The remains of the staircase
|Baalbek or Heliopolis
(Ἡλιούπολις, "sun city"): town in the northern Bekaa valley,
site of the largest sanctuary in the Roman world.
Temple of MercuryThe presence of another temple in Baalbek
was known from the coins of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab
(r.244-249). It has been identified at Sheikh Abdallah Hill, not far
from the barracks of the Lebanese army, but only a flight of stairs
A satellite photo of the stairs can be seen here.
The temple itself must have been a bit more to the southwest, on the
summit of the hill. Stones of the ancient sanctuary have been reused in
a local Muslim shrine.