Sanctuary of Yanouh

The Sanctuary of Yanouh, locally known as Mar Girios el-Azrak (Arabic: مار جريس الأزرق, lit. 'Saint George the Blue'), is a historic temple complex in the village of Yanouh, in Lebanon's Byblos hinterland. The sanctuary, characterized by Hellenistic period origins, Roman construction, and later Christian reuse, is situated on a mountain slope above the upper Adonis River (Nahr Ibrahim) valley. The site encompasses a succession of sacred buildings spanning from the second century BC through the medieval period. Its most prominent remains include a mid-second century AD tetrastyle prostyle Roman temple built of distinctive blue-grey limestone within a walled temenos, a smaller adjacent Roman shrine, and a late-5th/6th century three-aisled basilica constructed partly with the temple's blocks. The earliest phase is attested by a second century BC Aramaic inscription mentioning a "House of God," the oldest known Aramaic text in Lebanon, which records the foundation of an earlier cultic structure. In later history, Yanouh became a major Maronite center. It housed the Patriarchal seat from the 10th to the 13th centuries, and became known as Our Lady of Yanouh, with earlier, Crusader-era churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint George. Archaeological investigations beginning with 19th-century surveys and continuing with surveys in 1999 have documented continuous occupation in the nearby Tell el-Kharayeb from the Early Bronze Age into medieval times.

Yanouh is located in the Byblos District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, approximately 33 km (21 mi) driving distance east of the coastal city of Byblos (ancient Gubla),^[1] and 60 km north of Beirut.^[2] The Yanouh sanctuary occupies a hillside on the right bank of Nahr Ibrahim (Adonis River),^[3] at about 1,165 m (3,822 ft) above sea level.^[4] Yanouh overlooks the upper Nahr Ibrahim valley which is shaped like a broad amphitheater bordered by the mountains of Jabal el-Laqlouq to the north, Jabal el-Mnaitra to the east, and Jabal Moussa to the south. Toward the west and downstream, the valley narrows at the edge of Qartaba.^[5] The sanctuary lies along the old mountain road from Byblos toward the Nahr Ibrahim headwaters at Aphaca (modern Afqa), placing it on an important ancient route for goods and pilgrims traveling between the coast and the Beqaa valley.^[3][6] During the Roman era, imperial authorities paid special attention to the valley, overseeing the establishment of forest reserves on nearby mountains, the placement of boundary markers, and the laying out of a road to the Beqaa via the Aqoura pass.^[5] The pass maintained strategic importance even in later periods when it came under the control of the Crusader fortress of Moinestre (Mnaitra).^[3]

The name Yanouh (Arabic: يانوح) is of Semitic origin. Local historians and topnonymists interpret it as deriving from an Aramaic root meaning "rest" or "tranquility".^[7] In Crusader and Maronite Christian usage, the site's shrine became known as Saydet Yanouh (Our Lady of Yanouh,)^[8] Sanctae Mariae de Yanoch (Saint Mary of Yanouh").^[9] The great temple is known to locals as Mar Girios el-Azraq (Arabic: مار جريس الأزرق, lit. 'Saint George the Blue'), so-named because of the blue-gray color of the great temple's limestone ashlar, and in connection with the Christian Saint George to whom a Maronite church was dedicated in the repurposed temple building.^[8] The town's archaeological tell is called Tell el-Kharayeb (Arabic: تل الخرائب, lit. 'Hill of Ruins').^[6]

Archaeological investigations in the Nahr Ibrahim basin identify Yanouh's Tell el-Kharayeb as one of the most significant multi-period sites in Mount Lebanon. The settlement preserves a deep stratigraphic sequence spanning several millennia,^[10] from the Early Bronze Age II (third millennium BC) through the medieval period.^[11] The earliest known settlement covers approximately six hectares (15 acres) and dates to the early third millennium BC.^[6] Evidence suggests human presence extends even further back, with residual Neolithic material dating to the sixth millennium BC. Additionally, charcoal-rich soil layers suggest that people were clearing forest areas as far back as the fifth millennium BC.^[10] The meters-thick stratified occupation layers, and the presence of large storage vessels dating back to the Bronze Age are indicative of the development of an agrarian economy and a sedentary population engaged in organized agriculture and craft production.^[6][12]

