Citadel of Baalbek

Ancient Heliopolis, conquered in 635 by the Arabs, was renamed Ba‘albak in the seventh century, as indicated on the coins it issued[1]. During the first centuries of the Islamic period, it apparently acquired the status of city (madina), and was endowed with a surrounding wall and great mosque. However, it was only further to the conquest of Syria by the Seljukide, when it played a strategic role in the fight against the Crusaders, that its fortifications were reinforced. Under the rule of Emir Zangi (d. 1146) and of his son Nur Al-Din, the Roman sanctuary was transformed into a citadel. This practice of building fortresses on Antique sites may be seen in Syria at Bosra and Palmyre, but also in other regions such as the South of France, with Nîmes and Arles.

Following the Mongolian invasion of 1260, the Mamluk undertook the reconstruction of the city. The last remodelling of the citadel took place under the reign of Sultan Qala’un and his descendants, until Hegira 729/1328-29. Although Medieval authors mention the presence of a large number of buildings at Baalbek, only the citadel, the ruins of four mosques and three mausoleums attest to its period of prosperity. The city in fact declined after it was conquered by the Ottoman in 1517. During this period, it seems that some homes were built inside the citadel, because digs conducted in the courtyard of the Temple of Jupiter unearthed the foundation of modest residences.

The transformation of the Temple of Jupiter into a citadel consisted of walling up the doors and porticos, and remodelling the top of the Roman walls into a walk-way, punctuated with by arrow slits and machicolations. During the Ayyubid period, a palace and great basin were added, but they have completely disappeared; archaeological digs have made it possible to situate them in the great courtyard of the Temple of Jupiter, on the site of the Byzantine basilica. The citadel was also made bigger to the south-west with the inclusion of the Temple of Bacchus, later transformed into a dungeon. A mosque and wide porticos were also added, and the citadel was surrounded by a ditch. The Mamluk work was concentrated on the dungeon which was used, with the south tower as a palace and was separated from the rest of the citadel by an inner ditch. Of this palace, only the south tower remains. Cross-shaped with iwans, it is flanked at the corners by small shooting chambers with arrow slits with niches.

On the south-west side of the citadel, the mosque, of which the construction date is unknown, is, like all Medieval constructions, made of reclaimed stone. It has an Arab layout: the prayer hall opens onto the courtyard surrounded by a portico; the four naves of the hall, parallel to the qibli wall and delimited by columns topped with Roman and Early Christian capitals, support pointed arches. The central arcade, in line with the mihrab, is wider than the others. The oldest inscription found on this site dates back to 1238 and mentions the donation of a nearby madrasa, behind the mosque. Furthermore, some twenty Mamluk edicts are engraved on the outer walls of the mosque, according to the typical practice of this dynasty of carving into stone official decrees relative to taxes, also found in Tripoli[2]. The edits at Baalbek provide important information on the economy of the city.

A large number of ceramic shards, dating back to the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, were discovered inside the citadel, as well as outside, especially at Bustan al-Khan. Under study, these shards that came from all over the empire, indicate that the city was the hub of an extensive trade network. However, to date, no pottery kiln nor any other evidence of local production has been found. Other finds include glasses[3] and fragments of marble wall coverings engraved with vine branch patterns, the origin of which (mosque, palace ?) has not yet been determined.

[1] Umayyad thread, Beirut,  Archeological Museum of the American University, C 83.2

[2] Madrasa al-Qartawiya, Tripoli.

[3] Glass flask, Berlin, MFIK, I.3300