Eshmun Temple
Encyclopedia
The Temple of Eshmun is an ancient place of worship
dedicated to Eshmun
, the Phoenicia
n god of healing. It is located near the Awali river
, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon
in southwestern Lebanon
. The site was occupied from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD, suggesting an integrated relationship with the nearby city of Sidon. Although originally constructed by Sidonian king Eshmunazar
II in the Achaemenid era
( 529–333 BC) to celebrate the city's recovered wealth and stature, the temple complex was greatly expanded by Bodashtart
, Yatan-milk and later monarchs. Because the continued expansion spanned many centuries of alternating independence and foreign hegemony
, the sanctuary features a wealth of different architectural and decorative styles and influences.
The sanctuary consists of an esplanade
and a grand court limited by a huge limestone
terrace wall that supports a monumental podium
which was once topped by Eshmun's Graeco-Persian style marble
temple. The sanctuary features a series of ritual ablution
basins fed by canals channeling water from the Asclepius river (modern Awali
) and from the sacred "Ydll" spring;The Phoenicians did not mark vowel
s at all until the Punics
fitfully added a system of matres lectionis (vowel letters); for this reason the Phoenician inscription "Ydll" may be transcribed with a number of variant spellings (Yidlal, Yadlol etc.) Franz L. Benz (1982). Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions. Pontificio Istituto Biblico. p.199, ISBN 887653427X, 9788876534270. Retrieved 2010-08-25. these installations were used for therapeutic and purificatory purposes that characterize the cult of Eshmun. The sanctuary site has yielded many artifacts of value, especially those inscribed with Phoenician texts
, providing valuable insight into the site's history and that of ancient Sidon.
The Eshmun Temple declined and fell into oblivion as Christianity
replaced paganism
and its large limestone blocks were used to build later structures. The temple site was rediscovered in 1900 by local treasure hunters
who stirred the curiosity of international scholars. Maurice Dunand, a French archaeologist, thoroughly excavated the site from 1963 until the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War
in 1975. After the end of the hostilities and the retreat of Israel
from South Lebanon, the site was rehabilitated and inscribed to the World Heritage Site
tentative list.
and the main male divinity of Sidon
. Originally a nature divinity, and a god of spring vegetation, Eshmun was equated to Babylonian deity Tammuz. His role later expanded within the Phoenician pantheon, and he gained celestial and cosmic attributes.
The myth of Eshmun was related by the 6th century AD Syria
n philosopher
Damascius
and 9th century AD Patriarch of Constantinople
Photius. They recount that Eshmun, a young man from Beirut
, was hunting in the woods when Astarte
saw him and was stricken by his beauty. She harassed him with her amorous pursuit until he emasculated
himself with an axe
and died. The grieving goddess revived Eshmun and transported him to the heavens where she made him into a uranic
god.in Damascius
Life of Isidore and Photius' Bibliotheca Codex 242
From a historical perspective, the first written mention of Eshmun goes back to 754 BC, the date of the signing of the treaty between Assyria
n king Ashur-nirari V
and Mati'el, king of Arpad
; Eshmun figures in the text as a patron of the treaty.
Eshmun was identified with Asclepius
as a result of the Hellenic
influence over Phoenicia; the earliest evidence of this equation is given by coins from Amrit
and Acre
from the 3rd century BC. This fact is exemplified by the Hellenized names of the Awali
river which was dubbed Asclepius fluvius, and the Eshmun Temple's surrounding groves, known as the groves of Asclepius.
n king Ashurnasirpal II conquered the Lebanon
mountain range and its coastal cities. The new sovereigns exacted tribute from Sidon, along with every other Phoenicia
n city. These payments stimulated Sidon's search for new means of provisioning and furthered Phoenician emigration and expansion, which peaked in the 8th century BC.
When Assyrian king Sargon II
died in 705 BC, the Sidonian king Luli
joined with the Egyptians
and Judah
in an unsuccessful rebellion against Assyrian rule, but was forced to flee to Kition (modern Larnaca
in Cyprus
) with the arrival of the Assyrian army headed by Sennacherib
, Sargon II's son and successor. Sennacherib instated Ittobaal on the throne of Sidon and reimposed the annual tribute.
When Abdi-Milkutti
ascended to Sidon's throne in 680, he also rebelled against the Assyrians. In response, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon
laid siege to the city. Abdi-Milkutti was captured and beheaded in 677 BC after a three-year siege, while his city was destroyed and renamed Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina (the harbor of Esarhaddon). Sidon was stripped of its territory, which was awarded to Baal I, the king of rival Tyre and loyal vassal
to Esarhaddon. Baal I and Esarhaddon signed a treaty
in 675 in which Eshmun's name features as one of the deities invoked as guarantors of the covenant.Eshmun's name is transcribed in Akkadian as "Ia-su-mu-nu" in the Esarhaddon treaty
n king Nebuchadnezzar II. Nevertheless, the Sidonian king was still held in exile at the court of Babylon
. Sidon reclaimed its former standing as Phoenicia's chief city in the Achaemenid era
(529–333 BC). During this period, Xerxes I of Persia awarded king Eshmunazar II
with the Sharon plainTerritory south of Sidon from Mount Carmel
to Jaffa
for employing Sidon's fleet in his service during the Greco–Persian Wars.
Eshmunazar II displayed his new-found wealth by constructing numerous temples to Sidonian divinities. Inscriptions found on the king's sarcophagus
reveal that he and his mother, Amashtarte, built temples to the gods of Sidon, including the Temple of Eshmun by the "Ydll source near the cistern".
As two series of inscriptions on the foundations of the monumental podium attest, construction of the sanctuary's podium did not begin until the reign of King Bodashtart
. The first set of inscriptions bears the name of Bodashtart alone, while the second contains his name and that of the crown prince Yatan-milk. A Phoenician inscription, located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) upstream from the temple, that dates to the 14th year of Bodashtart's reign, alludes to water adduction works from the Awali river to the "Ydll" source that was used for ritual ablution
at the temple.
until the advent of Christianity, when the cult of Eshmun was banned and a Christian church
was built at the temple site across the Roman street from the podium. Remnants and mosaic floors of the Byzantine
church can still be seen on the site. Another earthquake hit Sidon around 570 AD; Antonin de Plaisance
, an Italian Christian pilgrim, described the city as partly in ruins. For years after the disappearance of the cult of Eshmun, the sanctuary site was used as a quarry, Emir
Fakhr-al-Din
used its massive blocks to build a bridge over the Awali river in the 17th century. The site later fell into oblivion.
