The sanctuaries of Baal and Aštart on the cultic terrace with its processional promenade.
The great hall of the temple of Aštart.
Reconstruction of the temples of Baal and Aštart.
The third sanctuary (M-2), sometimes identified as a Pantheon because it seems to have been dedicated to all the gods, was unearthed in Field M. It, too, was designed as a megaron, with the typical structures found in Field E, particularly a small cultic esplanade also located behind the temple. But this temple possessed the peculiarity of being equipped with an annex consisting of three rooms on its long eastern side. Here excavators unearthed the Diviner’s archives, which might have fallen from an upper floor. The Diviner was an important figure whose reputation reached the court of the Great Hittite king.
The last temple, found slightly to the north and not too far from the previous one, was also fully integrated into the urban fabric. Of the same generic shape, but without a deep entry, it opened into a small room. Very rich artifacts came out of it (glazed ceramics; pearls; a carved caprine horn, one of the most impressive pieces at Emar, artistically), but it was impossible to find out which divinity was worshipped in the temple.
It is remarkable to see that all the temples belong to the model commonly found in Syria since the third millennium and that no attempts by the Hittites were made to replace them with their own.
Margueron, Jean-Claude. “Emar, Capital of Astata in the Fourteenth Century BCE.” Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 58 1-4 2001 : 132. Print.
Reconstruction of the temples of Baal and Aštart.
The third sanctuary (M-2), sometimes identified as a Pantheon because it seems to have been dedicated to all the gods, was unearthed in Field M. It, too, was designed as a megaron, with the typical structures found in Field E, particularly a small cultic esplanade also located behind the temple. But this temple possessed the peculiarity of being equipped with an annex consisting of three rooms on its long eastern side. Here excavators unearthed the Diviner’s archives, which might have fallen from an upper floor. The Diviner was an important figure whose reputation reached the court of the Great Hittite king.
The last temple, found slightly to the north and not too far from the previous one, was also fully integrated into the urban fabric. Of the same generic shape, but without a deep entry, it opened into a small room. Very rich artifacts came out of it (glazed ceramics; pearls; a carved caprine horn, one of the most impressive pieces at Emar, artistically), but it was impossible to find out which divinity was worshipped in the temple.
It is remarkable to see that all the temples belong to the model commonly found in Syria since the third millennium and that no attempts by the Hittites were made to replace them with their own.
Margueron, Jean-Claude. “Emar, Capital of Astata in the Fourteenth Century BCE.” Biblical Archaeologist: Volume 58 1-4 2001 : 132. Print.
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