pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif";="" mso-fareast-font-family:simsun;color:black;mso-ansi-language:en;mso-fareast-language:="" zh-cn"="" lang="EN">Opposite the creek lies the Great Temple which was extensively restored
by the government of Lebanon in the 1950s. Towering nearly 20 m
(65 ft), the temple was built during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD and was
apparently used for a mysterious cult that spread during that era, similar to
the temple of Bacchus in Baalbeck. The temple was also dedicated
to the god Hadaranes and goddes Atargatis, as well as to a young
god who played the role of their son. The entrance of the temple faces east; it
is built over a large podium and accessed through a three-part stairway leading
to a portico with four columns with Corinthian-style capitals. To the left of
the stairway, a carved relief depicts a priest with two icons on his chest,
representing a god and a goddess. He is wearing a hat with a crescent carved on
it, and he holds a floral water sprinkler in his left hand and a cup in his
right hand, which pours holy water onto a small altar.
The lintel of the gigantic temple door has an eagle with spread
wings carved on it. This eagle is similar to the one carved on the lintel of
the temple of Bacchus in Baalbeck. However, the Niha carving is
slightly different, because the eagle holds a floral crown in one of its talons
and a palm leaf in the other. To the right side of the lintel, a carved relief
represents a winged naked boy holding a palm leaf in his left hand. Next to the
boy is a carving of a winged goddess of victory holding a palm leaf in her left
hand and a crown in her right hand,