Between 1737 and 1742, Richard Pococke
, an English anthropologist
, toured the Middle East
and wrote of what he thought were ruins of defensive walls built with 3.7 metres (12.1 ft) stone blocks near the Awali river. When the French orientalist
Ernest Renan
visited the area in 1860, he noticed that the Awali bridge abutment
s were built of finely rusticated
blocks that originated from an earlier structure. He also noted in his report, Mission de Phénicie
, that a local treasure hunter told him of a large edifice near the Awali bridge.
In 1900, local clandestine treasure hunters digging at the Eshmun Temple site haphazardly discovered inscriptions carved onto the temple's walls. This discovery stirred the interest of Theodore Macridy, curator of the Museum of Constantinople, who cleared the temple remains between 1901 and 1903. Wilhelm Von Landau also excavated the site between 1903 and 1904. In 1920, Gaston Contenau headed a team of archaeologists who surveyed the temple complex. The first extensive archaeological excavation revealing the Eshmun Temple remains was undertaken by Maurice Dunand between 1963 and 1975. Archaeological evidence shows that the site was occupied from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD.
and the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, the temple site was neglected and was invaded by vegetation overgrowth; it was cleared and recovered its former condition after the Israeli withdrawal. Today the Eshmun sanctuary can be visited all year round and free of charge, it is accessible from an exit ramp
off the main South Lebanon highway near Sidon's northern entrance. The site holds a particular archaeological
importance since it is the best preserved Phoenician site in Lebanon; it was added to the UNESCO
World Heritage Tentative List's Cultural category on , 1996.
In literature, the temple of Eshmun figures in Nabil Saleh's 2009 novel, The Curse of Ezekiel
as the setting where Bomilcar falls in love and rescues princess Chiboulet from the evil design of one of the temple's priests.
inscriptions on the sarcophagus
of Eshmunazar II, a Sidonian king,Discovered by the general consulate of France in Beirut Aimé Pérétié in 1855 in the Magharet Adloun necropolis, now on display in the Louvre commemorate the construction of a "house" for the "holy prince" Eshmun by the king and his mother, queen Amashtart, at the "Ydll source by the cistern".
Dionysius Periegetes
, an ancient Greek
travel writer, identified the Eshmun
temple by the Bostrenos River, and Antonin de Plaisance, a 6th century Italian pilgrim
recorded the shrine as near the river Asclepius fluvius.Strabo
In Strabo's "Geographica" and other Sidonian sources describe the sanctuary and its surrounding "sacred forests" of Asclepius
, the Hellenized name of Eshmun, in written texts.
Located about 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) south of Beirut
and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon, the Eshmun Temple sits on the southern bank of the modern Awali river
, previously referred to as Bostrenos or Asclepius fluvius in ancient text. Citrus groves, known as Bustan el-Sheikh ' onMouseout='HidePop("56658")' href="/topics/Sheikh">Sheikh
), occupy the ancient "sacred forests" of Asclepius and are a favorite summer picnic location for locals.
Built under Babylonian rule
(605–539 BC), the oldest monument at the site is a pyramid
al building resembling a ziggurat
that includes an access ramp to a water cistern. Fragments of marble column bases with Torus
moldings and facetted columns found east of the podium are also attributed to the Babylonian era.
The pyramidal structure was superimposed during Persian
rule by a massive ashlar
podium constructed from heavily bossed limestone blocks that measured more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) across by 1 metres (3.3 ft)thick, which were laid down in courses 1 metres (3.3 ft) high. The podium stands 22 metres (72.2 ft) high, runs50 metres (164 ft) into the hillside, and boasts a 70 metres (229.7 ft) wide façade. The terrace atop of the podium was once covered by a Greco-Persian style marble temple probably built by Ionic
artisans around 500 BC. The marble temple has been reduced to a few remaining stone fragments due to theft.
During the Hellenistic period
, the sanctuary was extended from the base of the podium across the valley. To the east base of the podium stands a large chapel, 10.5 by 11.5 m (34.4 by 37.7 ft), dating to the 4th century BC. The chapel was adorned with a paved pool and a large stone throne carved of a single block of granite
in the Egyptian style; it is flanked by two sphinx
figures and surrounded by two lion sculptures. The throne, attributed to the Sidonian goddess Astarte, rests against the chapel wall, which is embellished by relief sculptures of hunting scenes. The once important Astarte basin lost its function during the 2nd century AD and was filled with earth and statue fragments. The west base contains another 4th century BC chapel—centered around a bull protome
topped capital
—that remains preserved at the National Museum of Beirut
.
Widely known as the "Tribune of Eshmun" because of its shape, the altar of Eshmun is a white marble structure dating to the 4th century. It is 2.15 metres (7.1 ft) long by 2.26 metres (7.4 ft) wide and 2.17 metres (7.1 ft) tall. Unearthed in 1963 by Maurice Dunand, it stands on a limestone
socle
plated with marble blocks that rest against a retaining wall. The altar is adorned with Hellenistic stylerelief
sculptures and is framed by decorative moldings
, one of which divides the altar into two distinct registers
of symmetrical composition. The upper register portrays 18 Greek deities,The front register depicts from left to right: Eros
, an unidentified matronly goddess who stands behind Artemis
who is crowning an enthroned Leto
. Apollo
stands, playing a cithara next to Athena
. Zeus
appears next, enthroned with Hera
standing by his side followed by standing figures of Amphitrite
and Poseidon
who stands at the right corner, his foot resting on a rock. On the right short side, turning the corner from Eros, the standing figures and the charioteer are identified as Demeter
, Persephone
and Helios
. On the opposite short side, the three personages are assumed to be Dione
, Aphrodite
and Selene
driving a quadriga
. (from Brunilde Simsmondo Ridgway'sFourth-century styles in Greek sculpture) including two charioteers surrounding the Greek god Apollo
, who is depicted playing a cithara (a type of lyre
). The lower register honors Dionysus
, who leads his thiasos
(his ecstatic revenue) in a dance to the music of pipe and cithara players. The Tribune is displayed at the National Museum of Beirut.
