The Mystery of Baalbek
The first time I laid eyes on pictures of Baalbek, I was absolutely blown away. The scale of the stones, the enigmatic precision, and the mystery of its origins felt like a puzzle waiting to be solved. My mind immediately went to a phrase that originally led me to read the Bible:
“There were giants upon the earth in those days.”
Giants? In the bible??!! Tell me more!
To my dismay, there wasn't too much written about them... The story seemed incomplete. But what it did say was intriguing.
Genesis 6:4
> “There were giants upon the earth in those days... when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
The "sons of God" found human women captivating and desired to be with them. Their unions resulted in the birth of the Nephilim, or Giants, who turned into violent beings, wreaking havoc on the earth and causing destruction. Witnessing this, God became deeply displeased and chose to send a flood to cleanse the earth of their corruption... leading to the story of Noah and the ark.
In the Book of Numbers, God instructs Moses to send leaders from each tribe of Israel to scout the land of Canaan, the promised land meant for the Israelites. These men were tasked with evaluating the land’s fertility, its people’s strength, and the cities’ defenses.
After forty days, they returned with reports of Canaan’s abundance, bringing back fruit to show its richness. However, they also described its inhabitants as formidable, particularly mentioning the descendants of Anak, known for their great stature. While Caleb encouraged immediate action to take the land, they were fearful, claiming the inhabitants were too powerful.
Numbers 13:33:
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak... and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.”
The name Anakim immediately caught my attention because it resonates with ancient Mesopotamian mythology, where Sumeria is regarded as the first civilization...
Their chief deity is An, or Anu, meaning "heaven" or "heavenly father," while his consort, Ki, represents "earth" or the "goddess of earth." Together, their descendants are called the Anunnaki, which translates to "descendants of An and Ki" or "descendants of heaven and earth." Some interpret it as "those who descended from heaven to earth." The Anunnaki were believed to hold the power to determine the fate of humanity.
These giants are consistently described as men of great stature, living in fortified cities and presenting an insurmountable challenge to ancient civilizations.
But I found mention of them only a few more times in the Bible...
Deuteronomy 1:28
"Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying: 'The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the heavens. We even saw the descendants of the Anakim there."
Deuteronomy 9:2
The people are strong and tall, the descendants of the Anakim. You know about them, and you have heard it said, "Who can stand up to the sons of Anak?"
Then these verses from the Book of Joshua describe the conquest of the Anakim:
Joshua 11:21
At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities.
Joshua:13
In accordance with the Lord’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah-Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Named after Arba, the forefather of Anak.)
14 From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites-Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the sons of Anak.
Joshua, following God's command, led the Israelites to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country regions, including Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and destroyed their cities.
Later, Caleb, a faithful Israelite who trusted God's promise, was granted Hebron as his inheritance. Caleb continued the campaign by driving out the remaining Anakites, specifically Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, who were descendants of Anak. This marked the fulfillment of God's promise to give the Israelites the land of Canaan, overcoming even the most intimidating foes.
(Interesting to note: A modern-day urban Israeli settlement, Kiryat Arba (or Qiryat Arba), exists just east of Hebron. Its name, meaning "Town of the Four," refers to the four Anakim who once lived there.)
So, that was it... no more mention of these mysterious giants in the Bible. It felt anticlimactic, like watching two thrilling seasons of a show only for it to be abruptly canceled, leaving you with unanswered questions. What happened next? Where was the rest of the story?
My curiosity led me to discover that there are, in fact, hundreds-possibly thousands-of ancient texts that were excluded from the "mainstream Bible." They are often referred to as apocryphal or pseudepigraphal writings.
Wow! I had no idea such a treasure trove of knowledge existed!
I uncovered a vast collection of these ancient texts, many of which were likely excluded because they were deemed too controversial. These writings offer fascinating insights, alternative perspectives, and stories that expand on or diverge from the biblical narratives we know today.
To my delight, one such text I discovered -The Book of Enoch, contained a more complete account of these biblical Giants, there was even a whole chapter called The Book of Giants!!
I also learned that while Christian biblical scholars consider The book of Enoch heretical, Ethiopia considers it canonical,and it remains part of their Bible to this day.
So, who was Enoch?
In the mainstream Bible, he is mentioned only three times.
We know he lived 365 years, was the son of Jared, the father of Methuselah, and the great-grandfather of Noah.
Then, in Genesis 5:24, it cryptically states:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Wait, what?
God took him?!
What do you mean took him?
Took him where?!
Again, another hole in the story. 🙄
So, I found a copy of The Book of Enoch and was captivated by the tale, narrated by Enoch himself, about his extraordinary journey to the heavens. Guided by various archangels, Enoch is taken on a tour above the earth, where they reveal the story of the fallen angels.
The book delves into the origins and ultimate fate of the antediluvian (pre-flood) giants and their fathers, the Watchers-known as the Grigori, or "sons of God" who were once holy beings. These Watchers rebelled against heaven when they broke the sacred "boundaries of creation," driven by their lust to co-mingle with the "daughters of men."
