Baalbek

The Temple of Jupiter is a documented Roman construction project of the 1st century AD.

A block of about 1,500–1,650 t (the 'Forgotten Stone', uncovered in 2014 by the German mission) remained in the quarry: the Romans knew when to give up — a sign of a rational construction project.

The Romans commonly lifted loads on the order of 100 t (columns, architraves) with gin poles and capstans; beyond that, blocks were slid and rolled rather than lifted.

Three distinct stones remain in the quarry, in ascending order of mass: the Stone of the Pregnant Woman (Hajar al-Hibla, ~1,000 t), the Stone of the South (Hajar el-Guble, ~1,242 t, rediscovered in the 1990s), the Forgotten Stone (~1,500–1,650 t, discovered by the DAI in summer 2014). They are NOT part of the Trilithon.

The initial phase of Podium I (structure beneath the columns) shows Herodian characteristics (~15 BC) according to Kropp & Lohmann (Levant 43, 2011): masonry with drafted margins and header/stretcher alternation identical to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Trilithon itself remains attributed to the imperial Roman phase.

Adam (Syria 54, 1977) calculates that a block of 557 t could have been transported by 512 men using rollers and capstans. The documented maximum capacity for Roman vertical lifting (towers + multi-machine capstans) is about 100 t (Adam, La construction romaine, 1984; Vitruvius, De Architectura X.2).