The 3D Revolution is happening, so why not enjoy Lebanon’s beauty in True-Life 3D Photography captured by world expert 3D Photographer and Lebanese-American Sam Ramadan. What you will see will dazzle you and amaze you, You will not believe your eyes.
Live the past and transport yourself into Baalbeck’s castle and temple ruins, it is an experience you will not want to miss. Lebanon’s Vivid Experience CD series has been a best seller at Lebanon’s Airport Duty Free for the past 24 months straight, and now we are pleased to make the collection available to you via our own Mission3-D Factory’s Photo3-D Online Shop. Click Here to Purchase. We accept all major credit cards on our secured shopping site and you can also pay through PayPal.
Featured 3D images of Baalbeck, A Vivid Experience CD:
Baalbeck, Lebanon A Vivid Experience Photo3-D CD by Sam Ramadan captures stunning Photo3-D images of Baalbeck and presents it in a life-like slide show with newly composed music. The CD can be played in one of 4 languages (English, French, Arabic, and Chinese - all included).
Just place the CD inside your computer and get virtually transported to the stereo photographed Baalbeck scenes and enjoy your Photo3-D slide show tour while listening to soft music, or feel free to select your favorite scenes from the Photo3-D Gallery inside the CD.
The Baalbeck CD includes 40 stunning images from Baalbeck, and includes Stereo Binocular-Vision close-ups of detailed stone art that cannot be seen by the normal human eye. It works on both Mac OS/X and Windows. If you are a world traveler, historian, architect, Lebanese ex-patriot or a collector, you will not want to miss owning this CD. Click here now and to get your own copy.
“Special Promotional Offer”
Purchase Any Two CDs from Lebanon’s Vivid Experience collection and receive a FREE pair of Stylish and Durable Photo3D Glasses as a Gift ($15 value). Just make sure to mention in your order notes/comments that you saw this offer at “Sam Ramadan’s Mission3-D Blog”.
Other CDs in the collection are also available for Tripoli, Beirut, Byblos, Sayda, Sour, Batroun, Jounieh, Beiteddine, The Cedars.
Here are some fascinating information about Baalbeck:
The ruins of Baalbeck are situated in the Bekaa Valley, 85 kilometers from Beirut.
The exact date of its foundations is unknown. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Canaan, to which Baalbeck is closely associated, was translated into Greek as Phoenicia, from phoenix:
Canaan, which anciently comprised Lebanon and Syria, was translated into Greek as Phoenicia –from phoenix- presumably to reflect the endurance and the survival of the Canaanites through the domination of the various invaders (the Amorites, the Hyksos, the Egyptians, the Assyrians etc).
The phoenix is a mythical bird, fabled to live for five or six hundred years, after which it burnt itself to ashes, and emerged from it’s ashes with renewed youth, to live through another cycle of years; an emblem of immortality and resurrection.
To the Canaanites Baal was it’s sacred city, the equivalent of Lhasa to Buddhists, Jerusalem to Christians, Mecca to Muslims.
The original cave shrines of the Canaanites leave no recognizable remains, new sanctuaries having been traditionally built over previous sacred sites.
Biblical Era:
The bible makes no specific mention of Baalbeck although there are many references to the cult of Baal. None of the biblical sites, such as Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon, or the vineyard at Baal-Hamon, could be identified definitely with Baalbeck. As to Baalath (1 Kings, ix: 17-19) and Solomon built… Baalath and Tadmor (Palmyra) in the wilderness. We know that Solomon’s Kingdom stretched from Gaza to the shores of the Euphrates, (1 Kings, iv: 21-14) and the Baalath above could well be Baalbeck except for two none applicable claims.
1) Baalbeck is situated in one of the largest and most fertile valleys in the Middle East, and on one of the main trade routes of the Fertile Crescent; therefore it definitely is not in the wilderness.
2) Baalbeck has been in existence long before Solomon’s days, therefore the Bible might have meant some other Baalath that Solomon might have built somewhere in the wilderness.
In the Hellenistic Age (334-64 B.C.)
When Alexander the Great conquered the Near East in 334 Baalbeck was renamed Heliopolis. On his death The Bekaa including Baalbeck came under the rule of Ptolemy. In 200 B.C. it was taken over by Antiochus the Great. Tigranes the Great of Armenia came in 86 B.C.
In the Roman Era (66 B.C.-A.D. 306):
When Julius Caesar visited Baalbeck in B.C. 47 (then Heliopolis) he granted it the status of Roman colony and issued coins to commemorate the event.
The following Emporers are believed to have contributed to the further construction of Baalbeck:
Nero (54-68)
Vespasian (69-79)
Trajan (98-117)
Hadrian (117-138)
Antonius Pius (138 161)
Marcus Aurelius (161-180)
Septimus Severus (193-211)
Caracalla (211-217)
Elagabalus (218-222)
Philip the Arab (243-249)
In the Byzantine Era (306-635):
In A.D. 306 Emporer Constantine the Great embraced Christiantity and the spread of that faith resulted in the closing of the temples.
Theodosius the Great (379-395) made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire and ordered the destruction of pagan alters and converted the temples of Baalbeck into Christian churches. Under his reign further construction was halted.
In the Arab Era:
In A.D. 635 the second elected Moslem Calif Omar sent his general, Abou Obeidah to occupy the area. Abou Obeidah discarded the hellenized name of Heliopolis and reinstated the original name Baalbakaa. He transformed the churches into a military fortress called Qualaa and issued a guarantee of security to the Christians and Persians living there.
In 1134 Baalbeck was over-run by the Mongol Jengis Khan and in 1158 Baalbeck was almost destroyed by a series of earthquakes.
In 1171 the Crusaders succeeded in occupying it but shortly thereafter were massacred.
1175 it was captured by Saladin.
1176 Raymond of Tripoli attacked the city.
1260 Hulagua grandson of Jengis Khan plundered the city.
In 1517 Sultan Salim ousted the Mamalukes and brought the country under Turkish domination, although the Harfouch emirs were locally stronger than the Sultan.
1850 the Sultan regained control; making Baalbeck the seat of the Caza attached to Damascus until the end of World War 1 when it was occupied by the British Forces under General Allanby and then handed over to France with the rest of Syria and Lebanon.
Since Lebanon gained independence in 1943, archeological research and restoration works are continued by the Lebanese Service Des Antiquities under Emir Maurice Chehab and Prof. H. Kalayan.
Left is the Temple of Bacchus. The columns are 57 feet high. They support a full entablature with beautifully carved cornice.
The six remaining columns of the Temple of Jupiter are 64 feet high and composed of three drums. By comparison, in Athens the columns of the Parthenon are 24 feet high and composed of 11 drums.
In Egypt, the largest stones used in the Pyramids do not exceed 18 feet in length; in Baalbeck some blocks are 64 feet long, weighing over 800 tons, they form what is known as the Cyclopean wall, upon which the Temple of Jupiter is built.
The Temple of Jupiter had nine columns. Eight years later violent earthquakes brought down three, leaving the six remaining columns as seen in the photos above.
Directly at the entrance of the Temple of Bacchus, the lintel is of three stones, the middle one having become dislodged around 1202. British Consul-General Richard Burton had it propped up in 1870. In 1901 the German Archeological Mission repaired it and made it more secure, removing the prop installed by Burton.
Sources: Geocities
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