Northeast of the site, another 3rd century BC temple stands adjacent to the Astarte chapel. Its 22 metres (72.2 ft)façade is built with large limestone blocks and displays a two-register relief decoration illustrating a drunken revelry
in honor of Dionysus
, the Greek god of wine. Among the temple reliefs, one shows a man attempting to seize a large rooster which was the common sacrificial animal for Eshmun-Asclepius.
The Eshmun Temple complex comprises an elaborate hydraulic installation
channeling water from "Ydll" spring that is made up of an intricate system of water canals, a series of retaining basins, sacred ablution basins and paved pools. This system demonstrates the importance of ritual ablutions in Phoenician therapeutic cults.
Later vestiges date from the Roman epoch
and include a colonnaded road lined with shops. Of the large marble columns bordering the Roman street only fragments and bases remain. The Romans
also built a monumental staircase adorned with mosaic
patterns that leads to the top of the podium. To the right of the Roman road, near the entrance of the site stands a nymphaeum
with niches
where statues of the nymph
s once stood. The floor of the nymphaeum is covered by a mosaic depicting the Maenads. Across the colonnaded road, facing the nymphaeum, are the ruins of a Roman villa
; only the villa's courtyard has survived along with the remains of a mosaic depicting the four seasons
. To the right of the processional Roman staircase stands a cubic altar
, also of Roman construction. Other Roman period structures include two columns of a great portico leading to pools and other cultic installations.
The healing attributions of Eshmun were combined with his divine consort Astarte's fertilizing
powers; the latter had an annex chapel with a sacred paved pool within the Eshmun sanctuary. Pilgrims from all over the ancient world flocked to the Eshmun Temple leaving votive
traces of their devotion and proof of their cure. There is evidence that from the 3rd century BC onwards there have been attempts to Hellenize the cult of Eshmun and to associate him with his Greek counterpart Asclepius, but the sanctuary retained its curative function.
, many artifacts were recovered and moved from the Eshmun Temple to the national museum
, the Louvre
or are in possession of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities. Some of these smaller finds include a collection of inscribed ostraca
unearthed by Dunand providing rare examples of cursive Phoenician writing in the Phoenician mainland. One of the recovered ostracon bears the theophoric Phoenician name "grtnt" which suggests that veneration of the lunar-goddess Tanit
occurred in Sidon.Antoine Vanel, Six "ostraca" phéniciens trouvés dans le temple d'Echmoun, près de Saida, in Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth, 20, (1967), p.53
A number of fragmented votive life-size sculptures of little children lying on their side and holding a pet animal or a small object were also recovered at the temple site; among the best known of these is a sculpture of a royal child holding a dove with his right hand; the boy's head is shaved, his torso is bare and his lower body is wrapped in a large cloth. The socle of this sculpture is inscribed with a dedication from Baalshillem,The dedication reads: "This (is the) statue which Baalshillem son of King Ba'na, king of the Sidonians, son of King Abdamun, king of the Sidonians, son of King Baalshillem, king of the Sidonians, gave to his lord Eshmun at the "Ydll"-Spring. May he bless him" (taken from JCL Gibson's Textbook of Syrian Semitic inscriptions) the son of a Sidonian king to Eshmun, which illustrates the importance of the site to the Sidonian monarchy. These votive sculptures appear to have been purposely broken after dedication to Eshmun and then ceremoniously cast into the sacred canal, probably simulating the sacrifice of the sick child. All of these sculptures represent boys. A31.5 by 27 cm (12.4 by 10.6 in) limestone bust of a Kouros
dating from the 6th century BC was found at the site, but unlike the archaic Greek kouroi this figure is not bare.
Among the notable finds is a golden plaque showing a snake curling on a staff
, a Hellenic symbol of Eshmun. and a granite
altar
bearing the name of Egyptian
Pharaoh
Achoris uncovered in the Eshmun sanctuary. This gift attests to the good relations between the Pharaoh and the kings of Sidon.
The repute of the sanctuary was far reaching. Cypriot
pilgrims from Paphos
left marks of their devotion for Astarte on a marble stele
inscribed both in Greek and Cypriot syllabary
at Astarte's shrine; this stele is now in the custody of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities.
ine antiquities markets
where they stirred the interest of the Ottoman
authorities and prompted a series of archeological digs.
During the civil war, upon a request from then Lebanese director general of antiquities Maurice Chehab, Maurice Dunand moved more than 2000 artifacts from Sidon to a subterranean chamber at the Byblos crusader castle
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north of Beirut. In 1981, the depot was looted and around 600 sculptures and architectural elements were stolen and smuggled out of Lebanon. Rolf Stucky, ex-director of the Institute of Classical Archeology of Basel
affirmed during a conference in Beirut in the successful identification and return of eight sculptures to the Lebanese national museum.
Place of worship
A place of worship or house of worship is an establishment or her location where a group of people comes to perform acts of religious study, honor, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years for both changing beliefs and architectural style...
dedicated to Eshmun
Eshmun
Eshmun was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon.This god was known at least from the Iron Age period at Sidon and was worshipped also in Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and in Carthage where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the chapel of Saint Louis.According to...
, the Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n god of healing. It is located near the Awali river
Awali (river)
The Awali is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. It is long, originating from the Barouk mountain at a height of and the Niha mountain. The Awali is supplemented by two tributaries, the Barouk and Aaray rivers. The Awali is also known as the Bisri river in its upper section; it flows...
, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
in southwestern Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. The site was occupied from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD, suggesting an integrated relationship with the nearby city of Sidon. Although originally constructed by Sidonian king Eshmunazar
Eshmunazar
Eshmunazar was the name of several Phoenician kings of Sidon.The sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, which is now in the Louvre, was unearthed in 1855 in a site near Sidon, and contains an inscription - known as KAI-14 , in Phoenician Canaanite, inscribed using the Phoenician alphabet. Now located in...