During the Phoenician era (corresponding to Iron Age) Yanouh continued as a satellite settlement within the mountainous hinterland of the Phoenician city of Byblos, a coastal city famed for its export of cedar wood and mercantile fleet.^[13] Mount Lebanon and its forests were regarded as sacred landscapes by the Phoenicians, considered as the personal domain of the god Baal,^[14][15] and cedar wood, renowned for its durability and resistance to decay, was highly prized in antiquity.^[13] The process of harvesting and transporting massive logs involved felling trees in the high-altitude forests of Mount Lebanon and utilizing the region's river systems for log driving them downstream to Byblos for export.^[16] This trade was especially significant in Byblos' interactions with ancient Egypt, where cedar was in great demand for shipbuilding and monumental construction.^[17] Yanouh's Tell el-Kharayeb experienced significant growth by the mid-first millennium BC, and likely played a role in forest exploitation in the region.^[18][19] Excavations have uncovered Iron Age habitation layers, including terraced agriculture fields and pottery.^[6] A silver hoard discovered in 2006, contained a rare mix of Archaic Greek silver coins, early Phoenician silver issues from Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, and numerous hacksilver fragments.^[20][a] The discovery of the silver hoard, fine imported ceramics and Phoenician products in Tell el-Kharayeb underscores active trade connections with coastal cities.^[22][23] Residential remains from the early first century BC show that inhabitants cultivated land that would later be developed further under Roman rule.^[24]

Classical sources^[25][26][27] and modern scholarship identify Byblos and its upland territory as a principal setting of the Adonis myth, which shaped local ritual and religious topography.^[28] The valley of the Adonis River formed a processional and pilgrimage route linking the Phoenician coast to Aphaca, situated at one of the sources of the river, where ancient authors describe a large grotto that became central to the mythic landscape associated with the god.^[6][29][30] Along this route, the high places of Yanouh and Machnaqa served as important ritual waypoints.^[31]

The earliest known cultic structure of the Yanouh complex was a sandstone edifice constructed in the Hellenistic period, in the latter half of the second century BC.^[32] This religious structure was dedicated to local deities, as evidenced by an Aramaic inscription found on site. This inscription represents the first known epigraphic use of Aramaic in the region and signals the Aramaization of the Ituraeans.^[b][24] Under Roman rule, in the first half of the second century AD, the existing Hellenistic cultic structure was expanded, with the addition of a large sanctuary and temenos to its north and a smaller temple on its eastern side.^[32][35] The sanctuary of Yanouh stood across the valley from the Temple of Adonis at Aphaca, overlooking the river whose periodic reddish tint, caused by natural sediment washed down from the mountains, was interpreted in antiquity as the blood of Adonis.^[28] In Greco-Roman tradition, Adonis, linked to beauty, vegetation, and cyclical renewal, was mourned and celebrated in rites reflecting death and rebirth,^[36][37][38] and in Byblos, annual ceremonies known as the Adonia commemorated the god's death and return.^[28]

In the Proto-Byzantine period, following an apparent decline in settlement activity during the third and fourth centuries AD, the construction of churches such as Mar Edna and the church of Yanouh indicates the local population's adherence to Christianity.^[39] Evidence of post-Classical activity at the site indicates significant phases of reuse and transformation, particularly during the early Byzantine and medieval periods.^[40] Towards the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the sixth century, a Christian basilica with columns was constructed outside the enclosure of the large Roman temple, at a time when pagan religious buildings had likely been abandoned for some time. Significant modifications occurred at the site, including the partial dismantling of the small Roman temple. To the west of the main temple, a grape press was installed, later replaced by an oil press, highlighting a shift from religious to economic functions within the former sacred precinct.^[41] Following a fire in the first half of the seventh century, potentially during the Sassanian Persian occupation, the Muslim conquest, or another unidentified event, the original basilica with columns was replaced by a pillar basilica,^[42] and the site may have been converted into a monastery or involved the reconstruction of a preexisting one.^[43]

The sanctuary site was abandoned during the Abbasid period in the middle of the eighth century AD.^[40] Subsequent reoccupation is attested across the valley during the medieval period (12th and 13th centuries AD),^[40][43] as indicated by a range of surface-level installations; these include domestic hearths and artisanal features, signaling a period of sustained habitation or secondary use of the site linked to rural domestic production.^[40] The restoration of the basilica, the transformation of the large Roman temple into a chapel, and other modifications reflect Maronite traditions, including the establishment of the Maronite patriarchal seat in Yanouh.^[43] New villages emerged, and numerous chapels were constructed around Yanouh, likely influenced by the presence of the Maronite Patriarchate in the locality.^[39] However, by the second half of the 13th century, the site appears to have been largely abandoned following the Mamluk takeover of the region. Its use as a cemetery persisted until at least the 15th century, possibly due to the site's religious significance.^[43] The Mamluk and early Ottoman periods are poorly documented archaeologically. Historical texts remain the primary sources for understanding the valley's history until the abandonment of Yanouh, which may have occurred in the early 16th century, coinciding with the Shiite demographic expansion in the region.^[39] The last significant phase of development occurred in the nineteenth century, as reflected in the architectural remains of the period, including mills, churches, and traditional arcaded houses.^[39]

The ruins of the great temple of Yanouh and remains of an ancient settlement were mentioned by French orientalist Ernest Renan in 1860, including the Roman temple transformed into a church, and a building located south of the sanctuary.^[44] Initial drawings of the site were published by the German architecture historian Daniel Krencker and the classical archaeologist Willy Zschietzschmann in 1938 in a work dedicated to the architectural study of temples in Syria and Lebanon.^[45][32] In the 1960s, a restoration operation was initiated by the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities. As part of this project, Lebanese archaeologist Haroutune Kalayan conducted restoration work on the temple, and excavated the structures around it. He uncovered the three-aisled church parallel to and south of the great temple,^[3][32] the northern chapel,^[46] and an Aramaic inscription.^[3][32] The site of Yanouh was further excavated during a 1999–2005 archaeological survey jointly led by the Saint Joseph University, the Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon, in partnership with the HiSoMA laboratory (UMR 5189) of the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée, and the Institut Français du Proche-Orient.^[47] The archaeological survey, directed by the French archaeologist Pierre-Louis Gatier, was part of a larger mission focusing on the survey of the upper Nahr Ibrahim valley in the Byblos hinterland. The mission investigated the occupation and development of the Lebanese mountain region, an area notable for the presence of the previously unexcavated Roman sanctuary of Aphaca. The survey also included the site of Machnaqa downstream from Yanouh.^[48][49]

The Yanouh archaeological site comprises three main sectors: (1) the sanctuary, (2) the second sector, situated to the south of the Yanouh sanctuary, encompasses Tell el-Kharayeb, and (3) the third sector comprising the region within a 600 m (2,000 ft) radius of Tell el-Kharayeb and the sanctuary, featuring the remnants of Christian chapels, predominantly dating from the medieval period.^[8] The sanctuary sector contains the remains of five main structures dating back to various time periods, with the oldest being a Hellenistic-era sandstone platform.^[50] Adjacent to the platform stood the small Roman-era temple, and a Protobyzantine basilica. North of the platform, the small Roman-era temple and the Christian basilica lays the large Roman-era temple within its porticoed peribolos. The fifth and most recent structure within the sanctuary sector is the medieval Christian chapel that occupied a section of the northern peribolos wall.^[50]

The sandstone Hellenistic era structure consists of an elongated platform measuring 5.7 m × 7.2 m (19 ft × 24 ft). It dates back to the second century BC,^[51] and predates the site's monumentalization works carried out during the Roman period. The platform was accessible through steps on its long, south-east facing side.^[52][53] A survey conducted around the perimeter and in the western section of the ancient platform revealed that it was built in an area previously occupied during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.^[54] A fragmentary Aramaic inscription carved on a 75 cm × 40 cm (30 in × 16 in) sandstone block was discovered during the 1960 excavation of Harutune Kalayan in the spolia reused in the Christian basilica.^[51][55] The inscription commemorates the consecration of a "house of the god(s)" (byt'lh') by a group of people whose names are incomplete, in the year 203 of the Seleucid era,^[51] corresponding to 110–109 BC.^[55][56] The structure it refers to is believed to relate to the Hellenistic era platform. The dated inscription is linked to the Ituraeans who are thought to have established presence in the area at that time,^[53] and is the earliest known example of an Aramaic inscription in the Lebanese mountains.^[57]

