Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Baalbek in modern Lebanon said that the stone monolith they found this season was the largest in history.
The stone block is 19.6 meters long, 6 meters wide and 5.5 meters high. Its weight is estimated at 1,650 US "short" tons, which is more than 1,496 metric tons. It is the largest man-made monolithic stone object. It was made in the 1st century BC. e.
Huge stone blocks were used to build the Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek, which at that time was called Heliopolis and Julia Augusta Felix. Some blocks of the base of the temple weigh 8000 - 1000 tons. But the largest blocks were found in a limestone quarry located near the temple complex. Perhaps they simply could not be transported to the construction site.
In 1999, scientists determined that the largest of them weighed 1,242 tons - at that time it was the maximum known weight of a stone object made by people. A new record-breaking monolith was discovered under this block.
The excavation, which found the record stone block, was conducted this summer by scientists from the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Lebanon, led by Jeanine Abdul Massih.
The technology of movement and laying of such huge stones remains a mystery for scientists. The expedition said in a statement: “Because it has a relatively smooth surface, the block could be moved. At the same time, there are no traces left on the stone from attempts to cut it into pieces."