Temple of Baalshamin, Palmyra, before its 2015 destruction · Wikimedia Commons

Temple of Baalshamin, Palmyra

Templum Baalshamin, Palmyrae

TempleSyria · Palmyra, SyriaBuilt 131 CE

Not standing in 117 CE

About

Palmyra's temple to Baalshamin, lord of the heavens and storms, traced to a small shrine of the late 2nd century BCE that gained a new altar in 115 CE, two years before Trajan died. The grand cella that later defined the site, funded by the Palmyrene Male 'Agrippa' to mark Hadrian's visit, was not dedicated until 131 CE. In 117 CE worshippers still used the older, smaller sanctuary, not the monument photographs later showed. Militants destroyed that later temple with explosives in 2015.

What happened here

The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.

In ancient writing

Palmyrene inscription, bilingual dedication 130-131 CE
A bilingual Greek and Palmyrene-Aramaic text by Malé son of Yarhai, a temple official. The Greek pairs Baalshamin with 'Zeus Oromasdes'; the Aramaic dedicates the building to Baalshamin alone.