The Temple of Baalshamin was an ancient temple in the city of

Palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...

, Syria, dedicated to the Canaanite

sky deity The sky often has important religious significance. Many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's '' Motif ...

Baalshamin Baalshamin ( arc, ܒܥܠ ܫܡܝܢ ''Baʿal Šāmīn'' or ''Bʿel Šmīn'' Blit. "Lord of Heaven ), also called Baal Shamem ( phn, 𐤁𐤏𐤋 𐤔𐤌𐤌 ''Baʿl Šāmēm'') and Baal Shamaim ( he, ''Baʿal Šāmayīm''), was a Northwest Semit ...

. The temple's earliest phase dates to the late 2nd century BC; its

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...

was built in 115 AD, and the temple was substantially rebuilt in 131 AD. The temple would have been closed during the

persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great (306–337) in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina ( Jerusalem), when he destroyed a pagan temple for the purpose of constructing a Christian chur ...

in a campaign against the temples of the East made by

Maternus Cynegius Maternus Cynegius (died 388) was a Roman bureaucrat and close confidant of the emperor Theodosius I. He held the offices of praetorian prefect of the East (384–388) and consul (388), and has been widely blamed by historians for instigating the w ...

Praetorian Prefect The praetorian prefect ( la, praefectus praetorio, el, ) was a high office in the Roman Empire. Originating as the commander of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive legal and administrative functions, with its holders be ...

of Oriens, between 25 May 385 to 19 March 388.Trombley,
Hellenic Religion and Christianization c. 370-529
' With the spreading of Christianity in the region in the 5th century AD, the temple was converted to a church. In 1864, French photographer and naval officer Louis Vignes was the first to photograph the temple following his expedition to the Dead Sea under the sponsorship of the Duc du Luynes. It was one of the most complete ancient structures in Palmyra. In 1980,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

designated the temple as a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. In 2015, the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

demolished the Temple of Baalshamin after capturing Palmyra during the Syrian Civil War.

Architectural style

The temple was originally a part of an extensive precinct of three courtyards and represented a fusion of ancient Syrian and Roman architectural styles. The temple's proportions and the

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of its columns were Roman in inspiration, while the elements above the

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can a ...

and the side windows followed the Syrian tradition. The highly stylized acanthus patterns of the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s also indicated an Egyptian influence. The temple had a six-column

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with traces of

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s and an interior which was modelled on the classical

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

. The side walls were decorated with

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

Inscription and dedication

An inscription written in Greek and Palmyrene, on the column bracket that supported the bust of the temple's benefactor, the Palmyrene official Male Agrippa, attested the temple was built in 131 AD. The inscription was dedicated by the Senate of Palmyra to honor Male Agrippa for building the temple, which was dedicated to Baalshamin, the Semitic god of the heavens, to commemorate the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

's visit to Palmyra around 129 AD. The translated inscription is:

Damage

Parts of the temple were damaged to some extent by bombings in 2013, during the Syrian Civil War. The southeastern corner of the temple wall was damaged further by looters who made two openings to steal the furniture of the adjacent guesthouse.

Destruction

In May 2015, Palmyra was captured by the

(ISIL), a terrorist group with a history of destroying ancient religious structures. Shortly after, ISIL reportedly claimed that it did not intend to demolish the buildings at Palmyra's

, but stated that it would destroy any artifact it deemed "

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...

" or "

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

". On 23 August 2015 (or earlier in July, according to some reports), ISIL militants detonated a large quantity of explosives inside the Temple of Baalshamin, completely destroying the building. The temple's destruction was announced by the head of the Syrian

Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums The Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM; ar, المديرية العامة للآثار والمتاحف, french: La Direction Générale des Antiquités et des Musées) is a Syrian government owned agency that is responsible fo ...

, Maamoun Abdulkarim. Photographs of the placement of the explosives, the explosion itself and the remnants of the temple subsequently appeared on social media.

described the willful destruction of the temple as a " war crime". The destruction was independently verified by a French Pléiades satellite, which photographed the pile of rubble a few days later. After the temple's destruction, the

Institute for Digital Archaeology The Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) is a joint venture between Harvard University, Oxford University, and the Museum of the Future (Dubai) that promotes the development and use of digital imaging techniques in archaeology, epigraphy, art h ...

announced plans to establish a digital record of historical sites and artifacts threatened by IS advance. To accomplish this goal, the IDA, in collaboration with

, will deploy 5,000 3D cameras to partners in the Middle East. The cameras will be used to capture 3D scans of local ruins and relics. Following the recapture of Palmyra by the Syrian Army in March 2016, director of antiquities Maamoun Abdelkarim stated that the Temple of Baalsahamin, along with the Temple of Bel and the Monumental Arch, will be rebuilt using the surviving remains (

anastylosis Anastylosis (from the Ancient Greek: ; , = "again", and = "to erect stela or building) is an archaeological term for a reconstruction technique whereby a ruined building or monument is restored using the original architectural elements to ...

References

External links

Article on the Temple of Baashamin
at

Khan Academy Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also i ...