Apheca

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Apheca, known today in Arabic as 'Afqa or Afka, is located in the mountains of Lebanon, six kilometers from the ancient city of Jebail, which still stands just east of the town of Qartaba.^[1] It is the site of one of the finest waterfalls in the mountains of the Middle East,^[2] which feeds into the River Adonis (known today as Nahr Ibrahim or "Abraham's river"),^[3] and forms the intermittent Lake Yammouneh, with which it is also associated by legend.^[4]

Legend as recorded in Greek mythology has it that Adonis was born and died at the foot of the falls in Apheca. The ruins of the celebrated temple of Aphrodite are located there.^[3] Sir Richard Francis Burton and Sir James Frazer further attribute the temple at Apheca to the honouring of Astarte or Ishtar (Ashtaroth).^[5][6]

Contents 1 Physical description 2 Mythology 3 2006 Lebanon War 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Physical description

The waterfall at Apheca is the source for the River Adonis and is located on a 600-foot (180 m) bluff that forms an immense natural amphitheatre.^[1] The river emerges from a large limestone cave in the cliff wall which stores and channels water from the melted snow of the mountains before releasing it into springs and streams below.^[1] At Apheca, several watery threads flow from the cave to form numerous cataracts, a scene of great beauty.^[1]

A great and ancient temple is located here.^[1] Sir James Frazer attributes its construction to the legendary forebear of King Cinyras, who was said to have founded a sanctuary for Aphrodite (i.e. Astarte).^[6] Destroyed by the Emperor Constantine the Great in the fourth century,^[7] it was partially rebuilt by the later fourth-century emperor, Julian the Apostate.^[1] The site was finally abandoned during the reign of Theodosius.^[1] Massive hewn blocks and a fine column of Syenite granite still mark the site, on a terrace facing the source of the river.^[6] The remains of a Roman aqueduct that carried the waters of the River Adonis to the ancient inhabitants of Jebail are also located here.^[1]

Sir James Frazer describes the village at Apheca in his 1922 book, The Golden Bough as

"...the miserable village which still bears the name of Afka at the head of the wild, romantic, wooded gorge of the Adonis. The hamlet stands among groves of noble walnut-trees on the brink of the lyn. A little way off the river rushes from a cavern at the foot of a mighty amphitheatre of towering cliffs to plunge in a series of cascades into the awful depths of the glen. The deeper it descends, the ranker and denser grows the vegetation, which, sprouting from the crannies and fissures of the rocks, spreads a green veil over the roaring or murmuring stream in the tremendous chasm below. There is something delicious, almost intoxicating, in the freshness of these tumbling waters, in the sweetness and purity of the mountain air, in the vivid green of the vegetation.^[6]

[edit] Mythology

In classical Greek mythology, Apheca is associated with the cult of Aphrodite and Adonis.^[1] According to the myth, Cinyras, the King of Cyprus seduced his daughter Myrrha who was transformed into a tree that bears her name (see:Myrrh).^[1] After several months, the tree split open and the child Adonis emerged. He was reared by Aphrodite, who became enamored of him, causing her lover Ares to grow jealous. Ares sent a vicious boar to kill Adonis.^[1] At the pool at the foot of the falls of Apheca, Adonis bled to death from a deep wound in the groin.^[1] Aphrodite despaired at his death and out of pity for her the gods allowed Adonis to ascend from Hades for a short period each year.^[1]

Each spring at Apheca, the melting snows flood the river, bringing a reddish mud into the stream from the steep mountain slopes.^[1] The red stain can be seen feeding into the river and far out to the Mediterranean Sea.^[1] Legend held this to be the blood of Adonis, renewed each year, at the time of his death. Lucian of Samosata, a Syrian by birth, describes how a local man of Byblos debunked the legend:

"'This river, my friend and guest, passes through the Libanus: now this Libanus abounds in red earth. The violent winds which blow regularly on those days bring down into the river a quantity of earth resembling vermilion. It is this earth that turns the river to red. And thus the change in the river's colour is due, not to blood as they affirm, but to the nature of the soil.' This was the story of the man of Byblos. But even assuming that he spoke the truth, yet there certainly seems to me something supernatural in the regular coincidence of the wind and the colouring of the river."^[8]

Lucian also describes practices by the Byblians of worship which some told him centered not on Adonis, but Osiris.^[8] He writes that he mastered the secret rites of Adonis at the temple at Apheca and that the locals there asserted that the legend about Adonis was true and occurred in their country.^[8] Lucian describes the rites, annually performed, that involved the beating of breasts and wailing, and the "perform[ing] [of] their secret ritual amid signs of mourning through the whole countryside. When they have finished their mourning and wailing, they sacrifice in the first place to Adonis, as to one who has departed this life: after this they allege that he is alive again, and exhibit his effigy to the sky."^[8]

Also in the fertile valley surrounding the river, millions of scarlet anemones bloom.^[1] Known as Adonis' flowers, according to legend, they spring from his blood, spilled as he lay dying beneath the trees at Apheca, and return each year in remembrance.^[1]

In his "Terminal Essay" in the 1885 translation of The Arabian Nights, Sir Richard Burton describes the temple at Apheca as a place of pilgrimage for the Metawali sect of Shia Islam, where vows are addressed to the Sayyidat al-Kabirah or "the Great Lady".^[5]

[edit] 2006 Lebanon War

During the 2006 Lebanon War, the Afqa bridge that connects Mount Lebanon with the Beqaa valley was one of five bridges destroyed by Israeli jets.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• A letter from Gertrude Bell describing Apheca in 1900
• Map of Lebanon and geographical coordinates for Apheca