Temple of Zeus .. Eternal Building Tells History of a Civilization

SWEIDA, (ST) – Wherever you look round Sweida city, you can see temples and archaeological columns that tell stories about the birth of the history in Syria. Biladusham, including Syria, is the cradle of prophets, civilizations and religions to the whole world. Motifs, ornamentations and inscriptions on the walls and columns must answer the visitor’s questions that he won’t find a reply to them but here and carry to him between their stones, tales that were formulated by man on this earth many centuries ago.

The history and the civilization of Syria, full of antiquities and works of art, will take us this time on a trip to the Temple of Zeus in the town al Mushannaf. It is far from the city of Sweida about 30 km to the northeast of the temple. There are several opinions about the date of its building. According to the German mission’s report in 1991, Freiber Gher said that the temple was built in 41 AD for the god Zeus. The evidence is a Greek inscription written on it entitled “For the safety of the King Akreba and for his return according to the vows, Mr. so- and-so built the patriarchal god Zeus Temple.”

Many decorations and inscriptions dating to the first half of the first century AD indicate that the King Akreba was the local governor of the town of al Mushannaf or Nilla as it was known in the past. The researcher, Michael Kvalovski, indicates through a study to this site in her book “Traces and History of Syria 1989”, that the date of construction dates back to the second half of the first century AD.
The researcher, Jean-Marie Dntzer, emphasizes in his writings that the construction date backs to the first half of the second century AD. The American scientist, Butler mentioned in his book “American Archaeological Exploration in Syria 1899-1900” that the history of the building dates back to 171 AD. The site was inhabited by some local residents and they added some rooms at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some reforms, by Alexander Sears, took place between 222 and 235 AD.

Director of Antiquities and Museums Bureau in Sweida city, Hussein Zeineddin, explained that that the temple takes a rectangular shape, divided into three equal parts. The first part is called Prunaous according to a report by Freiber Gher. This part is located between the opposite columns and the wall of the entrance, pointing  out that it is difficult to imagine the form of this wall, it is clear that a wall was built incorrectly between the columns and it currently contains decorations that may not be originally from the site.

The second and third parts are the holy of holies, the statue chamber. It is divided into two almost equal parts with a basaltic arch and the walls of this section consist of basaltic stones also located on two layers.

The original remaining parts in the northern wall of the temple include the mainstays of the columns, lintels, some building blocks of the outer wall of the temple, the mainstays of the column of the southern corner, indicating that the body of the temple advances from the east of the front tiled yard. Notably deformation inflicted the body of the building such as the modification hit the main wall entrance and distortions hit the northern wall. It is clear that this wall tends to the north and likes a straight piece that spins on a hinge.

“Some of the rooms were added on the basic outline of the temple in the period between 1857, and 1902 AD. A rectangular room was constructed in the east resulting from the north wall and the eastern side was filled with cubic and decorated stones as well as for building new interior divisions in the south and west. This room represents a microcosm of the original inside of the temple and moves to the east. In the south, you can observe an empty corridor leads to a broad room and the temple is surrounded from north, west and south, by walls of the temple itself,” Mr. Zeineddine pointed out.

Concerning the current situation of the temple, Mr. Zeineddine clarified that the eastern part of the temple is built completely with antique architectural pieces that were not positioned in their original place because they were re-built. In this part, which is linked with the temple yard, a room was created and still used today. You can see the northern protruding wall in this side of the lintel till the top edge where a crack can be observed within this protuberance. The crack is 3 cm in width.

Columns of the eastern facade still maintain their original position. The facade consists of two columns including the mainstay and the body of the column. The visitor can observe the existence of two stone pieces of the body of the northern column and one piece in front of the southern column.

In the southern side, you can see the impact of modern buildings on the southern wall of the west side, whereas the wall is still in place until the upper edge of the cornice. Fourteen meters of the southern wall has remained. In the west, the status of the western wall is good including the lintel and the cornice but it suffers from curvature to the inside and the center and reaches its maximum at the top. The northern cornerstone and some square stones have been lost but the bigger part still exists although it suffers a strong outer bending, especially in the eastern part.

Mr. Zeineddine expresses the desire of Antiquities Bureau in acquisition the temple and the adjacent properties and removing parts newly built, in order to show what is left of the temple’s features and collecting the archaeological and architectural pieces dating back to the temple. Many of these pieces are found in the houses as well as inscriptions may be present and to compensate the missing stones that match the specification of the original stones and returning the cornerstone which belongs to the head section of the platform of the place, knowing that it is existed in the nearby between the temple and the pond.

Director of Antiquities and Museums drew senior officials’ attention in Sweida to map out a study to restore the northern wall, which is suffering from a strong bending and can be exposed to collapse at any moment and take necessary measures in order to support and strengthen the stones that form the body of the columns and search for the missing stones from the columns, and it is expected to find them near the site or in the nearby houses to maintain the original columns on the eastern side and the other parts in their places

Sh. Kh.