The Temple of Bel, Palmyra
Greco-Roman Temple Complex of an Ancient Semitic God
Built in honour of a Semitic god, the Temple of Bel is Palmyra’s main temple.It is located in the south eastern corner of the city, where a temple has occupied the spot from the beginning of Palmyra’s history.
The current temple remains date from the first century AD. They are Greco Roman in style, consisting of a temenos or walled precinct and the temple building itself. Like many other architectural features of Palmyra, the temple contains features that show that a marriage between eastern and western architectural features and religious expression.
History of the Temple of Bel
Excavation shows this was not the first temple on the site with remains of earlier temple structures found within the temple precinct. The current remains represent the final incarnation of the temple in Palmyra, with the complex completed and dedicated to Bel in 32AD
After the fall of Palmyra, the temple fell into disuse until after the Islamic conquest when it began a new life as an Arab fort. Masonry from the temenos and porticos was used to rebuild the defensive walls, creating in places a unique pattern of circular blocks that can still be seen today.
Despite this, much of the layout of the temenos and temple survived and can be seen today.
The Temenos
The temenos was originally surrounded by a 15 metre high wall. All that remains of this original wall is in the northern sector. The rest were reconstructed by Palmyra’s Arab conquerors. A classical style colonnade ran around the inside of the temenos, only parts of which remain standing.
The main feature still visible today is the processional way which ran from the entrance of the temple complex to the centre of the temple precinct. It is an unusual feature, essentially a sunken passage way that gradually rose up into the temenos courtyard. At one point it passes under the temenos colonnade, passing underneath through a purpose built archway which supported the columns above it.
This paved roadway was believed to have been used for the ceremonial procession of animals designated for slaughter before the god. The point where the causeway levels out and joins the temple precinct is marked to the left by the sacrificial altar, complete with pit to drain away blood and a purification platform to its right.
The Cella of the Temple of Bel
At first glance, the temple of Bel appears to be a standard classical temple. A rectangular building, it is aligned on a north south axis. Its cella is surrounded by a classical style colonnade and the north and south cella walls are decorated with Ionic columns.
A number of features deviate from the typical classical model. Firstly, classical temples are usually entered from the end. The entrance to Palmyra’s temple of Bel is in the long western side.
In addition, stone beams connecting the outer walls of the cella with the surrounding colonnade were decorated with reliefs showing the details of local religious worship. The style and content of these reliefs show that the ceremonies were distinctly eastern. They depict not only the local priests and gods but the details of the processions which included mysteriously veiled women and lines of camels bearing small shrines on their backs.
Looking upwards, the final external deviation from the classical pattern is visible. Edging the top of the temple’s colonnade is a series of pyramid shapes not found on any western Greco Roman temple.
The inside of the temple displays its Semitic character in other ways. Consisting of a long, central room lit by highly placed windows, the cella has remains of stairways in three of its corners. These stairways led to rooftop terraces, something that would not have been found within any Roman or Greek temple. In addition, the northern and southern ends of the cella have two niches or small rooms which are reached by steps. Known as adytons, they acted as shrines to Bel and other unknown local deities.
These adytons retain impressive ceiling decorations. Each are carved from a single slab of stone. The northern adyton displays what is known as the Zodiac ceiling, named after its key features of seven gods and the twelve signs of the zodiac framed in a cupola. The southernmost adtyon’s ceiling consists of a circular arrangement of acanthus leaves ringed by a geometric circle set within a final square frame. Both of these reliefs were so unusual that they inspired early 18th century English visitors to rediscovered Palmyra to replicate the patterns in the dining rooms of their own country houses.
Sources
Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome (2003) Charles Gates. Routledge: London and New York.
Cella of the Temple of Bel,Palmyra
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