Iaat

Iaat (Arabic: إيعات‎ also transliterated as Ya'ad, Yaad, Yaat, or Iaad) is a town and municipality located in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, famed for its Corinthian column: this is a single column of unknown date (but probably dated from Roman times), approximately half way between Baalbek and Qasr el Banat, with a cartouche on the 6th drum but no inscription.

Iaat
Town
A photograph of the column from the first quarter of the 20th century
Iaat
Location in Lebanon
Coordinates: 34°03′58.4″N 36°09′15.5″E
Country Lebanon
GovernorateBaalbek-Hermel
DistrictBaalbek

History

In 1838, Eli Smith noted Ei'at as a Metawileh village in the Baalbek District.[1]

the Iaat column data

The column stands 18 meters[2] (59.1 feet) and is installed on a four-step base. The location of the Pillar is 4 miles (6 km) northwest of the Baalbek ruins, between the towns of Baalbek and Chlifa. At one point, a plaque was installed on the northern side of the monument. However, it has been removed and no other history is known of the column. The column is believed in local legend to be related to Saint Helena.[3][4]

George F. Taylor classified it among a group of Temples of the Beqaa Valley and noticed that the position of the Iaat column was equidistant between the temples of Baalbek and Qasr el Banat. Whilst technically not being a temple, Taylor suggested that the column might have been placed by the Romans where it is as a victory column to mark the site of a great ancient battle. He also noted a cartouche on the sixth cylinder of the column.[5]

See also

References
  1. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 145
  2. Iaat, Lebanon.Com
  3. Nelles Verlag (1 December 1999). Syria Lebanon. Hunter Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-3-88618-105-6. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  4. Daniel Krencker; Willy Zschietzschmann (1938). Römische Tempel in Syrien. W. de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-004989-3. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  5. George Taylor (1967). The Roman temples of Lebanon: a pictorial guide. Dar el-Machreq Publishers. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

Bibliography
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