Stone of the Pregnant Woman
Pregnant woman ( Hajar al - Hibla ) The stone or stone of the South ( Hajar al - Qubla ) is a Roman monolith, is located in Baalbek in Lebanon, and is considered one of the world's largest monolith. Another, even more ancient monolith was discovered not far from there in the 1990s. The two limestone blocks were determined as building blocks for the famous for his gigantism Roman temple complex of Baalbek, but were never moved from the quarry.
Stone of the pregnant woman
Description
The worked stone block from cretacischem limestone is from 20.31 to 20.76 m long, 4 m below and 4.14 to 5.29 m wide and 4.21 to 4.32 m above high. At a density of 2.6-2.8 g / cm ³, the monolith weighing about 1,000 tons ( mass = density x volume).
He has worked on three sides and is skewed in the sand. On the sunken in the sand side, called head side, the large square is not processed, but rough diamondblasted. At this end of the stone a recognizable groove is stamped, which probably served for the angle right angle Anarbeiten the surface. Of protruding from the head of the sand stone blocks as well as the top surface and the minor sides are machined. The top has been heavily smoothed by the entering of tourists, and the machining marks were leveled there. In the upper third of the stone has a crack which, however, not extending through the stone and is not hazardous to break.
About this stone knight Martin Baumgarten from Kufstein already reported in the early 16th century. Baumgarten presented letters of a Roman inscription fixed on it, possibly refers to an emperor or a deity.
In 1996, the ancient quarry of origin of the stone block, covered by Austrian scientists from Linz and two large stone blocks digitally measured to analyze the processing stages. Since the quarry is 900 meters from the " Sanctuary ", the temples of Baalbek, the view is taken that it 's three similarly sized monolith - a part which form a part of the podium of the Temple of Jupiter - the so-called Trilithos. These three monoliths that have been installed in the temple of Jupiter weigh an average of 800 t.
Transportation problem
How the stone transport of the limestone block failed in the end, is unclear, since it must be assumed that he could not be transported on wooden rollers or slide, as they would have been crushed and sunk in the sand. The area in which the large block is located, also increases, and if the block was provided for the podium, he would have to be raised at the construction site. However, a transport of stones with extremely large mass is quite possible that this is moved by scientists with the example of the erection of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square from 1586 with 48 winches, 900 workers and 75 horses in the realm of possibility.
Naming
The size of the stone led to the creation of myths. Arab myth has it that it points to the beginning of the human race. Furthermore, extraterrestrial beings with the stone be placed in context and pointed to pre-Roman mythical creatures and cultures.
Another monolith
Another, even greater monolith was discovered in the 1990s by accident. The existing also from cretacischem limestone block weighs t according to calculations of scientists Linz 1242.
Assuming that the rectangular block underground continues in the non- visible areas, be its dimensions: