Ancient Remains
(45 km from Batroun)
Northwest of Douma and two
kilometers north of Bshe'le village, are extensive remains of
a religious or military settlement from the Romano-Byzantine
era. The site may also have been a Canaanite "high
place."
Situated above the hilltop Maronite
monastery of Mar Yaqoob (St. James), the ruins and the
panoramic view are well worth the effort of getting there. The
ruins is a jumble of stone blocks, some quarried building
stones, others natural. Remains of walls, basins or
reservoirs, shaft tombs cut into the rock and other structures
can be discerned. The entire site is littered with pottery
shreds. West of these remains is what appears to be a stone
sacrifice. Shaped like a mushroom, it is surrounded by a
man-made circular indentation which drains into a deep groove,
possible to receive the blood of a sacrifice.
|