It was absolutely fascinating! But it left me wondering... why would they choose to exclude such a profound story?!
As I read The Book of Enoch, I felt compelled to visualize the places it described, so I mapped them all out and pinned them on Google Earth.
This marked the beginning of a two-decade-long quest to research and uncover everything I could about these ancient civilizations and the "mythology" intertwined with them.
One detail that stood out was Mount Hermon, identified in The Book of Enoch as the place where the 200 angels "fell." Curious, I located it on the map... and to my astonishment, I discovered that Baalbek, with its massive and mysterious ruins, is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Mount Hermon! That realization completely blew my mind!👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
(Adding to the intrigue, Mount Hermon, just happens to be home to a military base! The southern slopes of Mount Hermon fall within the Golan Heights, a region that Israel has controlled since the Six-Day War in 1967. Adding yet another layer of mystery to its historical and strategic significance.)
But once you lay eyes on Baalbek, it’s impossible not to wonder... how could humans have built such an extraordinary structure? The sheer scale is staggering!! Look at the size of the people compared to the massive stone blocks... echoing the biblical phrase, “and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.”
The temple’s walls are constructed with around 24 monoliths, each weighing over 300 tons. Above them, on the west wall, sit the Trilithon, or "the three stones," which are about 20 feet off the ground. These immense stones each weigh over 800 tons, measuring approximately 62 feet long, 14 feet high, and 12 feet thick, making them the largest megalithic stones found at any archaeological site in the world today.
Even more astonishing are three stones unearthed in a nearby quarry.
The "Stone of the Pregnant Woman" is estimated to weigh 1,000 tons.
The "Stone of the South" is larger still, at 1,242 tons.
The "Forgotten Stone," the largest of them all, weighs an estimated 1,650 tons.
These are the largest known stones ever quarried in human history, posing one of the greatest mysteries of ancient engineering. How they were cut, moved, and placed with such precision remains an enigma that continues to baffle experts.
Baalbek was known as Heliopolis, meaning "Sun City" in Greek, during the Hellenistic period, a time in Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the rise of the Roman Empire.
Interestingly, Egypt’s Giza, home of the Great Pyramid, was also called Heliopolis, creating a fascinating link between these two ancient sites.
Adding to this connection is the Cedar Forest near Baalbek, located in Bsharri (meaning "House of Truth" in Aramaic). This forest, referred to as the "Cedars of God" in the Bible, played a significant role in the ancient world. Wood from this forest has been discovered in boats excavated in Egypt, demonstrating a tangible link between these great civilizations and the exchange of resources and knowledge in the ancient world.
The exact age of Baalbek remains a mystery, but it is widely speculated that the site has been built upon by at least three different civilizations over the centuries. Each civilization left its mark, contributing to the layered history of this awe-inspiring location. From its enigmatic megalithic foundations to the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Baalbek’s ruins reflect a complex and ancient legacy that continues to intrigue historians and archaeologists alike.
When I first started researching mythology and ancient history, the most confusing aspect for me was learning and remembering the names! I quickly noticed that many myths and stories shared strikingly similar themes, even across continents, but the names of the characters and gods were often different... and to make matters worse, many of them had multiple names.
I’ve always been someone who notices patterns, and as I dove into the Sumerian cuneiform texts, I began to observe how their words were often broken into components. Many names seemed to share either the same beginning or the same ending. For example:
Enlil and Enki
Enlil: EN = LORD, LIL = SKY (Lord of the Sky)
Enki: EN = LORD, KI = EARTH (Lord of the Earth)
This connection struck me when I remembered that Ki was An’s wife, as I mentioned earlier. That’s when it hit me...these weren’t names at all; they were titles!
This realization inadvertently introduced me to the study of etymology, the origin of words and their meanings, which became a game changer for my research.
I started to see how mistranslations, especially of titles being interpreted as names, might have caused much of the confusion we face today.
Could this have led scholars to unknowingly create a multitude of "separate" gods that might actually be the same figures under different titles?
The confusion reminds me of the passage in the Bible about the Tower of Babel, where language was confounded after God’s destruction of the tower:
It’s as if the remnants of a shared understanding were scattered... creating fragmented and overlapping myths across cultures. It’s fascinating to consider what clarity we might gain if we could piece them all back together! And that is my intention.
Baalbek stands as a silent witness to a forgotten era... one filled with giants, Watchers, and civilizations possessing technology far beyond what we can explain. The Nephilim may have been real, their legacy carved into the stones of Baalbek and preserved in ancient texts like The Book of Enoch.
Could it be that the builders of Baalbek were not "primitive" at all, but rather part of an advanced, pre-flood civilization—a civilization hinted at in the Bible and other ancient texts?
The pieces are there. The signs are everywhere. It’s up to us to see.
"There are truths hidden in plain sight-all we must do is uncover them."
Additional Resources:
🔹 The Book of Enoch
🔹 Biblical References: Genesis 6, Numbers 13, Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)
🔹 Related Sites: Mount Hermon, Cedar Forests of Lebanon, Giza
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