Kamouh el Hermel

Kamouh el Hermel

Kamouh el Hermel (Pyramid of Hermel)
Shown within Lebanon
Alternate name	Qamouh el Hermel, Pyramid of Hermel, Hermel Pyramid
Location	Beqaa Valley, Lebanon
Coordinates	34°21′50″N 36°24′56″E / 34.363889°N 36.415556°E / 34.363889; 36.415556
Part of	Factory
History
Periods	Shepherd Neolithic, Ancient Greece
Site notes
Archaeologists	Frank Skeels, Lorraine Copeland, René Dussaud
Condition	restored in 1931, faces somewhat damaged
Public access	Fenced off

Kamouh el Hermel, Qâmou el Hermel, Qamouh el Hermel, Qâmoûaa el Hermel, Kâmoâ el Hermel, the Pyramid of Hermel or Hermel Pyramid (also known as God's Pyramid, House of El, the Funnel of Hermel or Needle of Hermel) is an ancient pyramid located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south of Hermel the Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon.^[1][2][3]

The pyramid has been suggested to date to the first or second century BC due to similarities with architecture of tower tombs of the late Selucid era at Palmyra in Syria.^[2] It was considered by William McClure Thomson to possibly have been of Ancient Greek construction, however the lack of inscriptions puzzled him as he thought the ancient Greeks to be a "scribbling generation".^[4][5] Thomson also entertained the notion, along with Charles William Meredith van de Velde that the construction may have been Assyrian.^[6] René Dussaud later suggested that although the reliefs resembled the Ishtar Gate, the edifice was likely a monument to the hunting prowess of a member of Syrian royalty from the first century BC.^[7]

The pyramid sits on top of a hill that is clearly visible from a distance and has been fenced off to prevent damage.^[8] It is between 19.6 metres (64 ft) and 27 metres (89 ft) high and sits on a base measuring around 1.1 metres (3.6 ft) with three steps made from black basalt.^[2] On the base site two massive limestone blocks weighing between 40 tonnes (40,000 kg) and 50 tonnes (50,000 kg).^[8] The blocks are around 7 metres (23 ft) high and 9 metres (30 ft) wide and are crowned by a pyramid measuring some 4.5 metres (15 ft) high.^[9] Some sections of the monument were restored in 1931. A relief on the north side depicts two deer, possibly caught in a hunting trap. On the east side is a carved image of a boar being attacked by dogs and speared. The south side is badly damaged but shows an image considered possibly to be a bear. The relief on the west side shows two wolves attacking a bull.^[10][11]

Shepherd Neolithic archaeological site

Shepherd Neolithic flint tools discovered at Kamouh el Hermel. 1. End scraper on a flake. 2. Transverse scraper and awl on a thin flake. 3. Borer on a flake blade. 4. Burin with a wide working edge on a heavy flake. All in matt brown flint.

Evidence was found of a Shepherd Neolithic archaeological site in the area around the monument, on the south and west of the hill. The site was discovered and a collection of flint tools used during the Neolithic Revolution was made by Lorraine Copeland and Frank Skeels in 1965.^[12] Materials recovered included blade-butts with scraping edges or notches, borers, cores (one with a twin edge) and small flakes. Some pieces were vaguely bifacial. The flints found were in a grey or chocolate-brown color with some having a shiny patina.^[13]

References

External links

• Hermel Pyramid on Wikimapia.org
• Kamouh Hermel video on YouTube
• al-hermel.org (in Arabic)
• Hermel Pyramid on discoverlebanon.com
• Qâmoûaa el Hermel on travelingluck.com
• Qâmoûaa el Hermel on geographic.org
• Images of Qâmou el Hermel on Lebanoneguide.com

Archaeological sites in Lebanon
Aadloun Aaiha Aammiq Aaqbe Ain Aata Ain Choaab Ain Harcha Akbiyeh Akkar plain foothills Al-Bireh Amioun Amlaq Qatih Anjar, Lebanon Antelias cave Apheca Ard Saouda Ard Tlaili Arqa Baalbek Baidar ech Chamout Batroumine Batroun Bechamoun Beirut Beit Mery Berytus (Roman Beirut) Bustan Birke Byblos Canalizations of Zenobia Dahr El Ahmar Dakoue Deir El Aachayer Deir el Ahmar Deir Mar Maroun Dekwaneh Douris (Baalbek) Elaea (Lebanon) Flaoui Fadous Sud Hebbariye Hadeth south Haret ech Cheikh Hashbai Heliopolis in Phoenicia Hermel plains Iaat Jabal es Saaïdé Jbaa Jdeideh Jebel Aabeby Jeita Grotto Joub Jannine Jieh Kafr Zabad Kamid al lawz Kamouh el Hermel Karak Nuh Kaukaba Kefraya Kafr Tebnit Kfar Qouq Kfarhata Khallet Michte Khirbet El-Knese Kouachra megalith field Ksar Akil Labweh Lake Qaraoun (Ain Jaouze) Libbaya Lion Tower Majdal Anjar Mansourieh Maronite mummies Mayrouba Mdoukha (Jebel Kassir) Moukhtara Mtaileb Nabi Zair Nachcharini Nahle, Lebanon Neba'a Faour Nebi Safa Niha Bekaa Phoenician port of Beirut Plain of Zgharta Qaa Qal'at Bustra Qalaat Tannour Qaraoun Qasr el Banat Ras Baalbek I Ras Beirut Ras El Kelb Rashaya Roman Forum of Berytus Roman hippodrome of Berytus Sands of Beirut Saraain El Faouqa Shheem Sidon Sin el Fil Sarepta Stone of the Pregnant Woman Tahun ben Aissa Taire Tayibe Tell Aalaq Tell Ablah Tell Addus Tell Ahle Tell Ain Cerif Tell Ain el Meten Tell Ain Ghessali Tell Ain Nfaikh Tell Ain Saouda Tell Ain Sofar Tell Ayoub Tell Bar Elias Tell Beshara Tell Bir Dakoue Tell Deir Tell Delhamieh Tell Derzenoun Tell Dibbine Tell el-Burak Tell El Ghassil Tell El Hadeth Tell Fadous Tell Hazzine Tell Hoch Rafqa Tell Karmita Tell Khardane Tell Kirri Tell Jezireh Tell Jisr Tell Kabb Elias Tell Majdaloun Tell Masoud Tell Mekhada Tell Meouchi Tell Mureibit Tell Murtafa Tell Nahariyah Tell Neba'a Chaate Tell Neba'a Litani Tell Qasr Labwe Tell Rasm El Hadeth Tell Rayak Tell Saatiya Tell Safiyeh Tell Saoudhi Tell Serhan Tell Shaikh Hassan al Rai Tell Shamsine Tell Sultan Yakoub Tell Taalabaya Tell Wardeen Tell Zenoub Tell Zeitoun Temnin el-Foka Temple of Bacchus Temple of Eshmun Temple of Jupiter Tlail megaliths Toron Tripolis (region of Phoenicia) Tyre Necropolis Tyre, Lebanon Wadi Boura Wadi Koura Wadi Yaroun Yammoune Yanta Ain W Zain Zahlé

Shepherd Neolithic sites in Lebanon
Douris, Lebanon Hermel I Hermel II Kamouh el Hermel Maqne I Qaa Qalaat Tannour Rayak North Riha Station Saraain El Faouqa Wadi Boura