Stone of the Pregnant Woman — Attraction in Baalbek

Near Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley, there is a curios and mysterious stone, named by the locals “Hajar el Hibla” - The Stone of the Pregnant Woman - one of the largest existing monoliths, a rectangular block of 1650 tons, still inside the quarry. It carries many legends behind it. Perhaps the name of the monolith comes from a pregnant woman who tricked the people of Baalbek by saying that she could move the giant stone if they only fed her until the childbirth. Perhaps instead the monolith was placed there by the Annunaki (the Nefilim), the ancient astronauts who came from Nibiru, thanks to their advanced technologies. I like to think that the Giants, ancient inhabitants of those lands, with their stature out of the ordinary and with their strength have erected this imposing site. In the Bible, in the Book Numbers, Moses, while wandering in the desert with the Jews, sent spies to those lands for a possible invasion. But the spies reported,

We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

We will never...

#throwback2010

Meet Hajar el-Hobla or the Stone of the Pregnant Woman most like to call it, I call it.. The world’s most committed procrastination.

This absolute unit of limestone weighs over 1,000 tons and has been lying sideways in Baalbek for over 2,000 years like it’s waiting for someone to finish the job. Some say it was supposed to be part of the Temple of Jupiter. Others say ancient workers just took one look at it and collectively said “nah.”

Theories? Plenty. Maybe it symbolizes fertility. Maybe it’s cursed. Maybe it’s just the ancient world’s version of an abandoned group project.

Locals say if a woman touches it she’ll become pregnant, though judging by its track record of never moving, I’d say it’s better at causing delays than delivering miracles.

Nearby lies an even bigger stone discovered later weighing 1,650 tons because apparently Baalbek just kept one-upping itself. These rocks aren’t just heavy, they’re drama queens with their own fanbase.

Visiting Hajar el-Hobla is like standing next to the concept of “what were they thinking.” Massive mysterious and unmoved by time.. literally.

Arabic...

Word Massive does not do justice to the scale on which this single piece of stone weighing over 1 ton was carved out by people 1000's of years ago. Urban legend has it that if a woman touched the stone, she would be pregnant. As to the origins, there are many tales but none proved, so whatever the background, calls for a visit. Not a single picture has been able to capture the sheer size as it appears in the real world, you need to be vis-a-vis with the stone here to experience it, words can't describe it, nevertheless indeed a sight to behold. The site is easily missed as there is hardly any information publicized about it. It's just a stone throws distance from the Khawla shrine on the same road and takes a max of half hour...