To the east, and parallel to the platform stand the remains of a small, single room Roman-era temple. Like the platform, the small temple faces the south-east.^[53] Only the foundation, a part of the podium and the first course of the west wall of the cella remain in place. It is situated outside the large temple's peribolos wall at a distance of 1.5 m (4.9 ft).^[58] The small temple's rectangular sandstone foundation is fully preserved; its last course covers an area 7.5 m (25 ft) long and 4.15 m (13.6 ft) wide.^[59] The temple sat on a low podium accessible via a 2.78 m (9.1 ft) wide staircase.^[60] The podium would have measured 6.3 m (21 ft), 3.9 m (13 ft) wide and 1.1 m (3.6 ft) high;^[59] it was partly replaced in the west wall of the Protobyzantine basilica,^[59] and the six-step staircase leading up to the temple was dismantled when the Protobyzantine basilica was built.^[59] The small temple was a limestone prostyle temple of the Corinthian order.^[61] Its reconstruction was possible from surviving elements and spolia reused in later constructions.^[59] The temple likely had a tetrastyle pronaos (with four front columns), with 37 cm (15 in) diameter shafts, corresponding to the width of a surviving pilaster. A 1.32 m (4.3 ft) deep pronaos gave access to a square plan cella measuring 2.76 m² (29.7 sq ft). The cella featured corner pilasters.^[60]

While lacking specific block-related evidence for elevation, a hypothesis was proposed using the Corinthian order's proportional relationships, referencing the grand temple dimensions. The cumulative height of courses amounts to 4.56 m from the base of the pilaster to the upper edge of the cornice. The construction of the small temple is believed to have been contemporaneous with the great temple, dated to the first half of the 2nd century AD. It appears to be an extension of the Hellenistic building associated with the initial local sanctuary of the Yanouh site, situated outside the grand sanctuary and aligned with it. The Romanization of the ancient sanctuary is evident in the architecture of the small temple, which Charpentier believed served to bridge the practices of the old and new sanctuaries.^[60] The two adjacent constructions are arranged on north-south axes, shifted by about ten degrees in relation to the large temple. Their main facades facing south are preceded by staircases, the steps of which were submerged under the paving of later levels.^[62] They were separated by a space 0.70 m wide.^[58] The remains of a square monumental limestone altar base associated with the small Roman temple was uncovered to south of the courtyard. The base of the altar had been leveled and integrated into the paving of the courtyard during the 7th century AD.^[40]

North of the platform and the small temple stretches a large rectangular temenos measuring 51.2 m × 28.4 m (168 ft × 93 ft) housing the site's large temple and a monumental open-air altar,^[53][63] of which only three sandstone foundation blocks remain.^[64] The temenos is enclosed by a 1.1 m (3.6 ft) wide peribolos wall, constructed from sandstone ashlar blocks assembled with dry joints. An inner columnated portico ran along the peribolos, with a monumental gate opening to the east.^[65] The temenos and the large temple are oriented to the east and were constructed around the same period as the small temple.^[53] The large temple is built on a rectangular podium measuring 20.30 m × 9.65 m (66.6 ft × 31.7 ft). Visible elements of the large temple are constructed from blue-grey limestone ashlar blocks, contrasting with the peribole wall made of yellow sandstone.^[64] The ashlar blocks are laid in regular courses, with an average height of 64 centimetres (25 in).^[65]

The large temple measures 17 m × 8.5 m (56 ft × 28 ft).^[66] It is a tetrastyle prostyle building of Corinthian order,^[c] comprising a pronaos and a cella extended by a raised adyton.^[65][68] A nine-step stairway at the front of the temple led to the pronaos. This stairway was dismantled during a later phase of occupation.^[68] The pronaos is framed by two antae,^[68] and two unfluted column drums from the original four-column pronaos colonnade have survived into modern times.^[67] Each column stood 6 m (20 ft) tall and was composed of three drums: two measuring 1.92 m (6.3 ft) in height and one measuring 2.16 m (7.1 ft). The columns were surmounted by Corinthian capitals measuring 0.86 m (2.8 ft) in height. The median height of the architrave is estimated at 0.54 m (1.8 ft). Based on a frieze block recovered from the collapse, which measures 0.31 m (1.0 ft) in height, the entablature was estimated to have an average height of 1.45 m (4.8 ft). The well-preserved cornice block at the top of the temple's east façade permitted the reconstruction of the pediment which had a slope of 26-degrees.^[69] The pronaos opened through a monumented door measuring 4.8 m × 2.4 m (15.7 ft × 7.9 ft)^[70] to the square cella which had an area of 7.2 m² (78 sq ft).^[d]

The center of the cella is flanked by two well-preserved lateral windows measuring 2.4 m × 1.2 m (7.9 ft × 3.9 ft)^[70] oriented along the north and south walls.^[65][68] The lintels of the windows are located in the 5th layer of masonry. The positioning of the windows within the cella, as well as their external design, gives them a door-like character;^[71] they feature a molded frame topped by a bracketed lintel decorated with an egg-and-dart frieze, a dentil course, a crown molding, and finally, a sima.^[67][68] The crown molding ends with ornate voluted corbels. The interiors of the windows are smooth and unadorned.^[67] The cella is divided lengthwise into three sections. Its lower level occupies a square whose north-south median axis is aligned with that of the windows. The cella's large door was twice as high and wide as the lateral windows.^[65] The paving of the cella is not preserved, but marks at the base of the walls show that it sloped slightly to facilitate cleaning and the draining of water into a pipe running through the wall.^[68] The far, western third of the cella was occupied by the adyton platform which was dismantled when the temple was converted into a church. The adyton platform measured 7.10 m × 3.6 m (23.3 ft × 11.8 ft) and was raised 1.92 m (6.3 ft) above the cella floor. The staircase leading to the adyton platform comprised eleven steps, the first of which was aligned with the west jamb of the lateral windows.^[68] An ornate arched 0.6 m-deep (2.0 ft) niche, designed to house a statue of a deity, survives, integrated into the back wall of the adyton in the temple's median axis.^[68][72] The niche's semi-dome is shell-shaped;^[66] it sits 1.3 m (4.3 ft) above the adyton platform paving and was once framed by an edicule surmounted by a low arch. The front of the edicule was supported by two colonnettes with small Corinthian capitals, one of which was found reused in the proto-Byzantine church.^[73] The western outer facing of the walls is adorned with corner pilasters.^[68][72]

The analysis of the temple showed a systematic use of proportional ratios, enabling archaeologists to conduct a comprehensive virtual reconstruction of the elevations.^[65] The great temple incorporates Roman architectural elements, namely its podium, Corinthian order, the regularity of its proportions, and its tetrastyle prostyle front, with distinct local features, most notably, the adyton with its central niche, and the two exceptional lateral windows.^[72] In Christian times, the great temple was converted into a church, and an apse was built into the temple's pronaos.^[74] The eastern façade and adyton of the temple were dismantled between the fifth and eighth centuries AD. By the seventh or eighth centuries, an unidentified structure was added to its side. The temple's conversion into a church was completed by the 12th century AD.^[75] This church had fallen into disrepair by the time it was described by Krencker and Zschietzschmann in 1938.^[74] The temenos portico was completely dismantled during the Byzantine and medieval periods, making way for an artisanal sector with an oil mill and ovens located to the west, behind the great temple. These artisanal installations also extended further to the south, near the proto-Byzantine Christian basilica built outside the grand sanctuary temenos.^[76][77]

The proto-Byzantine basilica underwent three major modifications between the Protobyzantine and the medieval period.^[79] The initial structure was a three-aisled columned basilica built around the end of the 5th century AD. It had a trapezoidal plan, featuring a semi-circular protruding apse oriented to the east, and two lateral aisles terminating in straight walls at the east. The southern wall of the peribolos (enclosure) of the grand sanctuary was partially repurposed as the basilica's northern wall. This first basilica was built with columns repurposed from the dismantled great temple's temenos portico. It had two rows of five columns spaced 1.6 m-deep (5.2 ft) apart, supporting semicircular arches. The basilica was accessed through two doorways in the west wall, the main one facing the central nave. The entrance was preceded by a two-column portico.^[80][81] Following a period of destruction, a second basilica with pillars replaced the earlier one in the seventh century AD.^[42] During this period, the temple's monumental altar was leveled, and its base was integrated into the paved courtyard west of the church. The Hellenistic cultic platform was repurposed to house a basin, and the basilica's courtyard pavement covered its former staircase. Structures northwest of the main temple and on the site of the sanctuary's western portico may have held monastic functions.^[82][42]

Architecturally, the basilica underwent modifications: the aisles were extended to the east by the construction of a wall that encompassed part of the original apse, the columns were replaced by pillars, and the choir was pierced laterally by two small doorways leading to the side aisles. The entrance portico was transformed into a narthex, accessed from the south via a small staircase with five steps.^[83] In the third phase of occupation during the medieval era, the orientation of the main entrance to the pillared basilica was changed to the south with the closing of the central door on the basilica's west side. A new door was opened in the south wall.^[84] The actual ruins of the basilica correspond to this third phase of modifications. The surviving structure consists of a three-nave main building with a narthex to the west. It has a trapezoidal layout, with varying dimensions: the northern and southern walls measure 23 m (75 ft) and 20.75 m (68.1 ft) respectively, while its width ranges from 12.55 m (41.2 ft) to 13.95 m (45.8 ft). The wall thickness also varies, with the north and east walls averaging 1.1 m (3.6 ft) and the south and west walls measuring 0.9 m (3.0 ft).^[85] This basilica was abandoned in the second half of the 13th century.^[86]

A small Christian chapel stood approximately 3 metres (9.8 feet) north and parallel to the great temple. The chapel consisted of a single nave and measured 9.3 m × 5.2 m (31 ft × 17 ft). The nave ended in the east with a protruding semicircular apse. The chapel was built using small stone blocks with minimal reuse of ancient materials. Access to this chapel was through a single doorway, positioned centrally in the western wall. The doorposts are composed of two large monolithic blocks reused from earlier structures. The nave, characterized by thick walls approximately 1.10 meters wide, was likely covered by a barrel vault.^[46]

The Aramaic inscription from the Hellenistic platform indicates a dedication to local deities, referred to as a "House of God(s)" (byt'lh'). The exact identity of the deity or deities worshipped remains uncertain.^[55]

The titulary deity of the Roman temple at Yanouh remains unidentified due to the absence of inscriptions. However, the relief known as the "Dame de Yanouh" (Lady of Yanouh), as described by Gatier, provides insight into local religious practices. Similar to the goddesses of Byblos and Arqa, the deity depicted at Yanouh aligns with the Venus lugens (mourning Venus) of Lebanon, referenced by Macrobius. This mourning Venus is characterized by her lack of jewelry and an expressionless or veiled face, symbolizing grief. Such imagery supports the claim by Philo of Byblos that Phoenician cities and villages shared common myths. Despite these parallels, the Dame de Yanouh is distinct in certain aspects, particularly in the presence of flanking lions, which are more commonly associated with Atargatis and Allat rather than Astarte. Gatier has suggested that this figure may correspond to the Aphrodite of Aphaca and that the Ituraeans, who controlled the region in the first century AD, may have facilitated the spread of her cult to Arqa.^[87] Additionally, the reference to the goddess Libanitis in Lucian's satire Adversus Indoctum could be relevant to the sanctuary at Aphaca and the Adonis myth, as later glosses clarify that she represents Aphrodite, the lover of Adonis, who spent time with him on Mount Lebanon.^[88][87]

