Lebanon’s Megalithic Enigma: The pregnant woman stone of Baalbek
- Paul Aage Hegvik
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Baalbek, Lebanon — In the dusty outskirts of Baalbek, a quiet Lebanese town famed for its Roman temple ruins, lies a colossal mystery carved into stone.
Known as the Stone of the Pregnant Woman (Hajjar al-Hibla), this unfinished monolith stretches over 20 meters in length, weighs more than 1,000 tons, and has baffled archaeologists for centuries.
Cut directly from the limestone bedrock in an ancient quarry just south of the Roman temple complex, the stone was never moved from its original position. Its dimensions—roughly 21.5 meters long, 4.5 meters wide, and 4.2 meters high—make it one of the largest single stones ever carved by human hands.
A stone wrapped in legend
No one knows for sure why the stone was abandoned. Some believe it was due to flaws in the stone itself or that the task of moving it became impossible. But local folklore offers a more imaginative explanation. According to legend, a pregnant woman told the workers she could reveal the secret of how to move the massive stone—if they agreed to support her until her child was born. Thus, the name: Stone of the Pregnant Woman.
Nearby lies another even larger megalith, discovered in recent years beneath and adjacent to the first. Estimated to weigh over 1,650 tons, it may be the heaviest stone ever carved by ancient humans. Its discovery deepens the mystery: how were such stones meant to be transported—if at all?
Ancient power or modern speculation?
The quarry is located only a few hundred meters from the Temple of Jupiter, whose platform includes three massive stones (the Trilithon) each weighing around 800 tons. How these stones were transported and lifted into place without modern machinery has long puzzled engineers and historians.
Some fringe theorists suggest ancient advanced technology—or even extraterrestrial help—while mainstream archaeologists believe a combination of human ingenuity, simple machines, and a massive labor force could explain it. Still, no definitive proof has emerged.
«There’s no doubt the people who quarried this stone had astonishing engineering skills,» says Dr. Nadim Khalil, an archaeologist who has studied Baalbek for over two decades. «But the unanswered question is: was it ever really meant to be moved—or was it left to symbolize power in its unfinished form?»
A sleeping giant in stone
Today, the Stone of the Pregnant Woman lies partially buried, surrounded by weeds and the curious silence of time. Tourists visit it often, snapping photos and marveling at its scale, but few linger to ponder the implications of its presence.
In a world where skyscrapers rise in months and machines carve metal with lasers, this immovable relic from antiquity stands as a humbling reminder: some of the most impressive feats of human history remain still and silent, half-finished in the dust.
