Later, the Christians took it over and converted it into a church.

Later, the Christians took it over and converted it into a church. Then came the Muslims, and they changed it into a mosque. The Sabaeans had their numerous places of wor­ships, and their idols were named after various names of the sun, and shaped with fixed patterns, as has been described by Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi in his book, The Houses of Worship.

For ex­ample, there was the temple of Ba'lbak which housed the idol of the sun; of Qiran, which was related to the moon and built in the moon's shape, like a shawl worn over head and shoulders. And there is a village nearby, Salamsīn by name; it is a corruption of its original name, صنَم سين (Sanam Sīn = the idol of the moon). Likewise, another village is called…