Talk:Belat temple

A fact from Belat temple appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 12 March 2023 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that an unidentified ancient temple may be the finest example of a "high place" in the Galilee?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2023/March. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Belat temple.

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Bruxton (talk) 18:27, 1 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

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Article history

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Belat temple in 1857

... that an unidentified ancient temple (pictured) may be the finest example of a "high place" in the Galilee? Source: Ernest Renan: "However that may be, Bélat is the finest example of a "high place" that the country has to show."... Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener: "From these considerations I am led to the supposition that we have here one of the most perfect and earliest specimens of a temple dedicated to some deity worshipped on this "high place," and attended by a number of priests or votaries who were lodged in the surrounding buildings."... (citations in the article)
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/1978 Tabriz protests

Created by Onceinawhile (talk). Self-nominated at 12:31, 25 February 2023 (UTC). Post-promotion hook changes for this nom will be logged at Template talk:Did you know nominations/Belat temple; consider watching this nomination, if it is successful, until the hook appears on the Main Page.[reply]

I will review this article Lightburst (talk) 16:36, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image eligibility:

Freely licensed:
Used in article:
Clear at 100px: - n

QPQ: Done.

Overall: Without the block quotes I think we still have 1800+ characters. The hook is interesting and verified. The image should be cropped if used since it does not appear clear at this size. Lightburst (talk) 16:44, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Lightburst, thanks for the review. I have cropped the image. Onceinawhile (talk) 16:48, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Looks much better in that size. Lightburst (talk) 18:26, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Belat = Blat, Lebanon?

Hi, Onceinawhile, thanks for this interesting article. I'm wondering if the Belat referred to here could be present day Blat (بلاط), Lebanon. Kitchener describes it as being within sight of "Kh. Taiyebeh," which is maybe Taybeh (Marjaayoun). Based upon google maps, they seem to be pretty close. Following the directions from [1] on a map also puts us pretty close to Blat, and there is a description of a temple of Blat, though I'm not sure if they match. Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 14:06, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Blat, Marjayoun, suggests that it was initially named "Balat", very close to Belat. Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 14:09, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Eddie891: I just double checked on File:VanDeVeldeMap3.jpg. There are two places called Belat / Blat. One north of Marjaayoun (our Blat article) and one here. So they are definitely two different places. Onceinawhile (talk) 14:29, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It is also shown on the middle right of File:Survey of Western Palestine 1880.03.jpg as Tell Belat, 2020. The Survey of Western Palestine did not go as far north as Marjaayoun. Onceinawhile (talk) 14:33, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Blat in William McClure Thomson that you linked to is definitely the same topic of this article: “… Blat, which Mr. Van de Velde visited with so much tribulation of soul and travail of body. It is one hour and a half west of Cosa, and occupies the most conspicuous position in all this region. The architects of this temple were lovers of the sublime, and selected a spot on which to build and pray which commands prospects in all directions of great beauty. It was evidently a place of importance, but its history is utterly lost. The columns of the temple are visible to a vast distance, and all around are masses of ruins in wild confusion, and overgrown with thorns and briers.” Onceinawhile (talk) 14:37, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for looking into this Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 14:51, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for bringing this up. I have done some more research and can see that, in addition to Blat, Marjayoun, there are other places in the region with the same Arabic name wikt:بلاط: our articles Ballat, Blat, Byblos District, pl:Balat (Aleppo) and Balat, Egypt. Also see Balata. One derivation for the word is a loanword from Latin equivalent to "palace" (palace -> palat… -> balat…). Onceinawhile (talk) 14:54, 25 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]