Temple for Bel Marduk-Zeus, Baalbek

The town of Baalbek, Lebanon, is home to some extensive Roman ruins, including the temple for Zeus, which in its history also served as a temple for Bel, Marduk, and Jupiter, depending on who was worshipping in the temple at the time. The earliest construction of the temple was done by the Phoenicians who built it honor of Bel, the Sun God. The temple was later taken over and reconstructed in honor of Zeus and then hard on the heels of that takeover, Jupiter, in honor of the Romans taking over the area. Jupiter was chosen because he was very similar to Bel and Zeus, so not much had to be changed about the temple.

It is unknown who specifically designed the temple, other than it was first constructed by the Phoenicians. The site beneath the temple has traces of civilizations dating back to the Bronze Age, but nothing more. The reconstruction of the temple for the Romans was commissioned by Augustus and was finished by around 60 AD. The ruins we see now are of this temple reconstruction, as evidenced by the carvings of Jupiter/Zeus and the massive columns. Other temples were added to the complex, including a possible temple to Venus/Aphrodite and one to Mercury/Hermes.

Much of the construction of the temple remains a mystery, including the massive foundation stones beneath the temple which each weigh four hundred and fifty tons and seem impossible to have quarried and brought to the site, even by modern means, let alone ancient ones. This has given rise to theories of extraterrestrial aid, though many modern scholars believed that they were simply dragged by an army of laborers and perhaps put into place by a vast system of pulleys and levers. This temple was one of the Ancient Wonders of the world.