Roman temple within the remains of a Byzantine town, built on top of a Phoenician temple`s ruins. Tomasz Waliszewski supplies extensive details1.
In the 2nd century A.D. a small temple (11.06 m x 9.24 m) was erected, replacing an earlier sanctuary. There is evidence this site existed in the Helenistic period and even as early as the late Bronze/early Iron age2.
The significance of this building lies in the figural representations which adorn its facades; a solar bust above an incense altar and to the left of it a priest performing his duties. The monumental entrance with a moulded doorframe is surmounted by a lintel decorated with garlands and an Egyptian cornice, on which a winged disc is depicted.
A floor made of lime mortar was revealed in the north corner of the cella. A cylindrical basin dug into this floor probably represents the settling tank of a wine press dating from the 6th century A.D. No trace is left of the area where grapes were pressed3.
Julien Aliquot4 provides full details of the site including detailed plans by Piraud-Fourner dated 2009. George Taylor provides excellent pictures of the bust of Helios, the carved wing and feathers and a (?) sacrificial priest in plates 80-845.
Around the temple there is a village with at least four Roman oil presses.
References
- ↑ Tomasz Waliszewski (2006). From the Roman Temple to the Byzantine Basilica at Chhîm (south Lebanon). Archaeology and History in the Lebanon, Issue 23, Spring 2006, pp. 30-41.
- ↑ Ingrid Périssé. Le sanctuaire romain de Chhîm. Évolution et mutations d’un site cultuel de la montagne libanaise. Topoi Orient Occident, January 2007. DOI: 10.3406/topoi.2009.2294
- ↑Info plate at the site
- ↑ Julien Aliquot (2009). La Vie religieuse au Liban sous l'Empire romain: Liban-Sud. Beyrouth : Presses de l’Ifpo, pp. 272-276, Section 39.
- ↑George Taylor (1967). The Roman Temples of Lebanon. Beirut : Dar el Mashreq Publishers.