II in the Achaemenid era
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
( 529–333 BC) to celebrate the city's recovered wealth and stature, the temple complex was greatly expanded by Bodashtart
Bodashtart
Bodashtart was a Phoenician king of Sidon ....
, Yatan-milk and later monarchs. Because the continued expansion spanned many centuries of alternating independence and foreign hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
, the sanctuary features a wealth of different architectural and decorative styles and influences.
The sanctuary consists of an esplanade
Esplanade
An esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns...
and a grand court limited by a huge limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
terrace wall that supports a monumental podium
Podium
A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...
which was once topped by Eshmun's Graeco-Persian style marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
temple. The sanctuary features a series of ritual ablution
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
basins fed by canals channeling water from the Asclepius river (modern Awali
Awali (river)
The Awali is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. It is long, originating from the Barouk mountain at a height of and the Niha mountain. The Awali is supplemented by two tributaries, the Barouk and Aaray rivers. The Awali is also known as the Bisri river in its upper section; it flows...
) and from the sacred "Ydll" spring;The Phoenicians did not mark vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s at all until the Punics
Punics
The Punics were a group of western Semitic-speaking peoples from Carthage in North Africa who traced their origins to a group of Phoenician and Cypriot settlers, but also to North African Berbers . Punics were probably a mix of Berbers and Phoenicians in terms of culture and ancestry...
fitfully added a system of matres lectionis (vowel letters); for this reason the Phoenician inscription "Ydll" may be transcribed with a number of variant spellings (Yidlal, Yadlol etc.) Franz L. Benz (1982). Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions. Pontificio Istituto Biblico. p.199, ISBN 887653427X, 9788876534270. Retrieved 2010-08-25. these installations were used for therapeutic and purificatory purposes that characterize the cult of Eshmun. The sanctuary site has yielded many artifacts of value, especially those inscribed with Phoenician texts
Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
, providing valuable insight into the site's history and that of ancient Sidon.
The Eshmun Temple declined and fell into oblivion as Christianity
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
replaced paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and its large limestone blocks were used to build later structures. The temple site was rediscovered in 1900 by local treasure hunters
Treasure hunting
Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...
who stirred the curiosity of international scholars. Maurice Dunand, a French archaeologist, thoroughly excavated the site from 1963 until the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
in 1975. After the end of the hostilities and the retreat of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
from South Lebanon, the site was rehabilitated and inscribed to the World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
tentative list.
Eshmun
Eshmun was the Phoenician god of healing and renewal of life; he was one of the most important divinities of the Phoenician pantheonPantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
and the main male divinity of Sidon
Sidon
Sidon or Saïda is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate of Lebanon, on the Mediterranean coast, about 40 km north of Tyre and 40 km south of the capital Beirut. In Genesis, Sidon is the son of Canaan the grandson of Noah...
. Originally a nature divinity, and a god of spring vegetation, Eshmun was equated to Babylonian deity Tammuz. His role later expanded within the Phoenician pantheon, and he gained celestial and cosmic attributes.
The myth of Eshmun was related by the 6th century AD Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n philosopher
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
Damascius
Damascius
Damascius , known as "the last of the Neoplatonists," was the last scholarch of the School of Athens. He was one of the pagan philosophers persecuted by Justinian in the early 6th century, and was forced for a time to seek refuge in the Persian court, before being allowed back into the empire...
and 9th century AD Patriarch of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
Photius. They recount that Eshmun, a young man from Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, was hunting in the woods when Astarte
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
saw him and was stricken by his beauty. She harassed him with her amorous pursuit until he emasculated
Emasculation
Emasculation is the removal of the genitalia of a male, notably the penis and/or the testicles.By extension, the word has also come to mean to render a male less of a man, or to make a male feel less of a man by humiliation. This metaphorical usage of the word is much more common than the...
himself with an axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
and died. The grieving goddess revived Eshmun and transported him to the heavens where she made him into a uranic
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
god.in Damascius
Damascius
Damascius , known as "the last of the Neoplatonists," was the last scholarch of the School of Athens. He was one of the pagan philosophers persecuted by Justinian in the early 6th century, and was forced for a time to seek refuge in the Persian court, before being allowed back into the empire...
Life of Isidore and Photius' Bibliotheca Codex 242
From a historical perspective, the first written mention of Eshmun goes back to 754 BC, the date of the signing of the treaty between Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n king Ashur-nirari V
Ashur-nirari V
Ashur-nirari V was King of Assyria from 755 to 745 BC. He was succeeded by Tiglath-Pileser III.Ashur-nirari V was a son of Adad-nirari III, and succeeded his brother, Ashur-dan III. He inherited a difficult situation from his predecessor...
and Mati'el, king of Arpad
Arpad (Syria)
Arpad was an ancient Aramaean city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. In 743 BC, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III led a military expedition to Syria, defeating there the Uraratian army. But the city of Arpad, which had formed an alliance with Urartu, did not surrender easily...
; Eshmun figures in the text as a patron of the treaty.
Eshmun was identified with Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
as a result of the Hellenic
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
influence over Phoenicia; the earliest evidence of this equation is given by coins from Amrit
Amrit
Amrit, also known as Marathos or Marathus, was an ancient city located near Tartous in Syria. It was founded during the Amorites period, 3rd millennium BC....
and Acre
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
from the 3rd century BC. This fact is exemplified by the Hellenized names of the Awali
Awali (river)
The Awali is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. It is long, originating from the Barouk mountain at a height of and the Niha mountain. The Awali is supplemented by two tributaries, the Barouk and Aaray rivers. The Awali is also known as the Bisri river in its upper section; it flows...
river which was dubbed Asclepius fluvius, and the Eshmun Temple's surrounding groves, known as the groves of Asclepius.
Historical background
In the 9th century BC, the AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n king Ashurnasirpal II conquered the Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...
mountain range and its coastal cities. The new sovereigns exacted tribute from Sidon, along with every other Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n city. These payments stimulated Sidon's search for new means of provisioning and furthered Phoenician emigration and expansion, which peaked in the 8th century BC.
When Assyrian king Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
died in 705 BC, the Sidonian king Luli
Luli
Luli or Elulaios was king of the Phoenician city of Tyre . During his reign, Tyre lost what remained of its power to Assyria....
joined with the Egyptians
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
in an unsuccessful rebellion against Assyrian rule, but was forced to flee to Kition (modern Larnaca
Larnaca
Larnaca, is the third largest city on the southern coast of Cyprus after Nicosia and Limassol. It has a population of 72,000 and is the island's second largest commercial port and an important tourist resort...
in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
) with the arrival of the Assyrian army headed by Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Sennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
, Sargon II's son and successor. Sennacherib instated Ittobaal on the throne of Sidon and reimposed the annual tribute.
When Abdi-Milkutti
Abdi-Milkutti
Abdi-Milkutti was a Sidonian king who rose up against Assyrian rule. He had formed an alliance with Sanduarri, king of Kundi and Sizu, a prince of the Lebanon, probably during the time of the civil war waged between Esarhaddon and two of his brothers who disputed his succession after they had...
ascended to Sidon's throne in 680, he also rebelled against the Assyrians. In response, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon , was a king of Assyria who reigned 681 – 669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the Aramean queen Naqi'a , Sennacherib's second wife....
laid siege to the city. Abdi-Milkutti was captured and beheaded in 677 BC after a three-year siege, while his city was destroyed and renamed Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina (the harbor of Esarhaddon). Sidon was stripped of its territory, which was awarded to Baal I, the king of rival Tyre and loyal vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
to Esarhaddon. Baal I and Esarhaddon signed a treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
in 675 in which Eshmun's name features as one of the deities invoked as guarantors of the covenant.Eshmun's name is transcribed in Akkadian as "Ia-su-mu-nu" in the Esarhaddon treaty
Construction
Sidon returned to its former level of prosperity while Tyre was besieged for 13 years (586–573 BC) by the ChaldeaChaldea
Chaldea or Chaldaea , from Greek , Chaldaia; Akkadian ; Hebrew כשדים, Kaśdim; Aramaic: ܟܐܠܕܘ, Kaldo) was a marshy land located in modern-day southern Iraq which came to briefly rule Babylon...
n king Nebuchadnezzar II. Nevertheless, the Sidonian king was still held in exile at the court of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. Sidon reclaimed its former standing as Phoenicia's chief city in the Achaemenid era
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
(529–333 BC). During this period, Xerxes I of Persia awarded king Eshmunazar II
Eshmunazar
Eshmunazar was the name of several Phoenician kings of Sidon.The sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II, which is now in the Louvre, was unearthed in 1855 in a site near Sidon, and contains an inscription - known as KAI-14 , in Phoenician Canaanite, inscribed using the Phoenician alphabet. Now located in...
with the Sharon plainTerritory south of Sidon from Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ; , Kármēlos; , Kurmul or جبل مار إلياس Jabal Mar Elyas 'Mount Saint Elias') is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel...
to Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
for employing Sidon's fleet in his service during the Greco–Persian Wars.
Eshmunazar II displayed his new-found wealth by constructing numerous temples to Sidonian divinities. Inscriptions found on the king's sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
reveal that he and his mother, Amashtarte, built temples to the gods of Sidon, including the Temple of Eshmun by the "Ydll source near the cistern".
As two series of inscriptions on the foundations of the monumental podium attest, construction of the sanctuary's podium did not begin until the reign of King Bodashtart
Bodashtart
Bodashtart was a Phoenician king of Sidon ....
. The first set of inscriptions bears the name of Bodashtart alone, while the second contains his name and that of the crown prince Yatan-milk. A Phoenician inscription, located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) upstream from the temple, that dates to the 14th year of Bodashtart's reign, alludes to water adduction works from the Awali river to the "Ydll" source that was used for ritual ablution
Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many religions. The aim of these rituals is to remove specifically defined uncleanliness prior to a particular type of activity, and especially prior to the worship of a deity...
at the temple.
Decline
The first hit to the Eshmun sanctuary was by an earthquake in the 4th century BC, which demolished the marble temple atop the podium; this structure was not rebuilt but many chapels and temples were later annexed at the base of the podium. The temple site remained a place of pilgrimage in the ancient worldAncient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
until the advent of Christianity, when the cult of Eshmun was banned and a Christian church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
was built at the temple site across the Roman street from the podium. Remnants and mosaic floors of the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
church can still be seen on the site. Another earthquake hit Sidon around 570 AD; Antonin de Plaisance
Antoninus of Piacenza
The sixth-century pilgrim Antoninus of Piacenza, or the Anonymous Pilgrim of Piacenza, who described the holy places of Jerusalem in the 570s is confused often with Saint Antoninus of Piacenza, who is venerated as a saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of 13 November in...
, an Italian Christian pilgrim, described the city as partly in ruins. For years after the disappearance of the cult of Eshmun, the sanctuary site was used as a quarry, Emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Fakhr-al-Din
Fakhr-al-Din II
Emir Fakhr-al-Din ibn Maan was the 1st prince of the State of Lebanon which has self-governed under the Ottoman Empire between the 17th and 19th centuries. Son of Prince Qorqmaz ibn Maan and Sit Nasab of the Tanukhi family, he was given the title "Emir" or Prince in Arabic because the Maan...
used its massive blocks to build a bridge over the Awali river in the 17th century. The site later fell into oblivion.
Modern discovery
Richard Pococke
Richard Pococke was an English prelate and anthropologist. He was Protestant Bishop of Ossory and Meath , both dioceses of the Church of Ireland...
