II.   Sovereign

Halsion (Halcyon), also known as Helicon, also known as Heliopolis, also falsely known as “Antioch” on the Draco (Orentes) River in Northern Syria is one of the oldest and most significant sacred cities in civilized history since the 4th Millennium BCE. The city was originally known as “Amurru” to the Akkadians and “El Saddai” to the Hittites.

While the present day city of Antakya built upon the ruins of ancient Halsion (Amurru) is now six (6) miles from the Mediterranean Coast, the city was originally founded on the old coast line and the mouth of the Orentes River, also known as the Draco and Dagon River that begins near Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley. The city also represented the meeting point of the ancient roads to Europe, Asia, Mesopotamia and to Egypt.

The city was renamed “Heliopolis” meaning “city of the sun” by Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BCE and became a major administrative center for Syria and Palestine apart from its history as a major trading city and sacred site. In the 1st Century BCE, the Romans renamed the city Halsion (Halcyon), also simply known as “sion” as a major site of worship of Cybele, also known as Sybil.

Upon the destruction of the Temple of Mithra by Nazarene and Essene rebels in 69 CE, Halsion became the new center of the official cult of the Roman Empire being Sol Invictus, the worship of the “unconquerable sun” and the Emperor as the “light bringer” and messiah. Massive new construction was undertaken and the city became the “Rome of the East” for a brief time.

On December 13 115 CE a series of earthquakes, some reaching as large as 7.9 magnitude struck northern the Syrian and Palestine region completely devastating Halsion (Heliopolis) and killing over three hundred thousand (300,000) people in the city alone, including Emperor Trajan.

The claim that immediate reconstruction of Halsion (Heliopolis) began in 115 CE is a deliberate corruption of the rescue and recovery efforts that continue for nearly two (2) years before the site was formally abandoned in 117 CE under the reign of Hadrian as Emperor.

At least two (2) small villages gradually emerged from the rubble of former Heliopolis from the mid to late 2nd Century and gradually grew in size. However, the movement of the shoreline of the Mediterranean west significantly reduced the strategic advantage of the site. In 526 another major earthquake struck, causing widespread damage and the site being once again abandoned until the 8th Century CE.

The earthquake of 526 is falsely used to claim damage that occurred in 115 CE and to hide the fact that the city of Halsion, also known as Heliopolis was abandoned and not reconstructed to its former glory.