During the first century B.C., the empire left by Alexander the Great to his successors, the Seleucids in Syria, sank into disruption and chaos due to the war that rose between them. The Itureans (Arab tribes) established in the Békaa took advantage of the situation, spread and controlled North Lebanon, and acquired both political and religious power. Possessors of the great pontificate in Baalbek, they imposed their religious customs on the regions they dominated.

Rome entered into the scene and showed tolerance towards the local cults in order to incite the local populations to enter into its new universal culture. Consequently, the former cultic places witnessed massive temple construction projects, generally financed by the public powers or the local religious or civil authorities. Some temples were constructed and decorated according to the Greco-Roman taste, however, they were adapted to fit the requirements of the traditional cults.

It is in this context that one has to envision the temple complexes of Maqâm ar-Rabb located in the Aakkar region and Sfiré located in the Danniyé region of North Lebanon.

The temple, surrounded by a sacred enclosure (known as a haram in Arabic or a temenos in Greek), is oriented toward the southeast. It is constructed with basalt stones quarried from the local region. The structure includes a portico with two antae, a cella, and a staircase leading to the adytum (or Holy of Holies). The portico was preceded by two rows of six columns. It is possible that the initial plans included a colonnade surrounding the temple. Two small doors situated on both sides of the main entrance lead to stairs built in two towers, allowing access to the roof. Similar to the temples of the Békaa, the adytum included a baldachin (or canopy) sheltering the statue of the cult. Under the adytum, an arched crypt held the objects dedicated to the cult.

Some of the stone objects found in the temple hold inscriptions written in Greek. One of these inscriptions, in honor of Nemesis (the Goddess of Justice and Vengeance), was carved on the base of a statue by a priest named Drusus in 262 A.D. The wheel, which is the emblem of Nemesis, was carved under her name on the statue base.

When the Romans came to the Levant, they integrated the local divinities into the Roman pantheon of gods. Usually the Romanization of local gods was done on the basis of similarities between the local divinity and the Roman divinity. For example, Baal was associated with Zeus, because Baal was the chief of the Semitic pantheon and Zeus was the chief of the Greco- Roman pantheon. The case of Nemesis is different. The Greek goddess Nemesis was associated with the local goddess Manât, the great goddess of fate. However, Nemesis was only a small divinity in the Greco-Roman mythology, while Manât was one of the chief divinities of the Arabic pantheon

Because Nemesis was a lesser divinity, the Greeks and Romans did not build temples for her. The Arabs, however, gave Manât a prominent place in their pantheon and therefore placed a higher importance on Nemesis when she was related to Manât. There are not many temples with representations of Nemesis in the Greco-Roman world, which makes the inscription to Nemesis and the temple at Maqâm ar-Rabb very important.

During Byzantine times, there may have been plans to transform the temple into a church. Scattered remains of an apse lie inside the temple’s pronaos (the inner area of its portico). The church construction may have caused the disappearance of two of the portico columns. The absence of any evidence of doors makes it difficult to know how one would have entered the church. Other structures surround the temple, but their plans, functions, and dates are unknown.

Sfiré

The cultic complex of Sfiré counts among the biggest religious complexes in Lebanon. It includes six main structures: one is situated to the southwest of the village, close to the mosque, and five others were constructed on the side of the mountain. At the mountainside site, there are three temples, a cubic structure, and a colonnaded altar. These monuments underwent extensive clearing and restoration by the Directorate General of Antiquities from the 1960s until the beginning of the Lebanese war.