B ' hala B ' hala was an ancient city on the planet Bajor , lost to history for some 20 , 000 years until its rediscovery in 2373 . B ' hala was revered as a holy city in the Bajoran religion . Like many ancient Bajoran cities , B ' hala was built around a Bantaca spire that bore markings denoting the city ' s position in the cosmos . Prior to 2373 , the only known evidence that the city existed was an icon painting , created at a time when it did exist , that depicted the city ' s Bantaca spire . Only two sides of the spire were depicted , making it difficult to decipher the city ' s location from the markings visible in the painting . This precious cultural artifact was stolen by the Cardassian s during the Occupation of Bajor , but was eventually returned in 2373 following unrelenting pressure by the Bajorans . Bajoran archaeologist s searched for B ' hala for millennia without success . According to Zocal ' s Third Prophecy , only someone who had been " touched by the Prophet s " could find the ruins of the lost city . When the icon painting of B ' hala was returned by the Cardassians it passed through Deep Space 9 " en route " to the Bajoran State Museum in Ilvia , giving Benjamin Sisko the chance to study it . He created a holographic representation of the Bantaca spire from the painting , and using the spire ' s reflection in a waterfall , he extrapolated the symbols on the other two sides . He was injured by a plasma burst in the holosuite , and subsequently experienced a vision of B ' hala . Following his vision , Sisko was able to determine the coordinates of the lost city and find it on Bajor buried some two hundred meter s underground . Many of the Bajoran people , and Sisko himself , believed that he had found B ' hala as a direct result of a sacred vision – a " pagh ' tem ' far " – sent by the Prophet s , although Starfleet officially remained skeptical . The discovery of the sacred city served to reaffirm Sisko ' s status as Emissary of the Prophets among the Bajorans , including even long - standing doubters such as Kai Winn Adami . Excavation of the ruins began immediately . ( ) It was discovered that B ' hala was built upon the ruins of an even more ancient city , abandoned some 25 , 000 years prior . It was during excavation of these older ruins in 2374 that Bajoran monk s discovered a stone tablet over thirty thousand years old directly beneath the Temple of B ' hala . The tablet bore the inscription " Welcome Emissary " , and prophesied the Reckoning , a duel between a Prophet and a Pah - wraith that were locked inside the tablet . The battle began when Sisko later smashed the tablet aboard Deep Space 9 . ( ) Background information . The painting of B ' hala in was designed by John Eaves and then constructed by Doug Drexler in a 3D computer program . Michael Okuda used Photoshop to add in people , shading and the reflection of the bantaca spire in the water . The physical painting was singed by Herman Zimmerman to add the authenticity of age . The views that Sisko enhances in the episode sections were illustrated by James Van Over . ( " " ; ) A complete version of the painting was included as an image in the " " . In the first " " novel , Jake Sisko is seen working at B ' hala following the events of . Benjamin Sisko was mentioned to have worked at B ' hala in 2379 , in the novel " Rough Beasts of Empire " .