, an English anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, toured the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and wrote of what he thought were ruins of defensive walls built with 3.7 metres (12.1 ft) stone blocks near the Awali river. When the French orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan
Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
visited the area in 1860, he noticed that the Awali bridge abutment
Abutment
An abutment is, generally, the point where two structures or objects meet. This word comes from the verb abut, which means adjoin or having common boundary. An abutment is an engineering term that describes a structure located at the ends of a bridge, where the bridge slab adjoins the approaching...
s were built of finely rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
blocks that originated from an earlier structure. He also noted in his report, Mission de Phénicie
Mission de Phénicie (1865-1874)
Mission de Phénicie written by Ernest Renan, published by Imprimerie impériale in Paris 1864, then republished by Beyrouth in 1997In October 1860 Renan was entrusted with an archaeological mission to Lebanon....
, that a local treasure hunter told him of a large edifice near the Awali bridge.
In 1900, local clandestine treasure hunters digging at the Eshmun Temple site haphazardly discovered inscriptions carved onto the temple's walls. This discovery stirred the interest of Theodore Macridy, curator of the Museum of Constantinople, who cleared the temple remains between 1901 and 1903. Wilhelm Von Landau also excavated the site between 1903 and 1904. In 1920, Gaston Contenau headed a team of archaeologists who surveyed the temple complex. The first extensive archaeological excavation revealing the Eshmun Temple remains was undertaken by Maurice Dunand between 1963 and 1975. Archaeological evidence shows that the site was occupied from the 7th century BC to the 8th century AD.
After 1975
During the Lebanese civil warLebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
and the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon, the temple site was neglected and was invaded by vegetation overgrowth; it was cleared and recovered its former condition after the Israeli withdrawal. Today the Eshmun sanctuary can be visited all year round and free of charge, it is accessible from an exit ramp
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
off the main South Lebanon highway near Sidon's northern entrance. The site holds a particular archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
importance since it is the best preserved Phoenician site in Lebanon; it was added to the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Tentative List's Cultural category on , 1996.
In literature, the temple of Eshmun figures in Nabil Saleh's 2009 novel, The Curse of Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
as the setting where Bomilcar falls in love and rescues princess Chiboulet from the evil design of one of the temple's priests.
Location
A number of ancient texts mention the Eshmun Temple and its location. The PhoenicianPhoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet, called by convention the Proto-Canaanite alphabet for inscriptions older than around 1050 BC, was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet, or abjad. It was used for the writing of Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language, used by the civilization of Phoenicia...
inscriptions on the sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
of Eshmunazar II, a Sidonian king,Discovered by the general consulate of France in Beirut Aimé Pérétié in 1855 in the Magharet Adloun necropolis, now on display in the Louvre commemorate the construction of a "house" for the "holy prince" Eshmun by the king and his mother, queen Amashtart, at the "Ydll source by the cistern".
Dionysius Periegetes
Dionysius Periegetes
Dionysius Periegetes was the author of a description of the habitable world in Greek hexameter verse written in a terse and elegant style...
, an ancient Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
travel writer, identified the Eshmun
Eshmun
Eshmun was a Phoenician god of healing and the tutelary god of Sidon.This god was known at least from the Iron Age period at Sidon and was worshipped also in Tyre, Beirut, Cyprus, Sardinia, and in Carthage where the site of Eshmun's temple is now occupied by the chapel of Saint Louis.According to...
temple by the Bostrenos River, and Antonin de Plaisance, a 6th century Italian pilgrim
Christian pilgrimage
Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the ministry of Jesus. Surviving descriptions of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land and Jerusalem date from the 4th century, when pilgrimage was encouraged by church fathers like Saint Jerome and established by Helena, the mother of...
recorded the shrine as near the river Asclepius fluvius.Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
In Strabo's "Geographica" and other Sidonian sources describe the sanctuary and its surrounding "sacred forests" of Asclepius
Asclepius
Asclepius is the God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters are Hygieia , Iaso , Aceso , Aglæa/Ægle , and Panacea...
, the Hellenized name of Eshmun, in written texts.
Located about 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) south of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
and 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northeast of Sidon, the Eshmun Temple sits on the southern bank of the modern Awali river
Awali (river)
The Awali is a perennial river flowing in Southern Lebanon. It is long, originating from the Barouk mountain at a height of and the Niha mountain. The Awali is supplemented by two tributaries, the Barouk and Aaray rivers. The Awali is also known as the Bisri river in its upper section; it flows...
, previously referred to as Bostrenos or Asclepius fluvius in ancient text. Citrus groves, known as Bustan el-Sheikh ' onMouseout='HidePop("56658")' href="/topics/Sheikh">Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
), occupy the ancient "sacred forests" of Asclepius and are a favorite summer picnic location for locals.
Architecture and description
History of Lebanon under Babylonian rule
Throughout her history, the lands known today as Lebanon came under foreign rule from various powers. This article deals with the time when Lebanon and much of the Levant came under the Neo-Babylonian Empire.- Background :...
(605–539 BC), the oldest monument at the site is a pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
al building resembling a ziggurat
Ziggurat
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near...
that includes an access ramp to a water cistern. Fragments of marble column bases with Torus
Torus
In geometry, a torus is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three dimensional space about an axis coplanar with the circle...
moldings and facetted columns found east of the podium are also attributed to the Babylonian era.
The pyramidal structure was superimposed during Persian
History of Lebanon under Persian rule
The Achaemenids ended Babylonian rule in Lebanon when Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, captured Babylon in 539-38 BC and Phoenicia and its neighbors passed into Persian hands. Cambyses , Cyrus's son and successor, continued his father's policy of conquest and in 529 BC became suzerain of...
rule by a massive ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
podium constructed from heavily bossed limestone blocks that measured more than 3 metres (9.8 ft) across by 1 metres (3.3 ft)thick, which were laid down in courses 1 metres (3.3 ft) high. The podium stands 22 metres (72.2 ft) high, runs50 metres (164 ft) into the hillside, and boasts a 70 metres (229.7 ft) wide façade. The terrace atop of the podium was once covered by a Greco-Persian style marble temple probably built by Ionic
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
artisans around 500 BC. The marble temple has been reduced to a few remaining stone fragments due to theft.
During the Hellenistic period
Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period or Hellenistic era describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. It was so named by the historian J. G. Droysen. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia...
, the sanctuary was extended from the base of the podium across the valley. To the east base of the podium stands a large chapel, 10.5 by 11.5 m (34.4 by 37.7 ft), dating to the 4th century BC. The chapel was adorned with a paved pool and a large stone throne carved of a single block of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
in the Egyptian style; it is flanked by two sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
figures and surrounded by two lion sculptures. The throne, attributed to the Sidonian goddess Astarte, rests against the chapel wall, which is embellished by relief sculptures of hunting scenes. The once important Astarte basin lost its function during the 2nd century AD and was filled with earth and statue fragments. The west base contains another 4th century BC chapel—centered around a bull protome
Protome
Protome is an adornment on utensils or works of art in the form of a frontal view of an animal head or bust of a human. Protomes are often featured in ancient art....
topped capital
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
—that remains preserved at the National Museum of Beirut
National Museum of Beirut
The National Museum of Beirut is the principal museum of archaeology in Lebanon. The collection was begun after World War I, and the museum was officially opened in 1942. The museum has collections totalling about 100,000 objects, most of which are antiquities and medieval finds from excavations...
.
Widely known as the "Tribune of Eshmun" because of its shape, the altar of Eshmun is a white marble structure dating to the 4th century. It is 2.15 metres (7.1 ft) long by 2.26 metres (7.4 ft) wide and 2.17 metres (7.1 ft) tall. Unearthed in 1963 by Maurice Dunand, it stands on a limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
socle
Socle (architecture)
In architecture, a socle is a short plinth used to support a pedestal, sculpture or column. In the field of archaeology, this term is used to refer to a wall base, frequently of stone, that supports the upper part of the wall, which is made of a different material, frequently mud brick...
plated with marble blocks that rest against a retaining wall. The altar is adorned with Hellenistic stylerelief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
sculptures and is framed by decorative moldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
, one of which divides the altar into two distinct registers
Register (sculpture)
In art and archaeology, a register is a vertical level in a work that consists of several levels, especially where the levels are clearly separated by lines; modern comic books typically use similar conventions...
of symmetrical composition. The upper register portrays 18 Greek deities,The front register depicts from left to right: Eros
Eros
Eros , in Greek mythology, was the Greek god of love. His Roman counterpart was Cupid . Some myths make him a primordial god, while in other myths, he is the son of Aphrodite....
, an unidentified matronly goddess who stands behind Artemis
Artemis
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. Her Roman equivalent is Diana. Some scholars believe that the name and indeed the goddess herself was originally pre-Greek. Homer refers to her as Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron: "Artemis of the wildland, Mistress of Animals"...
who is crowning an enthroned Leto
Leto
In Greek mythology, Leto is a daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. The island of Kos is claimed as her birthplace. In the Olympian scheme, Zeus is the father of her twins, Apollo and Artemis, the Letoides, which Leto conceived after her hidden beauty accidentally caught the eyes of Zeus...
. Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
stands, playing a cithara next to Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
. Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
appears next, enthroned with Hera
Hera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
standing by his side followed by standing figures of Amphitrite
Amphitrite
In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite was a sea-goddess and wife of Poseidon. Under the influence of the Olympian pantheon, she became merely the consort of Poseidon, and was further diminished by poets to a symbolic representation of the sea...
and Poseidon
Poseidon
Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...
who stands at the right corner, his foot resting on a rock. On the right short side, turning the corner from Eros, the standing figures and the charioteer are identified as Demeter
Demeter
In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...
, Persephone
Persephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
and Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
. On the opposite short side, the three personages are assumed to be Dione
Dione (mythology)
Dione was a Greek goddess primarily known as the mother of Aphrodite in Book V of Homer's Iliad. Aphrodite journeys to Dione's side after she has been wounded in battle protecting her favorite son Aeneas. In this episode, Dione seems to be the equivalent of the earth goddess Gaia, whom Homer also...
, Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
and Selene
Selene
In Greek mythology, Selene was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. In Roman mythology, the moon goddess is called Luna, Latin for "moon"....
driving a quadriga
Quadriga
A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...
. (from Brunilde Simsmondo Ridgway'sFourth-century styles in Greek sculpture) including two charioteers surrounding the Greek god Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, who is depicted playing a cithara (a type of lyre
Lyre
The lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
). The lower register honors Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, who leads his thiasos
Thiasus
In Greek mythology and religion, the thiasus , was the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus, often pictured as inebriated revelers. Many of the myths of Dionysus are connected with his arrival in the form of a procession...
(his ecstatic revenue) in a dance to the music of pipe and cithara players. The Tribune is displayed at the National Museum of Beirut.
Northeast of the site, another 3rd century BC temple stands adjacent to the Astarte chapel. Its 22 metres (72.2 ft)façade is built with large limestone blocks and displays a two-register relief decoration illustrating a drunken revelry
Bacchanalia
The bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Greco-Roman god Bacchus , the wine god. The term has since come to describe any form of drunken revelry.-History:...
in honor of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, the Greek god of wine. Among the temple reliefs, one shows a man attempting to seize a large rooster which was the common sacrificial animal for Eshmun-Asclepius.
The Eshmun Temple complex comprises an elaborate hydraulic installation
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
channeling water from "Ydll" spring that is made up of an intricate system of water canals, a series of retaining basins, sacred ablution basins and paved pools. This system demonstrates the importance of ritual ablutions in Phoenician therapeutic cults.
Later vestiges date from the Roman epoch
History of Lebanon under Roman rule
The History of Lebanon under Roman rule relates to the Roman control of actual Lebanon, that lasted from 64 BC to the Arab invasions.-History:The last century of Seleucid rule in Lebanon was marked by disorder and dynastic struggles...
and include a colonnaded road lined with shops. Of the large marble columns bordering the Roman street only fragments and bases remain. The Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
also built a monumental staircase adorned with mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
patterns that leads to the top of the podium. To the right of the Roman road, near the entrance of the site stands a nymphaeum
Nymphaeum
A nymphaeum or nymphaion , in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs....
with niches
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
where statues of the nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
s once stood. The floor of the nymphaeum is covered by a mosaic depicting the Maenads. Across the colonnaded road, facing the nymphaeum, are the ruins of a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
; only the villa's courtyard has survived along with the remains of a mosaic depicting the four seasons
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
. To the right of the processional Roman staircase stands a cubic altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
, also of Roman construction. Other Roman period structures include two columns of a great portico leading to pools and other cultic installations.
Function
Eshmun's cult enjoyed a particular importance at Sidon as he was the chief deity after 500 BC. Aside from the extramural sanctuary at Bustan el-Sheikh, Eshmun also had a temple within the city. The extramural Eshmun Temple was associated with purification and healing; ritual lustral ablutions were performed in the sanctuary's sacred basins supplemented by running water from the Asclepius River and the "Ydll" spring water which was considered to have a sacred character and therapeutic quality.The healing attributions of Eshmun were combined with his divine consort Astarte's fertilizing
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
powers; the latter had an annex chapel with a sacred paved pool within the Eshmun sanctuary. Pilgrims from all over the ancient world flocked to the Eshmun Temple leaving votive
Votive offering
A votive deposit or votive offering is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for broadly religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural...
traces of their devotion and proof of their cure. There is evidence that from the 3rd century BC onwards there have been attempts to Hellenize the cult of Eshmun and to associate him with his Greek counterpart Asclepius, but the sanctuary retained its curative function.
Artifacts and finds
Apart from the large decorative elements, carved friezes and mosaics which were left in situIn situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
, many artifacts were recovered and moved from the Eshmun Temple to the national museum
National Museum of Beirut
The National Museum of Beirut is the principal museum of archaeology in Lebanon. The collection was begun after World War I, and the museum was officially opened in 1942. The museum has collections totalling about 100,000 objects, most of which are antiquities and medieval finds from excavations...
, the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
or are in possession of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities. Some of these smaller finds include a collection of inscribed ostraca
Ostracon
An ostracon is a piece of pottery , usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use...
unearthed by Dunand providing rare examples of cursive Phoenician writing in the Phoenician mainland. One of the recovered ostracon bears the theophoric Phoenician name "grtnt" which suggests that veneration of the lunar-goddess Tanit
Tanit
Tanit was a Phoenician lunar goddess, worshipped as the patron goddess at Carthage. Tanit was worshiped in Punic contexts in the Western Mediterranean, from Malta to Gades into Hellenistic times. From the fifth century BCE onwards Tanit is associated with that of Baal Hammon...
occurred in Sidon.Antoine Vanel, Six "ostraca" phéniciens trouvés dans le temple d'Echmoun, près de Saida, in Bulletin du Musée de Beyrouth, 20, (1967), p.53
A number of fragmented votive life-size sculptures of little children lying on their side and holding a pet animal or a small object were also recovered at the temple site; among the best known of these is a sculpture of a royal child holding a dove with his right hand; the boy's head is shaved, his torso is bare and his lower body is wrapped in a large cloth. The socle of this sculpture is inscribed with a dedication from Baalshillem,The dedication reads: "This (is the) statue which Baalshillem son of King Ba'na, king of the Sidonians, son of King Abdamun, king of the Sidonians, son of King Baalshillem, king of the Sidonians, gave to his lord Eshmun at the "Ydll"-Spring. May he bless him" (taken from JCL Gibson's Textbook of Syrian Semitic inscriptions) the son of a Sidonian king to Eshmun, which illustrates the importance of the site to the Sidonian monarchy. These votive sculptures appear to have been purposely broken after dedication to Eshmun and then ceremoniously cast into the sacred canal, probably simulating the sacrifice of the sick child. All of these sculptures represent boys. A31.5 by 27 cm (12.4 by 10.6 in) limestone bust of a Kouros
Kouros
A kouros is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. The term kouros, meaning youth, was first proposed for what were previously thought to be depictions of Apollo by V. I...
dating from the 6th century BC was found at the site, but unlike the archaic Greek kouroi this figure is not bare.
Among the notable finds is a golden plaque showing a snake curling on a staff
Rod of Asclepius
The rod of Asclepius , also known as the asklepian, is an ancient symbol associated with astrology, the Greek god Asclepius, and with medicine and healing. It consists of a serpent entwined around a staff. The name of the symbol derives from its early and widespread association with Asclepius, the...
, a Hellenic symbol of Eshmun. and a granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
bearing the name of Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Achoris uncovered in the Eshmun sanctuary. This gift attests to the good relations between the Pharaoh and the kings of Sidon.
The repute of the sanctuary was far reaching. Cypriot
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
pilgrims from Paphos
Paphos
Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...
left marks of their devotion for Astarte on a marble stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
inscribed both in Greek and Cypriot syllabary
Cypriot syllabary
The Cypriot syllabary is a syllabic script used in Iron Age Cyprus, from ca. the 11th to the 4th centuries BCE, when it was replaced by the Greek alphabet. A pioneer of that change was king Evagoras of Salamis...
at Astarte's shrine; this stele is now in the custody of the Lebanese directorate general of antiquities.
Pillaging
Treasure hunters have sought out the Eshmun Temple since antiquity; around 1900 artifacts bearing Phoenician inscriptions from the temple site found their way to BeirutBeirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
ine antiquities markets
Antiquities trade
Antiquities trade is the exchange of antiquities and archaeological artifacts from around the world. This trade may be illicit or completely legal. The illicit antiquities trade involves non-scientific extraction that ignores the archaeological and anthropological context from which the artifacts...
where they stirred the interest of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities and prompted a series of archeological digs.
During the civil war, upon a request from then Lebanese director general of antiquities Maurice Chehab, Maurice Dunand moved more than 2000 artifacts from Sidon to a subterranean chamber at the Byblos crusader castle
Byblos Castle
Byblos Castle is a castle in Byblos, Lebanon. It was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century from indigenous limestone and the remains of Roman structures. The finished structure was surrounded by a moat. Saladin captured the town and castle in 1188 and dismantled the walls in 1190...
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north of Beirut. In 1981, the depot was looted and around 600 sculptures and architectural elements were stolen and smuggled out of Lebanon. Rolf Stucky, ex-director of the Institute of Classical Archeology of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
affirmed during a conference in Beirut in the successful identification and return of eight sculptures to the Lebanese national museum.