In the Byzantine period, Yanouh became a Christian center and saw the construction of several churches and chapels. The most prominent of which was a basilica with columns that was built in the fifth century AD in the south of the site,^[43] which according to Harfouche et al, is the oldest Christian religious monument of the Lebanese mountain.^[31] The basilica had a nave with two aisles, an apse, and a narthex. It was later replaced by a basilica with pillars that underwent several transformations until the 12th century AD.^[43] The site is explicitly mentioned in a papal bull issued by Pope Innocent III on 3 January 1215, which states that the seat of the patriarch is found in the church of the Virgin at Yanoch.^[9] Yanouh served as the seat of the Maronite patriarchate from 750 to 1277 AD, during which the Roman temple was converted into a church dedicated to Saint George, and another church was built in the north of the site, along with several chapels in the vicinity.^[43]

Before the Nahr Ibrahim valley mission and the Yanouh excavations, scholars held conflicting views about the timeline of settlement and the construction of monumental temples in Lebanon's mountainous regions.^[49] In his 1864 Mission de Phénicie, Ernest Renan asserted Lebanon Mountains never had any large cities.^[44] In 1939, the French archaeologist Henri Seyrig proposed, based on the distribution of remains and the absence of Hellenistic period temples at the time of his writing, that monumental temple construction in the Lebanese mountains only began once villages developed during the Roman period. Before that, he argued, local communities likely had only "simple rustic sanctuaries, enclosures on elevated ground, where they worshiped shapeless idols in the open air".^[89][49] On the other hand, the French scholar Xavier de Planhol went as far as to suggest that the mountainous regions of Lebanon were not inhabited until the early Middle Ages by Maronites and Druze communities, who sought refuge in areas he described as nearly devoid of human presence.^[90][49] More recent surveys and excavations at the Yanouh sanctuary confirmed Seyrig's hypothesis regarding the Roman-era monumentalization.^[49]

The archaeological mission's findings reveal that the Grand Temple was designed using a regulating grid of 3.60 m, equivalent to ten modules, with each module being equal to 0.36 m, corresponding to the column shaft radius. This module governed both the plan and elevations, with proportions following Corinthian order principles. The cella's layout adheres to this grid, divided into three sections, while the facade columns (6.00 m tall, ~16.67 modules) and entablature (1.45 m, four modules) reflect modular harmony. The small temple is a scaled-down version of the large temple, built at half its size, and the temenos portico likely followed a 20-module column height (5.20 m). Key elements, such as intercolumniations (2.40–3.15 m), column diameters (0.72 m = two modules), and antae widths (0.72 m), confirm the pervasive use of the 0.36 m module.^[69][91]

An altar fragment was discovered reused in a small wall at the southern extremity of the survey site. The fragment is decorated with a relief carving of a veiled goddess,^[76] and was named the "Lady of Yanouh" by the excavation team.^[93] Coins from the first century AD struck at Byblos were found at the site,^[94] as well as coins from the 8th century AD.^[95] Hellenistic era ceramic ware^[96] and ceramics from the 12th to 13th centuries AD were found in the artisanal sector.^[97] A tomb of a child was found in the artisanal sector.^[93] Small ossuary tombs in shallow pits carved into the stair treads of the basilica narthex containing children's bones were also discovered. The tombs contained a jeton (token) from the 15th century, a cut medieval coin with a square shape, and several small pieces of jewelry such as earrings and bracelets dated approximately to the 14th–16th centuries AD.^[98]

A number of unmarked arched stelae, possibly funerary monuments, and at least one confirmed tombstone from the mid-3rd century, suggest the presence of a Roman necropolis around the temple site.^[8] A funerary column found in nearby Qartaba, dated between 120 and 160 AD, belonged to the family tomb of a priest likely associated with a local sacred site. Gatier emphasizes that the Romanization of regional traditions was not limited to stylistic changes but also played a role in establishing a new social order as the valley became integrated into the Roman sphere. The names inscribed on the monument reflect a blend of Semitic and Latin elements, with Greek inscriptions, while the column itself demonstrates a distinctive adaptation of Roman funerary portraiture. During this period of significant construction, possibly involving an architect trained in Roman techniques, local elites maintained their dominant status in villages by adopting aspects of Greek and Roman culture and assuming administrative responsibilities.^[99][100]

• Close-up of the cella window architrave
• Cella window architrave viewed from inside the cella

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• Tell Yanouh-Mghaïra at the French Ministry of Culture
• Mission archéologique Nahr Ibrahim at the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée