The pyramid is set on the top of a hill, which is clearly visible from a distance and is now fenced to prevent curious tourists from getting too close. Although, judging by the vandal "romance", the fence is not a hindrance.
Its height is a little over 20 meters, the base is 1.1 m. At the bottom there are three steps made of black basalt. It is calculated that two limestone blocks weigh 40 and 50 tons. Their dimensions are about 7x9 m. The pyramid itself is 4.5 in height.
Some parts of the monument were restored in 1931. At that moment Lebanon was ruled by the French.
The relief on the north side depicts two deer, possibly caught in a hunting trap. On the east side, there is a carved image of a wild boar being attacked by dogs. The south side is badly damaged, but shows an image that may be considered a bear. The relief on the west side shows two wolves attacking a bull.
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The design is rather strange, and rather resembles the top of a stele or a pillar, which are abundant in Egypt:
From which one might think that the entire "Hermel's needle" is actually a filled-in pillar, because it is located in the middle of the desert, and next to it there are only sand dunes with rare vegetation:
Perhaps, being the highest point, the "pyramid" simply did not sink in the sand? Otherwise, who should have erected a structure of several tons in the middle of the desert?
But on the other hand, the structure is not monolithic, but with a distinct division into blocks, which does not look like a typical Egyptian pillar. Even for such a crumb, located in the Cairo National Museum, like this:
Which is probably the top of a typical pillar.
In 1965, the remains of the site of the Neolithic people were found here. Discovered by Frank Skills and Lorraine Copeland - an English archaeologist, specialist in the Paleolithic period and, among other things, a scout working in the Special Operations Directorate during the Second World War, her husband Miles Copeland also worked for the government, only American, in the Office of Strategic Services. In the same year, the same pair of archaeologists made discoveries of sites in the village of Flowey and northern Rajak, and a year later - in Kefraya. In 1966, Frank Skills found another parking lot at Chat. All this is the subject of the book "Inventory of Stone Age Sites in Lebanon", which in the same 1966 was written by Lorraine Copeland herself.
She was also involved in the recovery of ancient material from the Antelia cave, still there in Lebanon, which was blown up in 1964, making a quarry. There are her own books on this from 1970 and 1971 ("The Early Upper Paleolithic Flint Material from Levels VII-V" and "The Later Upper Paleolithic Material from Antelias Cave, Lebanon: Levels IV-I"). Well, she also has a book about excavations in Kzar-Akil in co-authorship. This is how, in the 60s, Lebanon opened its Stone Age … against the backdrop of the bewitching Baalbek.