stones? Nobody
seems to know for certain. There is also a legend associated
with the
stone.
It seems an infertile woman spent the night on the stone and
woke to
discover
the next day that she was with child. Since that time locals
refer to
it
as "the stone of the Pregnant Woman."
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