Bad news travels fast and the criminal
destruction of the Temple of Bel
(or Baal) at Palmyra Palmyra
For most people, a temple is just a colonnaded
building resting on the stepped crepidoma and in some cases there are also
remains of the interior walls that belong to the naos where a statue of the pertaining god is on display. Yet
finding a temple with its original enclosure is very rare. The most striking
examples I encountered were at Jerash
(Gerasa) in Jordan
with the Temple
of Artemis and here at Palmyra in Syria with the Temple of Bel
This temple complex is located in the
southeastern corner of this magnificent city at the end of the stately
Decumanus. In spite of the very promising reduced model exhibited at the local
museum, I was overwhelmed by the shear size of the Temple of Bel Palmyra
The once imposing entrance gate through the outer
wall is now rather common. All along the inside of this outer wall runs a Stoa
of which a good number of slender Corinthian columns are still standing in spite
of the fact that the Ottomans removed most of the bronze pegs that held the
drums together. Bronze was an expensive commodity that was reused and melted
for other purposes, general for war equipment.
Rather unique are the remains of the path used
to lead the sacrificial animals through underground vaulted tunnels to the
temple altars. Large square slabs that covered this passageway have fancy holes
to allow light and air to circulate. This ingenious system dates from the first
century AD. The blood
of these sacrificial animals was collected and mingled with water to irrigate
and fertilize the neighbouring fields. How ecological can one be? Even the meat
was not wasted as it was cooked and eaten.
The Temple of Bel
From there one accesses the most sacred part of the temple, the
naos or adyton. Following Semitic traditions, there are two adytons, one on each side. Although the
roof of the left wing is much blackened one still can see the seven gods and
seven planets surrounded by the twelve signs of the zodiac. The niche was
occupied by the statue of the main god. A smaller statue apparently stood in
the opposite southern shrine and would be carried around during the processions
on heydays. Amazingly, the ceiling here is cut from one single monolith stone.
The attentive visitor will also recognize the faded colours of a fresco on the
wall facing the entrance in between the two altars which was added later on by the
Byzantines who converted this temple into a church. As far as we know, the
building was still in use during the 12th century as a mosque.
I truly marvel at this Temple of Bel, so big, so well-preserved and so special with its
two adytons as a proof how Roman
and Semitic religions lived in harmony at a time when Palmyra became the Roman
Province of Syria under Emperor Tiberius.
Back outside, I try to figure out the temple-like
buildings of the temenos with their
slender Ionic columns and half-columns, the loose remains of ornaments richly
decorated with grapevine. Among the bigger blocks I find a relief showing the
holy procession to the temple, but also reliefs of camels, and Palmyran men in
their typical pants as well as elegantly veiled women. In another relief I
recognize Roman soldiers, yet dressed with an eastern twist clearly a statement
of their wealth.
The opulence that reigned in Palmyra
And now, in 2015, all this has simply vanished
as shown on the satellite images that travelled around the world. Acts of
barbarism are known from antiquity but don’t fit in the “civilized” world of
our 21st century. What pride can a human being find in destroying, ransacking
and demolishing its own culture, I don’t understand. I feel terribly blessed
that I have been able to see Palmyra and
so many archaeological sites of Syria